First Grade
First Grade Program
The first-grade curriculum at Trinity Episcopal School builds upon the kindergarten program as it offers an integrated learning experience across all core subjects and program activities. The first-grade program develops and secures the students auditory, visual, and kinesthetic awareness. The program includes a multi-sensory approach to learning that will adapt to meet the individual social and academic needs and readiness of all students.
The children will participate in activities and studies that provide opportunities for their spiritual, personal, and academic development. This program provides a variety of formal and informal learning experiences. Differentiated teaching styles will engage the students in reading, math, writing, science, social studies, and the arts. Interwoven throughout the daily activities is a unified approach to help children develop and build foundational beliefs and values from a biblical perspective. The classroom is a center that will allow the children to learn, work, and play cooperatively in a spiritual growth atmosphere.
Language Arts
The first-grade language arts program encompasses an integrated language approach. Along with the traditional academic subjects listed below, the children are exposed to a variety of language rich experiences. All of the experiences assist to meet the special needs of each student and may be of an accelerated, grade level, or remedial nature. Our program wishes to have each child develop an appreciation and love of literature.
Reading
The literature-based reading program, McGraw-Hill Wonders, builds upon the experiences of each child beginning with the child’s language, experiences and the world. The program is designed to help and support each child develop a genuine love of reading.
The program starts with oral language as the foundation for initial success in reading comprehension. Phonics is incorporated into the reading program, and phonemic awareness instruction is utilized and developed throughout the year. Sight and reading vocabularies are further developed as decoding skills and sound-symbol relationships become more familiar to the first-grade student. A wide variety of genres are readily available to the students, and time is allotted for independent and pleasure reading on a daily basis. Decodable books through Primary Phonics are offered in addition, to encourage application and a foundation for reading success. Also introduced within the Language Arts program is the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. This program is a writing curriculum that is a research-backed program that provides a positive and gentle learning style for beginning writers.
Spelling
First-grade integrates the Orton-Gillingham method of instruction for spelling. This method is applied throughout the curriculum to introduce and strengthen phonemic awareness as the children begin to blend sounds to make words. Students will begin to apply spelling rules in their weekly dictation sentences and in their daily work. Each week students are given word lists for sight word instruction and a phonemic concept of focus for assessment.
Math
First-grade uses Dimensions Math text and workbook, published by Singapore Math, Inc. Based on research, the curriculum was developed with a focus on thinking and an emphasis on conceptual understanding and problem solving. The students are taught to be problem solvers. * Math is taught conceptually, linking ideas through the concrete, pictorial, and abstract methods. The in-depth scope and sequence content includes, but is not limited to, understanding number bonds to 10, exploring tens and ones to 100, addition and subtraction using strategies such as “making-a-ten” and “pulling-out-tens”, making and reading graphs, ordinal numbers, skip-counting and coin recognition and value.
Spiritual Development
Students in first-grade participate and attend morning chapel services twice a week. Lessons and bible reading taught in chapel introduce and explore Christian and Biblical themes. Children participate through daily lessons guided by the Summit Ministries / Faith for Life curriculum, and they will participate in lessons that provide foundational teachings of Christian faith. First graders will gather for joyous worship along with kindergarten students on a weekly basis. Both classroom and chapel services work hand-in-hand to enhance each child’s positive self-concept and respect for others. Children are taught that “Truth is revealed through Jesus Christ. Truth exists because God, who is Truth, exists.” Through guided instruction, workbooks, bible reading, and Chapel attendance, these children are grounded in Faith with a strong Christian development to live day by day.
Non-discriminatory Policy:
Trinity Episcopal School is committed to admitting and welcoming students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin.
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Non-discriminatory Policy:
Trinity Episcopal School is committed to admitting and welcoming students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin.
