Classrooms

Grade 1 - Ms. Rachel Ward 

Welcome to the first grade at Holy Cross!  I look forward to a fun and productive year!  Welcome to Kindergarten! I will be your child’s teacher this year. This year is my twelfth year at Holy Cross School! I know this year will be the best!
     I received my Bachelor’s degree at Grand Valley State University in 1997. I then began working toward my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Saginaw Valley State University, where I have earned eighteen credit hours and received my professional teaching certificate. I continue to take courses and attend conferences to stay fresh and to keep learning as much as I can!
You may contact me at ward@holycrossonline.net.
Here are some of the things we expect to cover in First Grade:

* decoding and comprehension strategies for reading
* phonological awareness and sequencing
* inventive writing
* D'Nealian handwriting
* addition, subtraction, time, money and patterns
* exploring our world and experimenting in science
* learning to respect one another while taking responsibility for our actions.

Grade 1 Curriculum Overview

RELIGION

God Loves Me
* God made all things good
* Understand what Baptism asks of us
* Importance of respect of self and others

We Love God
* Way to know and love God is through the Bible
* Respect for life and all creation
* Prayer as a way to communicate with God

Jesus is God's Son
* Story of the birth of Jesus into a human family
* Jesus cares for others
* Listen to Bible stories which tell of Jesus' love and concern
* Mary is the mother of God

Our Church Family
* Understand church and their role as members
* Study the Mass become more involved at liturgies
* Importance of service to the Church and the community
* Mary as the Mother of God
* Good News
* God loves us and cares for us

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading

* Enjoy listening to and reading books
* Use pictures and print to get meaning from books
* Recognize and recall main idea and sequence in a story
* Apply word identification skills in meaningful contexts
* Introduce appropriate expression when reading
* Identify setting and characters in a story

Writing

* Write ideas with fluency and confidence
* Participate in activities which precede writing: drawing and reading
* Re-see own writing to make it clearer
* Present D'Nealian manuscript

Spelling

* Learn to spell words that follow the phonetic rules
* Learn to spell words that are used often

Handwriting

* Correctly print all upper and lower case letters on lined handwriting paper
* Correctly write first and last name

Listening

* Focus attention on speaker
* Retell story or story part
* Ask appropriate questions
* Respond appropriately to questioning
* Follow oral directions
* Use appropriate listening/responding behavior
* Recall important details

Speaking

* Tell stories, share experiences and ideas appropriately
* Share writing / projects

Study Skills

* Use various components of a book
* Alphabetize
* Interpret graphs, tables

Phonics

* Identify consonant sounds: initial, medial and final, blends and diagraphs
* Identify vowel sounds: short and long
* Identify compound words and contractions

Grammar

* Writing sentences
* Punctuation—capital letters, ending marks
* Nouns, verbs, adjectives
* Subject, predicate
* Contractions
* Number / color words
* Synonyms, antonyms
* Tense—past, present, future

SCIENCE

* The variety of living things
* Looking at trees
* Various parts of plants and their functions
* Look at different types of “soil” and changes in soil
* Be aware of changes in the earth
* Similarities and differences among plants
* Seed dispersal, germination
* Animal growth and change
* Our responsibility to respect and conserve plants and animals
* Lights and sounds
* Noise pollution and solar energy
* Describe weather
* Seasons, various types of weather
* Using weather information (air, water, weather)
* Protecting self from weather
* Conserving water
* Nutrition (food pyramid)
* Brushing teeth, washing hands

MATHEMATICS

* Count to 130, skip count by 2, 5 and 10
* Identify place value to hundreds
* Order numerals to 100
* Know addition, subtraction facts to 18
* Tell time to the quarter-, half-, and hour
* Apply problem solving strategies appropriate to grade level
* Add and subtract 2 digit numbers (no regrouping)
* Know fractions: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5
* County money to $1.00 in coins
* Know penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar
* Know place values 1s and 10s

SOCIAL STUDIES

K-3 Geography is integrated in the social studies.  The emphasis is on location and place:

* Use maps and globes
* Understand charts and graphs
* Read, interpret various map symbols
* Start to understand and use cardinal directions (N, S, E, W)
* Talk about the various physical and people-made features of a neighborhood
* Compare appearance of land, water masses on the globe
* Point out land, water and USA
* Need for cooperation among different peoples, locally and globally
* Family needs, activities and responsibilities
* Four basic needs of all people: love, food, clothing, shelter
* People meet needs through buying, selling, and use of environment
* First president/current president
* Symbols: flag, eagle, Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell
* Use calendars
* Citizenship
* People / things long ago

PE, Music, Art and Computer instruction is provided through East China School District’s Shared Time program with district-area nonpublic schools.
Please click on the Curriculum Overview  Brochure to download and read or print (print the cover separately).
Curriculum Overview Brochure
Cover

Please go to the Curriculum page for brochures for all of the classes.