I’m continuing my series on what each grade level should work on or needs to know. Please check previous posts for Pre-School and Kindergarten information.
First graders are now building upon their foundational skills and are increasing in their academic skills they established in Kindergarten.
Note: These are general guidelines for first graders. Of course children could be working towards this or ahead, however this is a baseline in case support is needed.
Concepts First Graders should work on:
-Reading: comprehension, informational text, inflection, fluency
-Writing: grammar (punctuation, capitalization), informational writing, persuasive, narratives
-Math: place value, addition and subtraction, measurement, time, shape attributes
-Science: waves and sound, patterns in the solar system, compare and contrast plants and animals, study behavior parents in parents and their offspring
-Social Studies: citizenship, physical characteristics of places and people, basic economy, symbols/traditions in the U.S., study evolution and everyday life of people around the world
Ways to teach these concepts:
-Practice comprehension by regularly asking questions when reading aloud to your children and when they read
-Journal writing - I don’t typically like correcting grammar during journal writing because that’s a time children write experiences or thoughts but it’s a great way for children to practice writing
-Practice grammar during other forms of writing
-Have children write about what their interested in (examples: why kids should go to bed later, Legos, princesses, or something else they are learning)
-Build science models, science experiments
-“Take a trip around the world” - people study around the world