First Grade Curriculum Preview 2011-2012
Note: This is my grade specific curriculum overview for First Grade. The
actual content will be embedded into a multi-age class schedule in the
upcoming year. See website page: Multi-age Class Curriculum Preview 2011-12.
Grade One is a time for building up and strengthening the capacities for
learning in each child in the class. A sound foundation for this is created
by harnessing the child’s exuberance and transforming it, in part, into a
sense of order and inner organization. Good habits become established while
maintaining joy and enthusiasm. Learning to deal with the unexpected, with
new ideas that may be challenging, working through uncertainty with a joyful
and positive attitude are vital life lessons.
Our prospective morning circle activities, rhymes, songs and the general
style of presentation of material are intended to be captivating and
enjoyable for the children. Although these activities are entertaining, the
children will also be working hard and making progress in acquiring new
academic skills as well as learning to work cooperatively as a cohesive
social group.
The first grade main lessons will generally consist of three to four week
units or blocks of study which will alternate between language arts and
arithmetic. The basic approach usually begins with an imaginative
presentation which is then supported by an artistic involvement such as
drawing, painting, and modeling. This is then usually followed by a writing
activity and class participation to assess a child’s understanding of the
underlying ideas or concepts introduced. The activities of the children in
their special lesson periods will be often drawn from main lesson topics or
themes.
FORM DRAWING (Approximately 4 weeks)
We will begin the year with a four week study of Form Drawing. This is
precursor to freehand geometry which helps to establish a clear and accurate
basis for forming letters and numbers. It also provides a good foundation
for the symbol recognition that is so essential to reading, as well as
numerical and spatial relationships that are integral to developing
arithmetic skills. On the first day of school, the children will be presented
with an imaginative introduction to the polarity of straight and curved
lines. Over the course of the subsequent weeks the children will recreate a
wide variety of forms that are intended to strengthen eye/hand coordination
and concentration.
LANGUAGE ARTS ( Approximately 14 weeks)
During our first block the forms and sounds of the letters will be brought to
life with images and stories from a selection of folk tales and legends. We
will focus on the sound/symbol relationships of a grouping of approximately
eight consonants. We will also introduce the Main lesson book format and the
children will begin creating artistic renderings and writing short phrases or
verses relevant to the stories and tales presented.
The second block is projected to introduce a grouping of three consonants
and the following five vowel sounds; ‘ay’ (say), ‘ee’ (see) ‘oh’ (low), ‘oo’
(tune) and ‘ah’ (father). While the consonants can have a subtle
correspondence to actual physical forms and shapes in nature, the vowels have
expressive sounds that can evoke different moods and call for a different
instructional approach. Vowels are sometimes referred to as ‘singing sounds’
that evoke gesture and movement. Written work increases at this time and the
children typically begin to recognize frequently used sight words in their
lesson books. During the third block of study we will complete the
sound/symbol relationships for the remaining consonants and began to
introduce the blending and segmenting of three sound words. Lower case
letters are scheduled to be introduced and practiced during this block.
Our final unit in the Spring will be a review of work from the previous study
and an introduction of written sentences, new vowel sounds and basic spelling
variations as well as word families. Basic pedagogical principles of literacy
instruction are primarily based on Waldorf educational methods and approaches
with supportive elements drawn from the Open Court, Lindamood-Bell and other
selected approaches to reading development.
ARITHMETIC ( Approximately 14 weeks )
Our first block will be an exploration into the ‘qualitative’ nature of
numbers. We begin with the unity or‘one-ness’ of ourselves as unique
individualities. The image of ‘one sun’ proceeds to the duality or‘two-ness’
of night and day. The written work will encompass the forming of Roman
Numerals. We will also practice and develop our skills in counting, using a
variety of movement activities to reinforce our experience of different
musical intervals and rhythms.
During our second block each of the four mathematical processes will be
introduced in a pictorial way as one of the ‘King’s Advisors’. Addition,
subtraction, division and multiplication have personifications in a story in
which they collaborate to help the kingdom return to health and prosperity.
The operation symbols will later be introduced with imaginative pictures
which help the children to identify and match them to the correct process
used to solve simple word problems. Some of the objectives of this unit also
include learning counting sequences by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s through
rhythmic movement. Basic addition facts 1-10 and examples of math problems
are then written in a linear format into their individual main lesson books.
In our third block the role of the operation symbols become more prominent in
math games and written computations. Counting sequences will include the 4’s
and are practiced forwards and backwards in preparation for learning
multiplication tables in the second grade. The fourth block is projected as
a review and practice for counting sequences, basic addition and subtraction
facts 1-10, introducing place values (units, tens, hundreds, and thousands)
and the recording of written problems in a vertical format.
The following are class activities integrated into the morning and extra
practice lessons throughout the school week.
FINE ARTS: DRAWING AND PAINTING
Both language arts and arithmetic lesson books will have many drawings and
illustrations. The children will often be guided in their art work and shown
how to format themes using a palette of varied color saturation in their
drawings. Block style and stick crayons will be primarily used for drawing
and framing written work. However, stick crayons and a limited selections of
wax pencils will later be used exclusively for handwriting to promote proper
hand grip positions.
Painting throughout the early grades typically utilizes wet paper and liquid
watercolors mixed from plant pigments. We will initially paint with the three
primary colors of red, blue and yellow. The process of working with the
primary colors and associated complimentary colors often seems more
significant than the end result, which of course can also be very pleasing!
The children quickly learn after several painting lessons the art and merit
of working quietly once brushes are in hand. The children will all
participate in the preparation and clean-up of these sessions and exercise
responsibility in all of their set-up chores.
MUSIC: SINGING AND FLUTE WORK
Singing is, of course, integrated into our morning lessons on a daily basis.
An image or story will often pave the way for a new song which the children
learn very quickly in the first grade. Over the course of the year the
children will built up a wide repertoire of many seasonal songs including the
ones carried forward from the previous early childhood
years.
In the Fall, the class will be introduced to the Choroi two-note interval
flute. This will help the children in learning how to regulate their
breathing for a wind instrument, promote and develop finger dexterity and
strengthen auditory discrimination. Following the Fall term I will then
introduce the children to the Quinta seven-tone pentatonic pear wood flutes.
After several weeks we should be playing simple songs in unison.
CRAFTS: BEESWAX MODELING AND SEASONAL PROJECTS
The class will learn to warm and shape beeswax into letters and other
creations from our main lesson themes. Animals, plants, people and a wide
variety of other themes are expected to frequent our beeswax display table!
Other seasonal and festive projects that I have planned include handmade
lanterns in October and Dragon eggs (Asian piñatas) for our Chinese New
Year’s celebration. Of course, the most significant project of the year is
our annual Chinese Feast. The children will hopefully prepare a meal that
will include chow mein, egg rolls, homemade sweet and sour sauce, and
rice!
MOVEMENT AND GAMES
There will be a variety of movement activities in the morning circle each
day. A spectrum of walking verses from the exhuberant ‘Tiny little insects’
to the gentle and flowing ‘Freckled fishes’ circle verses will be familiar
morning friends! We will also be joining other grades on occasion to play
games such as ‘Bunnies in the burrow’ and ‘The sea is stormy’. These
children’s games all help to develop coordination, concentration and
cooperation. During the second term I will begin introducing bean bag
exercises and games that are helpful in strengthening spatial orientation and
an awareness of body geography.
SPEECH AND DRAMA
The children will recite poems, rhymes and tongue twisters on a daily basis
throughout the school year. Choral presentations of verses will also be
offered at our grades and community assemblies. Basic public speaking
skills are also introduced into our projected ‘sharing’ sessions. To
the ‘older generation’ this is better known as “show and tell”. During this
weekly period children can bring in items of personal interest to share with
the class. Each child will follow a three step procedure and learned to pace
their presentations in the allotted amount of time!
Although we will not have formal drama lessons or classes, the children
will typically create short dramatizations of stories and verses during our
language arts units. The culmination of the children’s work in speech and
drama will be our class play. I usually introduce a selected folk tale or
legend to the class early in the year and gradually rewrite the narrative
into rhymed couplets for the children to learn. Over a period of five to six
weeks everyone usually memorizes their lines as well as the lines of all the
other characters! The process of preparing and performing plays often helps
to build the cohesiveness of a class group and can certainly boost the self-
esteem of most every child. It is also an early lesson is how to deal with
exciting and demanding situations or challenges.
FIELD TRIPS
We will be taking a monthly field trip (tentatively planned for the third
Friday of the month) to Siesta Key Beach throughout the course of the school
year. These nature walks, weather permitting, can provide the children with
many opportunities to observe and directly interact with our natural
environment.
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY SKILLS
Building a sense of community within a varied group of children is a vital
part of each child’s education. There will hopefully be many opportunities
each week for children to collaborate and cooperate on class projects and
regularly assigned activities. A healthy approach to education holds that the
child who can develop his or her own talents and skills while also working co-
operatively with others, recognizing and valuing individual and group worth
as a whole, will have a better chance of being a creative and productive
person. It is important that the children learn to tolerate, enjoy and be
kind to each other whatever their differences and similarities.
