First Grade

First Grade is not simple

First grade is that giant leap from playing in the classroom to taking a more serious approach to learning. The child may need to take the standardized testing for first grade in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This gives the teachers a more in depth look at what the needs are of the children. The key skills for a first grader to gain are language and math. Often times these skills are taught in the veil of games and play which comes natural to children.

Language Arts in First Grade

There are three different forms of language arts; reading, phonics, and grammar. The grammar begins by reciting the alphabet which should have been taught in preschool and kindergarten. They will also learn about syllables, plurals, capitalization, punctuation, word endings, suffixes, and spelling.

The phonics portion of language arts include knowing the difference between consonants and vowels, rhyming, several vocabulary words. A child should know the general idea of reading, sequencing, sight words, opposites, and more. Books that are introduced in first grade are designed to give the students a better understanding of reading. In order for a child to read with success a child will need to be able to learn sight words for first grade.

Math in First Grade

There are five different categories a first grade teacher will try to cover in first grade math. These categories are

• Numbers and operations – a child will be introduced to the process used to help solve problems by reinforcing what they learned in kindergarten but introducing them to a more challenging method.• Algebra – a first grader is only introduced to algebra by covering the topic involving problems that have missing addends and subtraction• Mathematical process – this includes the ability to tell time, counting coins, and fractions, ordinals, place value, odd and even numbers, number comparison, adding and subtracting.• Geometry – a child will learn how to measure different things, learn to recognize patterns, and are introduced to various charting and graphs.• Data analysis – children learn how to collect data through reading problems. They will learn to add or subtract the data to get the answer they want.

Other Curriculum to Add

Other curriculum covered by a first grade student includes physical education, arts and crafts, and science. In first grade a child is challenged to think harder and learn more problem solving skills by enhancing the math curriculum. A first grader should also be introduced to first grade site words and should also have a spelling course.

Make Learning Fun

Although the children are older they still learn better when the curriculum is fun and engaging. A teacher should still put song and rhyme to things that need to be memorized. A child’s reading ability should start out on the right foot in first grade because it will set a pattern on how well the child will read in the future. If a child does not grasp the understanding of word recognition he or she may struggle with this subject. A teacher will need to set time everyday for reading. It is important to read as much as possible.

Make learning fun and exciting. Build their confidence up and they will feel like they can do anything.