Welcome to 1st Grade!
Hi! My name is Ms. Abi McBean and I am a first grade teacher at Mid-City's Prescott School of Enriched Sciences. I love teaching first grade because of the growth I see in my students every year. My favorite thing to teach is literacy - phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, fluency, writing, and lots of phonics! It is also very important for me to build strong relationships with my students and their parents. I love our school because we have an amazing staff and a small, beautiful, and diverse community.
We have an exciting year ahead with lots of learning!
Parents/Guardians, here is what you should expect your child to learn this year:
Social Emotional Learning
Every morning we start the day with a Morning Meeting and end the day with a Closing Circle, which are engaging ways to build a sense of strong community and set every student up for success academically and socially. Throughout the year, we learn skills such as identifying our feelings, how to deal with conflict in friendships, how to have empathy and compassion for others, and how to appreciate and celebrate each other's differences.
Reading
Your child will grow a lot in their reading this year. To be a good readers, students need to have both word recognition skills and strong reading comprehension. To build the decoding skills needed for word recognition we use University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) for literacy instruction, which is aligned with the Science of Reading and grounded in evidence-based instructional methods that promote reading proficiency. UFLI lessons include an eight step routine of phonemic awareness, visual drill, auditory drill, blending drill, new concept, word work, irregular "tricky" words, and reading a connected text.
To strengthen reading comprehension we use Amplify's Core Knowledge Language Arts Program (CKLA), which is also grounded in extensive research in the science of reading. In the Knowledge Strand, students are read different texts that include a range of topics - from world religions, fairytales, animal habitats, and the human body system. These lessons are taught through read alouds and help improve vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension. In addition, the Skills Strand teaches students language skills, such as the conventions of English, spelling, and grammar.
Writing
In first grade students will learn narrative, informational, and opinion writing. They will learn the writing process of think, plan, write, and review. They will learn how to use the CAPS (capitalization, appearance, punctuation, spelling) editing checklist and self monitor while writing. For each genre of writing, students will use different graphic organizers and learn signal words. Students are also taught the correct spelling of many tricky words (irregular words such as the, was, what) and are encouraged to spell these words correctly in their writing. At the end of each unit we have a Publishing Party where we celebrate each student's work.
Math
We follow the California Math Framework and Standards and use Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI), which is a student-centered approach to teaching math. Your child will learn to add and subtract within 20, how to solve and understand word problems, understand place value, and use it to add and subtract within 100. They will also learn how to tell time to the hour and half hour, measure length, and interpret graphs. In addition, they will explore two and three dimensional shapes, and partition them into equal halves and fourths. We start most math lessons with a warm up, which either focuses on number fluency or provides ideas for strategies that students can use. Then the problem is introduced and students unpack the problem, with the guidance of the teacher. During independent work time, students try to solve the problem and are encouraged to do so in multiple ways. Then during collaborative work time, students work together in groups or pairs to ask questions, share, and revise their work. Finally, we all come together again to share. In CGI, students bring their math knowledge and what they already know to the classroom, and teachers use students' thinking to guide instruction.
Science
Our Amplify Science units include Light & Sound, Animals & Plants, and Spinning Earth. Your child will be learning science through hands-on investigations, print resources, class discussions, and digital modeling tools.
Social Studies
Our social studies units include Citizenship: Rights & Responsibilities, US Symbols, Geography, Life Long Ago & Today, One Nation, Many People, and Economics: Goods & Services. The lessons are culturally responsive, teach students critical thinking skills, and focus on vocabulary.
We go to PE and Library once a week!
Garden, Music, Art & Maker's Space
Each grade will get to rotate and go to these classes throughout the year!
Technology
Students will learn to use the following educational tools on their chromebooks: iReady, Canva, Epic, Book Creator, Kahoot, Typing, Amplify, Clever, and Schoology.
