First Grade Curriculum

Out-of-Door first graders continue to develop as compassionate, respectful, and thoughtful students who value and learn from each other. Foundational skills such as active listening, organization, following procedures, and goal setting, as well as ODA’s Core Values, are taught and reinforced throughout the year to create positive academic habits and mindsets. A balanced, inquiry-based curriculum ensures that each student has the opportunity to master the Essential Skills of Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Collaboration. Many studies and activities take students on learning adventures beyond the walls of the classroom. With loving guidance from the teachers, lessons are designed to encourage risk-taking and foster grit.

In first grade, students are making the transition from emergent readers to early fluent readers. Upon entering the classroom, you’ll find enthusiastic readers who are building their reading lives by immersing themselves in a multi-sensory approach to learning phonics along with high-quality decodable literature. 

Our first grade curriculum emphasizes foundational reading comprehension skills, including envisioning, questioning, prediction, interpretation, retelling, author’s craft, and character study. Using benchmarking, teachers can identify areas to target instruction, including complex spelling patterns, such as initial blends, ending blends, double endings, consonant digraphs, common vowel digraphs, and r-controlled vowels.

First graders expand their number knowledge by counting to 120 and understanding place value up to 100. They develop fluency with addition and subtraction within 20 using strategies like counting on and making ten. Students compare two-digit numbers using symbols (<, >, =) and learn to measure length using nonstandard units. They tell and write time to the hour and half-hour and begin working with money by identifying and counting coins. Data skills improve as they organize and interpret information using graphs and charts.

Through an integrated writing and grammar approach, our first grade writers are exposed to a variety of genres. A rich mentor text is used to expand children's knowledge of the writing structure and improve language development with the goal of being able to write complete sentences. Throughout the year, students progress through the writing process while composing a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Students not only feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas in written form but thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to create meaningful stories of their own.

First grade Marine Science focuses on a variety of unique ocean habitats and the animals that live within them. Students learn about the deep sea, coral reef, kelp forest, open ocean, polar, mangrove, and seagrass habitats. Each unit of study incorporates engaging hands-on activities, experiments, and STEM challenges to further the students’ understanding. Students are encouraged to work collaboratively in groups and utilize effective communication and critical thinking skills.

The MITT (Meaningful, Innovative, and Transformative Transliteracy) curriculum is comprised of interwoven strands that explore transliteracy. Using a design thinking framework, students learn to access, use, produce, and share information. They develop as curious and independent learners who are aware of their rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen. In First Grade, students independently use a design thinking framework called Super 3 to plan, do, and review when exploring curiosities and solving problems. Through non-fiction research, multimedia projects, and book circulation, students learn how to explore personal interests and share their understanding with others.

First grade art is a time for exploring different art mediums and enjoying the process of art-making. Students will create cityscapes, portraits, and seascapes as well as explore color mixing and painting techniques. Children will produce three-dimensional art through clay. Famous artists often inspire our work. Students will have the opportunity to create digital art through the use of our iPads, as well as participate in a variety of activities to develop fine motor skills. Students will learn new drawing techniques through guided drawing, but will always be encouraged to incorporate their own ideas into their artwork.

The concepts previously learned will be used as a base on which to build and spiral more vocabulary. Students learn about Central American countries (with a concentration on Costa Rica), culture, people, music, and much more. They also continue to learn and practice basic conversation skills and vocabulary through songs and interactive games. Concepts include; numbers 1-30, shapes, colors, rainforest, greetings, days of the week, months, and family members.

First grade music students learn to match pitches and identify rhythms more accurately. They explore pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and learn to accompany their own songs. Students also participate in a multitude of performances throughout the year.

Students attend Physical Education classes where they are introduced to a variety of activities that assist in learning different ways to move safely in an open area as well as improve locomotor skills such as galloping, sliding, running, skipping, and walking. Students are encouraged to explore alternative ways they can move or manipulate objects. Low-organized, small-group games are used to create excitement and fine-tune these skills. The students also learn simple rhythmic routines and engage physically through music. Sportsmanship and team building are reinforced through each activity.