1. Welcome to First Grade!

2. We are so excited to be teaching your children this year, and we look forward to a wonderful year together!
This year your first grader will participate in an active learning community and will develop:
Independence
Strong Academic Skills
Social Skills
Friendships                                   
Problem Solving Skills
A Love of Learning

3. PBIS
Duffy Promise
As Duffy citizens, we show respect, demonstrate compassion, and take responsibility for our learning and our actions.
We focus on positive behaviors with a goal of increasing academic success.
We use common language and explicitly teach behavior expectations.
Students earn tickets individually, each class earns scales on a dragon, and all Duffy students work toward school wide celebrations.
We have fun! We are a community that plays, learns and works together.

4. Typical Schedule RISE (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) Morning Meeting
Specials (P.E., Music, Art, Library/Computer Lab)
Literacy
Snack
Writer’s Workshop
Recess (12:05 – 12:35) Lunch (12:45 – 1:15)
Math
Science/Social Studies
Book Buddies

5. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday ~ 8:45 – 9:15
RISE
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday ~ 8:45 – 9:15
Flexible groupings of students across the grade for 6-8 week sessions
All children will participate in RISE. Your child will participate in one of the following ways:
Small group with a teacher, independent practice with teacher check-ins, partner or group work, projects, reading, writing and/or math

6. Students will develop a positive, growth mindset.
Students will be engaged in mathematical problem solving.
Mathematical thinking and reasoning (the process) will be stressed.
Problems can be solved in more than one way and students will need to model and explain their solution.
Students will engage in mathematical discourse to evaluate solutions.

7. Mathematical Practice Standards
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

8. Math instruction will focus on:
Operations and Algebraic Reasoning
Story problems and equations
Fluency of addition and subtraction facts within 10
Number and Operations in Base Ten
Counting
Place Value
Measurement and Data
Measure lengths
Tell time to hour and half hour
Represent and interpret data
Geometry
2D and 3D shapes and their attributes

9. Whole Group Instruction Small Group Instruction
Math Block
Whole Group Instruction
Small Group Instruction
Number Talks
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Math Centers

10. Literacy instruction will focus on:
Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition Skills
Speaking and Listening
Reading with Fluency
Identifying Key Ideas and Details
Understanding the Structure of Texts
Integrating Knowledge and Ideas Within and Across Texts

11. Literacy Block Whole Group Small Group Guided Reading
Independent Practice
Independent Reading
Literacy Centers

12. Guided Reading (differentiated small group instruction)
Reading Hand
Strategies for reading
unfamiliar words

13. Writer’s Workshop Direct Instruction (mini-lesson)
Independent Writing and Conferences
Sharing and Celebrating
Unit 1 - Creating a Community of Writers
Unit 2 – Narrative Writing: Small Moments
Unit 3 - Information Writing: Nonfiction Chapter Books
Unit 4 - Opinion Writing: Writing Reviews

14. Writer’s Workshop
Mini-lessons will focus on the writing process, conventions, and/or craft based on the needs of the students
We will also focus on:
Handwriting
Spelling
Editing (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure)
Revising (rewriting, adding details)
Publishing

15. Social Studies - Geography
Explore maps and their purpose
Create maps
Identify and locate places
Use symbols, legends and keys
Determine distance and direction

16. Social Studies - Civics
Develop a positive self-concept
Identify, understand and regulate emotions of self and others
Develop an understanding of rules and responsibilities within communities
Develop positive interpersonal relationships

17. Science Students will…
participate in inquiry-based lessons that build science and engineering practices.
engage in hands-on experiences that allow them to discover the big ideas of science.
Patterns of the Sun and Moon
Shadow Changes on the Playground
Communicating with Light and Sound
Using Light and Sound to Send Messages
Learning From Nature Through our Senses
Structure and Function of Plants & Animals
Seasons Change and So Does Nature
Sunlight, Seasonal Patterns, and Characteristics of Living Things

18. Health Healthy Heart Program (Nutrition and Wellness)
Second Step (Skills for Learning, Empathy, Emotion Management, Problem Solving)
Safety

19. Snack
Please send a small, healthy snack to school with your child each day. Snack time is about 10 minutes.
Our classrooms are all nut free.  Please be sure to check food labels to ensure that we are keeping all of our students safe.

20. Reading each night reflected in monthly reading log
Weekly math activity
Optional monthly challenge projects

21. Seesaw Digital learning portfolio
Opportunity to see what your child is learning
We welcome your comments and feedback!
We will send home directions for signing up soon

22. Field Trips
More information coming soon…..

23. Extra Resources
Visit our district website for math and literacy resources:
Visit our Duffy website:

24. It’s an exciting year to be a first grader at Duffy School!
Get ready to watch your child GROW!

25. Take one, Make one!
Please find the special dragon note your child made for you attached to Curriculum in a Nutshell on the table.
Write a quick note of encouragement to your child on one of the blank dragon papers. Your child will have fun reading it tomorrow! 