1st Grade Curriculum Night

Welcome to First Grade! We are very excited for this school year and we are sure that it will be a FANTASTIC ONE! We hope that you find the information in this presentation helpful. We will be happy to address any questions that you have at the end of the presentation.

A Reason to celebrate… WE are pleased to announce that HUSD was ranked the #1 school district in Arizona! A BIG THANKS to all of you for your continued support in helping our San Tan children to succeed!!!

Partners in Education Let’s be partners in your child’s education! We will be giving you a lot of information about first grade expectations. Our goal is for your child to be successful! Together, we will help your child grow and learn!

Curriculum Information Reading We use Houghton Mifflin for our Reading program. The reading program provides differentiated instruction. We have many wonderful resources at our disposal—including decodable books, leveled readers (fiction and nonfiction), leveled workbooks, literacy workstations, and big book. DIBELS NEXT: Your child will be tested using DIBLES NEXT three times during the year (August, December, and May). Our reading goal is 69+ words per minute with 98%+ accuracy. Your support from the very beginning of the year is critical to your child’s success! Curriculum Information

What is DIBELS? DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Standardized and individualized Short, 1-minute fluency measures to monitor the development of early reading skills.

Why Use DIBELS? The assessments target areas of intervention. They provide information on improvement. Scores easy to understand.

Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Individually administered in 1 minute. Student presented with random nonsense words (ex: tid, bos) and asked to read each word by producing each letter sound.

Why is it important to read a nonsense word? Demonstrates three skills essential to reading: each letter represents one sound can put sounds together fluently provides a strategy in decoding a multisyllabic word

NWF Forms

NWF Procedure Student given sheet of nonsense words. Student given one minute to read as many as possible while examiner records. Students are only given points for whole words read.

Oral Reading Fluency Procedures Students given a grade level passage to read.

ORF Retelling Fluency After reading, students retell the passage in their own words. The number of words correct in 1 minute is the oral reading rate.

Reading Expectations Consistently read grade-level text with 98%+ accuracy. Read a minimum of 69+ words per minute. Read with expression. Read high-frequency words. Use Saxon phonograms, common spelling patterns, knowledge of endings (-ed, -ing, s), and knowledge of compound words to quickly decode simple words. Generate rhyming words. Distinguish between short and long vowel sounds. Make predictions. Identify plot. Sequence story events. Determine if a selection is real or fantasy. Answer the questions who, what, when, where, and why from selections that are read. Follow multi-step directions.

Writing Expectations Use appropriate spacing between letters, words, and lines. Use capital letters and punctuation correctly. Spell high frequency words and words with common spelling patterns (e.g. word families, CVC words) correctly. Use close approximations for phonetic spelling. Write about a personal experience. Use journals, lists, labels, etc. Respond to literature by drawing and writing about the characters, setting, sequence of events, and main idea. Write stories to include characters, setting, and sequence of events.

Curriculum Information Math Our Math program uses manipulatives in order to make math concepts more concrete. The math program starts out quite basic, reviewing skills taught in kindergarten. However, as students master the initial skills and concepts, they are guided to higher levels of thinking. NY Engage: Teaches to each common core standard using an interactive, “hands-on” approach. DIBELS Math: Students are tested three times a year on DIBLES math concepts.

Math Expectations Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction. Understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction. Add and subtract within 20. Work with addition and subtraction equations. Extend the counting sequence. Understand place value. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract. Measure length indirectly and by iterating length units. Tell and write time. Represent and interpret data.

Homework Homework is a great tool for your child to practice skills taught in class with your one-on- one help and supervision. Homework will begin next week. Next week: reading log Following week: reading log and spelling list

Reminders Please provide us with your email, if you have one. Please help your child to remember to bring his/her take home folder and backpack each day. Please remember to check our teacher web Pages for important events and information.

Thank you! WE appreciate your support and we look forward to a FANSASTIC new school year! We have included some additional handouts/information that we hope you will find beneficial. If you ever need to contact us, please send us an email. Our email address can be found on our web pages. Thank you! First Grade Team