Our first graders are off to a fantastic start to the school year! Over the past two weeks, we have been busy getting to know one another and building a positive, caring, and productive classroom community.
As we dive deeper into our first-grade curriculum, we invite you to follow along in the First Grade Curriculum Update section of Mrs. Lemieux's weekly newsletter. This section will be updated monthly to give you a glimpse into the exciting learning happening in first grade!
UFLI Phonics:
This year, we are using the UFLI Phonics program to build strong foundational reading skills. UFLI
provides explicit, systematic instruction l in letter sounds, phonics patterns, blending, decoding, and spelling.
Over the past two weeks, students have been working through UFLI's
"Getting Ready" lessons. We have practiced listening for and identifying sounds in words, recognizing and naming letters, connecting letters to their sounds, and blending sounds together to make words.
Students are also learning to distinguish between vowels and consonants and noticing what their
mouth, lips, and tongue do when producing different sounds. These activities are building important phonological awareness skills and preparing students for the work they will do throughout first grade.
Wit & Wisdom:
In Wit & Wisdom, we have begun Module One: "A World of Books," where students are exploring the many ways people around the world access and enjoy books. Throughout this module, students will build vocabulary, strengthen reading comprehension, and learn to think deeply about the stories they read.
Our first book, Tomas and the Library Lady, introduces students to the power of books and the important role libraries can play in our lives.
As we read, students are practicing how to retell a story in sequence and identify important story elements, including characters, setting, problem, and solution. We are also taking a closer look at nouns and learning how authors use words to name and describe people, places, animals, and things.
Eureka Math Squared:
In Eureka Math Squared, Module 1, students are building a strong foundation in addition and subtraction within 10.
First graders are learning to represent numbers in different ways, break numbers apart and put them back together, and use strategies such as counting on to solve problems.
Students are also exploring the relationship between addition and subtraction and using objects, drawings, number bonds, and equations to show their mathematical thinking.
Each day, students participate in a math lesson that includes hands-on and cooperative learning as well as opportunities for independent practice. Students complete a daily problem set in their Eureka workbook. These workbooks will be sent home at the end of each module. We will complete six math modules throughout the school year.
