Our First Grade Curriculum is based on thematic units. With the beginning or ending of each thematic unit, the children have a special day for celebration. The activities are solely related to the theme of the day. Many days are set up with stations that the children rotate through. Each station has an activity related to a different area of the curriculum.
Click on the month to view the themes or scroll down to read them all from the beginning of the year to the end.
In order to celebrate Robert McCloskey's September birthday we make blueberry
muffins. We read his books
Apple
Day
The theme of apples is studied throughout the month of
September. We read such books as The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree, Johnny Appleseed, The Apple Thief. Our
favorite activity of the day is making school-made applesauce.
Popcorn
Day
Pop, Pop, Pop! Popcorn Day in the first grade is everything related to our
favorite corn snack. We read such books as The Popcorn Dragon, The Popcorn Popper, Corn is Maize, and The Popcorn Shop. Our favorite
activity is our popcorn taste test to graph our favorite type, cheese, plain,
buttered, or caramel. It order to practice counting by
tens we create a popcorn trail mix to snack on. The students are introduced to
the concept of estimation by counting unpopped and
popped kernels. We use a commercial sized popcorn machine and join with the
other first grades and snack, snack, snack!
Pumpkin
Day
Pumpkin Galore is a day of stations. The students are divided in cooperative
learning groups to rotate through learning stations. Activities at the learning
stations involve art, listening, math reading, spelling, writing, science. We
write about pumpkins, read about pumpkins, sequence how pumpkins grow, measure
pumpkins, and even get our hands inside a pumpkin. We read Pumpkin, Pumpkin and
Mousekin's Golden House.
Pasta
and Pizza Day
Pasta and
Pizza Day is a day where the students will learn all
about pasta and pizza. We will read stories like Stega
Nona, Pasta, and Pizza Fit for a Queen. We read poetry about pasta
and pizza. We learn about the many different kinds of pasta and compare and
contrast the various types. We even use the pasta to learn about punctuation.
We use curved macaroni to make question marks and quotes and thin tubes for
exclamation points! The day wouldn't be complete without making mini-pizzas on english muffins! Yum!
Spider
Day
Because of Halloween and our themes of night, witches and scary things, we
study spiders. We graph our feelings about spiders and practice some spider
phonics. We read Spinning Spiders, How Spider's Make their Webs and Anansi the Spider. No matter what we thought of spiders
before spider day gives us a new appreciation for them!
Sandwich
Day
On November 3rd, 1762 John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, told his
servant to prepare him a meal by placing meat between two slices of bread. The
sandwich was born, and ever since then it has remained on of the most popular
foods in the world. On "Sandwich Day" in first grade, the children
enjoy reading stories about sandwiches, learning a little history about the
sandwich, singing songs about sandwiches and of course-sharing their
sandwiches. The children are introduced to fractions and must identify the
different ways of dividing sandwiches to make fair shares.
Read-a-Thon
The first graders at Woodmont celebrate their love for reading by dedicating an entire school day to reading. They bring their favorite books, stuffed animals, and blankets. They "set up camp" and snuggle down for a quiet and relaxing day of reading. The children read individually, aloud, in small groups, and in one-on-one situations. They listen to stories on tape and by guest readers. They are free to eat snacks as they read and of course, the day wouldn't be complete without a little assertive play in between reading periods.
Mickey
Mouse Day
What better way to celebrate everyone's favorite mouse but to throw a birthday
party in his honor! Mickey Mouse's Birthday is November 18th. The children
celebrate by completing many activities throughout the day that honor this
famous mouse. The highlight of the day is making Mickey Mouse shaped grilled
cheese sandwiches for snack. We send our birthday wishes off to Disney World
and wait for the reply! He always sends us autographed pictures!
Gingerbread
Day
You can't catch us we're learning! Gingerbread day is
another day of learning stations including math, science, art, reading, and
spelling. We read The Gingerbread Man and Hansel and Gretel and rewrite our own
creative endings. What Gingerbread Day would be complete without cookies? While
munching we create a class graph to show the most popular part of the cookies
to be eaten first.
Winter
Celebration
Even if the weather doesn't cooperate we celebrate winter, hibernation and
migration. We read stories by Jan Brett such as The Mitten, The Hay, Annie and
the Wild Animals, Comet's Nine Lives, Armadillo Rodeo, and Trouble with Trolls.
We study how animals get ready for winter and make pine cone bird feeders to
help out our feathered friends.
Colonial
Celebrations
Let's go back in time as we read many stories about
the colonial days. Some favorite stories include the Laura Ingalls
Wilder series. In tradition of colonial times, the children make "clove
apples", to decorate their home like the colonial people did. As part of
our Social Studies curriculum, the children learn that long ago, the people
decorated apples with cloves that served as a centerpiece on tables or hung in
doorways or closets throughout the winter season.
Penguin
Day
Waddling to the polar regions in order to study
penguins is first grade fun! We read such true penguin stories as Penguins and
Playing with Penguins and some funny fictional stories such as Tacky the
Penguin, Cuddly Dudley, Cinderella Penguin, and Little Penguin's Tale. We eat
mini gold fish snack crackers and dress in black and white.
Winnie-the-Pooh
Day
What first grade class could resist honoring the
birthday A.A. Milne, author of Winnie-the-Pooh. It's "No Bother"! For
this celebration, the children to wear any Pooh or friends (Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, etc.) clothes they may have, and bring in
any Pooh items (stuffed animals, books, etc.) they have for show-and-tell. The
day involves reading, writing, and math activities related to Winnie-the-Pooh
and his companions. The children decorate their favorite character cookies with
icing for snack-there's no "rumbly in their tumbly" as Pooh would say!
A relaxing and cozy winter day is dedicated to just to reading. Children
snuggle up with their favorite books, blankets, and stuffed animals as they
enter the world of reading. The children are taken to far away places as they
bury their noses in books! The students are involved in reading activities such
as shared reading, paired reading, book talks, and listening to guest readers.
The entire focus is on reading and books.
Quilt
and Blanket Day
Because the weather outside might be cold or snowy,
its time to snuggle up for quilt and blanket day. We read such stories as The
Patchwork Quilt, The Quilt Story, and
Tooth
Day
February is Dental Health month so we spend the day learning about good foods
and healthy habits. We read such stories as
Chocolate
Day
After learning about the importance of good health
habits, the children will be learning about the different food groups! Okay, so
chocolate is not really a food group, but it should be! With
Valentine's Day just around the corner, what better time to celebrate our love
of chocolate. The children will read books about chocolate and other Valentine's
Day treats.
100th
Day Celebration
To mark the 100th Day of school, the children
celebrate by completing tasks related to the number 100. We do 100 jumping
jacks, write and answer 100 math problems, spell 100 words, count 100 items,
see how many words we can write in 100 seconds--the list goes on and on. We
read some great books like The Hundredth Day of School, Mrs. Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of School, 100 Hungry
Ants, and Wolf's Chicken Stew. We also enjoy making our 100 Day soup complete with 100 of all the ingredients.
Teddy
Bear Day
On Teddy Bear Day everyone brings their favorite fluffy pal to school for show
and tell. We graph all the different kinds of bears. The children complete Venn
Diagrams describing their bear and a friends bear. We
read all kinds of bear stories and poetry. The little visitors love to sit and
listen to stories. They love to cuddle up during B.E.A.R. time and read stories
with their life long friends.
National
Pig Day
National Pig
Day is celebrated throughout the
Whatever
the Weather
With spring
time upon us, the children learn about the different kinds of weather. The day
is dedicated to learning weather vocabulary and types of climates. We read
several stories about the many kinds of weather and how weather affects
people--they way the dress and their jobs. We discuss and perform simple
science experiments about clouds, wind, and condensation.
Music
Day
To celebrate "National Music in Schools Month" we have "Music
Day". This is a day when parents and children can share a favorite song, a
Sing-Along tape, or perhaps a musical instrument to bring in or play. The
children complete music activities, learn about musical notes and symbols,
listen to various kinds of music, have sing alongs, and read stories with
musical themes. A favorite book is always Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett. The
day wouldn't be complete without Musical BINGO!
Green
Eggs and Ham Day
On St. Patrick's Day the children in other classes are "green with
envy" as the first graders read the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham
and then make some to eat! Did you ever try green eggs and ham? All the
children agree that while strange looking, it tastes delicious! The children
also enjoy completing activities related to the color green as well as projects
about leprechauns.
Rainbow
Day
Along the Irish theme of leprechauns and pots of gold, Rainbow Day was created.
The children take a journey to the end of the rainbow as they enjoy a day
filled with colorful stories and poetry about rainbows. The children learn how
crayons are made, learn how colors mix to make new colors and how light creates
rainbows. We manufacture our own rainbow using water and the sunlight as well
as a prism! The children become artists complete with a graham cracker palette
and red, yellow, and blue icing that they must mix to make new colors! With the
other two first grades, the children
created a huge rainbow mural that is always displayed in the front entrance of
the building. The children eat a spectrum of the rainbow in snacks too.
Bunches
of Bunnies
Hopping into spring time, we celebrate a day dedicated to furry, little,
cotton-tailed bunnies. We read such adventures as the Marcus Pfister collection
of Hopper books and also some true books about bunnies. The children learn to
do the "Bunny Hop" and of course have a bunny hop race against the
other first grades. The children rotate to different learning stations to
complete activities with cooperative groups.
Egg
Day
This is an EGG-ceptionally fun day. Some of the stories we read are Rechenka's
Eggs, Chickens Aren't The Only Ones, The Talking Eggs, An Extraordinary Egg,
How Fletcher Hatched, Goose, Dora's Egg, and Horton Hatches the Egg. The
children work in groups to brainstorm a list of egg laying and non-egg laying
animals. The children conduct an egg exploration. They explore the characteristics
of raw and hard-boiled eggs. Students used observation and prediction skills to
complete this activity. Afterwards the "scientists" had to recall by
labeling the parts of an egg diagram. The children complete egg activity
stations and compete in an egg race with the other two first grade classes. We
also make "deviled" eggs for a morning snack and in the afternoon the
children make "Nibble Nests" for snack. These nests are made with
peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and Chinese noodles. Inside the nest are jelly
beans that look just like real bird eggs!
Career
Day
And what do you want to be when you get older? As part of our Social Studies
Curriculum, the children explore different jobs. On career day, the children
have a guessing "show and tell". They dress up and/or use props about
what they want to be. Each child read clues about what they want to be when
they get older while the other children guess what the job is. We read stories
about careers and completed related activities. Each child makes their own
computer business card which they trade with their friends! They even create
job resumes. We have a dedicated class on their way to becoming professionals!
Math
Day
Math Is Everywhere! During Math Education Month we celebrate a First Grade Math
Day. The students are divided into groups of four and rotated through the first
grade classrooms. Each room has five enrichment centers set up. Students worked
cooperatively to successfully complete each activity. Activities include: a
laser disc Windows on Math mini-lesson on symmetry, listening to The Math Curse
by Jon Scieszka, followed up with a writing activity, computer activities
including games like Math Rabbit, Treasure Math Storm, Math Shop Jr., and Hands
on Math, some Math board games, activities involving money, measuring,
patterning, unifix cubes, pattern blocks, probability, graphing, and even some
multiplication and division! It is a high-paced day with very little down time,
but the children are so involved they hardly noticed how hard they are working.
Earth
Day
Earth Day celebrated around the
Space
Day
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Blast off! The parents must sign permission slips
for this day as we take an imaginary trip to outer space. The children journey
into space and learn facts about the planets, stars and other space phenomenon.
The children demonstrate rotation of the planets. This is simulated on the
lower playground to better help the students understand size and distance. The
children will keep daily records of their journey into space and record
everything they learn.
Bug
Day
Bugs don't bug us! Bug Day is not a day to pester your friends but to learn
more about the world of insects. The children read, write poetry, complete
riddles, math activities and attempt a nature hunt for insects. We do an author
study of Eric Carle. We read some of his "VERY" stories including The
Very Busy Spider, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Lonely Firefly, and The
Very Quiet Cricket.
Pet
Day
In celebration of "Be Kind to Animals" week, the second week of May
marks our "Pet Day". The children share their own pet tails-I mean
tales and learn many important facts about pet care. We read stories which
include: Pets I Wouldn't Pick, Curious George Walks the Pets, Moonbear's Pet,
Reading
Day and Outdoor Picnic
May is the perfect time to arrange for The First Grade Reading Day and Outdoor
Picnic. This day is in the hands of "Mother Nature". It must be a
bright beautiful and sunny day because we plan to do most of our reading
outdoors on the basketball courts where there's lots of shade. With several
books for both quiet and partner reading, a blanket or beach towel to sit on,
and extra munchies for snacking and sharing the day is quite enjoyable. Guest
Readers are welcome and parents are encouraged to come with their own book to
just "hang out" with us and read.
Spelling
Day
Give me a "S". Give me a "P". Give me an "E".
Give me a "LL". Give me an "I". Give me a "N".
Give me a "G". WHAT DOES THAT SPELL? SPELLING! Spelling Day in the
first grade marks the end of official first grade spelling tests. The children
rotate through spelling learning stations in
cooperative groups within our classroom to complete different spelling
activities. They work with spelling word banks, word games, puzzles, and
alphabet cards. We even incorporate Math into our Spelling activities. The
children enjoy the friendly competition and show off how they have learned
to apply spelling principles. In the afternoon we have the chance to compete in
a Spelling Bee with the other two first grades.
Beach
Day
In conjunction with our
of whales to life, the student's will apply their measuring,
addition/subtraction and problem solving skills. We will discuss several
different types of whales and compared their sizes by measuring and marking the
lengths on the lower playground. The children are always amazed by the size of
the
Blue Whale--100 feet long!
Ice
Cream Day
With the warm weather and summer ahead of us, who could resist a day dedicated
to ice cream! The children read some great stories like Ice Cream Soup, The Ice
Cream Bear, and How Ice Cream is Made. The most
exciting part of the day is when the children make their own ice cream. The
children mix all the ingredients in plastic baggies and shake them until they
get ice cream! Yum!
Where do you want to go now?