Program Description
Children do not all learn in the same way. It is important for a teacher to present concepts in many different ways to appeal to the various learning styles. Differentiating instruction for all types of learners is essential in today’s classroom. Individual, small group and whole group learning are equally important in the classroom, and OVS strives to create an environment in which the students are using all their tools to be successful learners. The first grade curriculum includes English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as Spanish, music, fine arts, P.E., woodshop, and equestrian. As in all grades, instruction is differentiated to meet the needs of each student at his or her level of readiness. Activities and projects are cross-curricular as first-graders explores themes of community, diversity, movement, and change. Outdoor Education trips round out the first-grade experience.
Curriculum
Students build important reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. They continue to develop understanding and use of letters and sounds that make up words. They think, talk, and write about what they read in stories, articles, and other sources of information. In their writing, students work on putting together clear sentences on a range of topics using a growing vocabulary. Activities in these areas include:
- Reading stories and showing they understand the lesson or moral of the story
- Reading to learn information about history, the world, science, and other areas
- Asking and answering questions about a story, including characters, settings, and major events
- Comparing and contrasting the experiences of different characters
- Identifying the reasons an author gives to support a point
- Explaining differences between texts that tell stories and texts that provide information
- Learning and using new words
- Participating in class discussions by listening, responding to what others are saying, and asking questions
- Describing people, places, things, and events, expressing feelings and ideas clearly
- Learning basic rules of spoken and written English
- Working with others to gather facts and information on a topic
- Writing to describe an event, provide information on a topic, or share an opinion through stories, essays, reports, and persuasive papers
The mathematics curriculum includes:
- Operations and Algebraic Thinking: 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.
- Number and Operations in Base Ten: Extend the counting sequence. Understand place value. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
- Measurement and Data: Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units. Tell and write time. Represent and interpret data.
- Geometry: Reason with shapes and their attributes.
- Mathematical Practices: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Model with mathematics. Use appropriate tools strategically. Attend to precision. Look for and make use of structure. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
The science curriculum includes:
- Physical: Properties of solids, liquids, and gases. Changing properties with mixing, cooling, and heating.
- Life: Plant and animal habitats; how plants and animals meet human needs. Inherited traits and variations in plants and animals.
- Earth: The sun and earth’s place in the universe. Measuring weather observations.
- Engineering: Ask questions and define problems. Develop and use models. Plan and carry out investigations. Analyze and interpret data. Use mathematics and computational thinking. Construct explanations and design solutions. Engage in argument from evidence. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information.
The social studies curriculum includes:
- U.S.: Rights and individual responsibilities of citizenship and community. Symbols, icons and traditions of the United States.
- World: Daily life in different times and places around the world; aspects of people, places, and things that change over time while others stay the same. Diversity and backgrounds of American citizens.
- Economics: Basic economic concepts and the role of individual choice in a free-market economy.
- Geography: Physical and human characteristics of places.
Music
Spanish
Art
Woodshop
Library
Technology
Physical Education
Equestrian
