Religion
In first grade, students will continue to develop their relationship with Jesus. Through the use of daily prayer, scripture readings, music, art, and performance, students will learn about: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; Jesus, the Son of God, who became one of us; the Church and its teachings; and different ways Catholics live their faith and celebrate God’s love. We will enhance our Religion curriculum with the Promise Series.
Language Arts/Reading
We will be following the Science of Reading research in our reading curriculums. For phonics, we use UFLI Foundations, which is an explicit and systematic program that teaches students the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading. Seton Catholic School also uses the Heggerty Program for phonemic awareness instruction and the Flyleaf Publishing curriculum, which incorporates decodable readers for small group instruction. We also supplement using the Phonics Dance in our reading instruction.
Writing/Handwriting
Our writing curriculum provides students unlimited opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas through various forms of writing. First graders will be learning to write opinion, narrative, and informational pieces throughout the year. For handwriting, we will be using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.
Math
The first grade math program is based on the Everyday Mathematics curriculum. This curriculum was designed to capitalize on student interest and maximize student learning. First grade Everyday Mathematics content emphasizes the following content strands, skills, and concepts: numeration, operations and computation, data and chance, geometry, measurement and reference frames, patterns, function, and algebra. Emphasis is placed on problem-solving to develop critical thinking, frequent practice of basic skills through ongoing routines and mathematical games, instruction that revisits topics regularly to ensure full concept development, and activities that explore a wide variety of mathematical content and offer students opportunities to apply their basic facts skills.
Social Studies
First grade social studies will examine the topics of school/family/community, historical perspective, our country, maps/geography, dental health, fire safety, economics, past/present traditions/celebrations, and important people in history.
Science
Our science program is Mystery Science, a hands-on curriculum that provides students opportunities to learn while interacting with materials and other students. Students will learn to use scientific tools such as thermometers and scales. The major concepts for the year are living/nonliving, insects/arachnids, plants, weather/seasons, separating/classifying objects, habitats, pebbles/sand/silt, recycling/Earth Day, solids/liquids/gasses, simple machines, magnets, senses/humans/organisms, penguins, and the Scientific Process.
