Cascade Canyon

1st and 2nd Grade

This year’s school theme is “Cultivating Sustainability (a harmony of cycles)”. In the 1st - 2nd grade class, the theme will be integrated throughout the curriculum, from working towards a cohesive, supportive class culture, to planning, researching, planting and maintaining a garden of medicinal and culinary herbs, to interviewing local merchants prior to making our own Fairfax community model, to working in our Creation Station, where recycled items become treasures, to investigating connections between math and the natural world. We will also continuously explore and celebrate other cultures to encourage the students to remain open to all that is beautiful and instructive and inspiring about people who are different from us.  The year will culminate with long-term group projects about the Ocean, the source of all life on the planet, and the transformation of our classroom into an Underwater Coral Reef (made out of recycled materials, of course!). LANGUAGE ARTS      Our Language Arts curriculum places equal emphasis on reading, writing, listening and speaking.  Movement, art, music, sign language and theater are integral parts of our weekly Language Arts program. A combination of different reading and writing curricula and independent programs are used to reach a variety of learning styles through a range of modalities. Reading:     The students will continue to develop literacy skills that increase decoding and sight word strategies, expression and fluency, and comprehension of the texts they read. They will keep records of what they are reading and generate responses through book logs, reading response journals, short book reports, and oral discussions. They will complete a "mini novel study" and learn library skills, including how and where to find different genres of literature, "check out" procedures, and the responsible care of books.  The reading programs for the First and Second Grade are: Zoo Phonics, a multi-modal phonics, literature-based reading program Primary Phonics, a reading program with linear, incremental development in phonics decoding Ladybird Classic Tales, a sight-based reading program with beautifully illustrated books depicting tales from around the world Invitations to Literacy, a collection of literary genres used in reading groups with an emphasis on reading aloud and comprehension Interactive Reading Journey, Zoo Adventures, and Reader Rabbit, computer programs for primary literacy Books of Choice, reading books from home, the class library or the local library, and sharing books with "Reading Buddies" Student Objectives (in progressive skill sets): Word Analysis: Match oral words to printed words Identify title and author of a reading selection Blend vowel consonant sounds orally to make words or syllables ("ad" family) Count (clap) the number of syllables in words Distinguish initial, medial and final sounds in single CVC words Distinguish long and short vowels sounds in orally stated single-syllable words Add, delete or change target sounds in CVC words ("how" to "cow") Create and state a series of  rhyming words, including consonant blends Read common, irregular sight words Read compound words and contractions Read inflected forms (s, ed, ing) and root words (look, looked, looking) Decode two syllable nonsense words and regular multisyllable words Recognize common abbreviations (Mr., St., Jan.) Identify and correctly use regular plurals (s, es, ies) and irregular plurals (fly/flies, wife/wives) Know meaning of simple prefixes and suffixes (over, un, ing, ly) Read aloud with fluency and appropriate intonation and expression Reading Comprehension:  Locate Table of Contents and use appropriately  Connect reading to life experiences and retell familiar stories  Respond to who, what, when, where and how questions  Retell the central ideas of narrative passages  Recognize cause and effect relationships  Use context to resolve ambiguities about the meaning of words and sentences Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a text by identifying key "sign post" words Identify and describe plot, setting, and characters in a story, as well as the story's beginning middle and end Interpret information from diagrams, charts, and graphs Identify the use of rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration in poetry Writing: The students will continue to develop writing skills in letter formation, spelling, vocabulary, and sentence structure, as well as participating in an ongoing Writers' Workshop.  Using real authors as mentors, we will explore the craft of various forms of writing and learn the writing process (planning, drafting, revising/editing, publishing and  celebrating on our authors' days) during each writing unit.  Besides writing journal entries, letters and invitations, posters, signs and labels, reading responses and  book reports, the students will be exposed to the craft of writing in four different units: Personal Narrative Nonfiction Writing (interviews, research about Ocean) Poetry Fairytales The Writing Programs for the First and Second Grades are: Zoo Phonics, a multimodal, phonics, literature-based spelling and writing program Forming Letters, handwriting skill developed through whole body formations and writing in the air and against texture Houghton Mifflin's Spelling and Vocabulary, a program of spelling, grammar, dictionary skills, word sorts, and extensions into Art, Science and Social Studies Interactive Writing Journey, Zoo Adventures, and Storybook Weaver, computer programs for primary writing skills Lucy Calkins' Writing Workshop Program, creating a classroom community of "authors" who support and celebrate each others' work through the writing process Student Objectives (in progressive skill sets): Word Study: Write upper and lower case letters independently with proper form and spacing Write words and brief sentences that are legible Write and speak in complete sentences Correctly use singular and plural nouns Correctly use contractions Distinguish between declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences Use commas and quotation marks correctly Capitalize the pronoun "I", the first word in a sentence, all proper nouns, greetings, months and days of the week, and titles and initials of people Spell frequently used, irregular words correctly Spell short vowel, long vowel, r controlled/consonant blend patterns correctly Identify and correctly use various parts of speech, including nouns and verbs Write a paragraph Writing Process: Select a focus when writing Write a friendly letter Write on a topic with facts Write brief narratives Describe the setting, characters, objects, and events in detail Write a fairytale Write poetry (rhyme, rhythm, shape, free verse) Revise original drafts to improve sequence and provide more descriptive detail Complete the writing process and present on Author's Day Listening and Speaking:  As a class community, we practice active listening techniques on a daily basis.  It is a class expectation that every person in the community will listen respectfully and respond appropriately during class discussions.  Class meetings, conflict resolution and the free language activities  during the end of each morning (puppet shows, skits, storytelling, sharing) are ripe environments in which to fine tune listening and speaking skills.  The insights, inquiries and viewpoints of these communication sessions are some of the richest moments of learning in or classroom, indeed! Student Objectives: Listen attentively to stories read aloud Listen attentively to sharing and presentations by fellow students Listen attentively during conflict resolution Listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication Ask for clarification and explanation of stories and ideas Paraphrase information that has been shared orally by others Give and follow two and three step directions Speak in a manner that guides the listener to understand the important ideas Organize presentations to maintain a clear focus Recount experiences in a logical sequence Retell stories, including characters, setting, and plot Report on a topic with supportive facts and details Articulate thoughts and feelings during conflict resolution MATHEMATICS This year, the students will continue to deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts. A combination of different math curricula and programs are used to reach a variety of learning styles through a range of modalities.  This combined approach focuses on problem solving with manipulatives, real world math situations, outdoor activities, movement, art, rhythm and song, group work where multiple solutions are valued, and a deliberate integration with Language Arts. The Math materials for the First and Second Grades are: Cuisenaire Rods, algebra taught through ten different colored rods, each with a distinct value and relationship to the other rods in a staircase sequence Place Value Cubes, place value and regrouping in addition and subtraction taught through activities with orange one cubes, ten sticks, hundred squares, and thousand blocks, all based on a one centimeter unit Pattern Blocks, geometry taught through patterning and constructing with colored polygon shapes Geo Boards, exploring the concepts of point, line, angle and shape through creating patterns and shapes with rubberbands on a pointed geo board; transferring from a two to a three dimensional plane Silver Burdett Ginn's Mathematics: Exploring Your World, our "backbone" curriculum, covering all areas of the First and Second Grade Mathematical concepts, with many extension programs and activities Student Objectives (in progressive skill sets): Count, recognize, represent, name and order a number of objects (up to 30) Use concrete objects to determine the answers to addition and subtraction problems (for two digits less than 10) Recognize when an estimate is reasonable Count, read, and write whole numbers to 100 Compare and order whole numbers to 100 using < = > Count and group objects in ones and tens Represent equivalent forms of the same number (8, 4=4, 9-1, eight) Know the addition facts to 20 and corresponding subtraction facts Commit these = and - facts to memory Use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction to solve and check problems Identify one more than, one less than, 10 more than, 10 less than Count by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100 Solve = and - problems with one and two digit numbers (5=56) Find the sum or difference of two whole number problems up to three digits long Know and use the decimal notation and the dollar and cent symbols for money Identify, sort, classify objects by attributes Use the commutative and associative properties Solve problems by using data from simple charts, picture graphs, and number sentences Compare length, weight and capacity using words (taller, shorter) Identify time to the nearest hour Tell time to the nearest half hour and relate "before/after" Use different units to measure the same objects Measure objects to the nearest inch and foot SOCIAL STUDIES At the heart of our classroom experience is the focus on community and how to make it harmonious, exciting, supportive, shared, full of love.  Just as we clean Mother Earth every week to make our campus safe and healthy for the plants and animals who share it, so we spend time every week talking about what we are thankful for, practicing active listening and strong conflict resolution skills, and noticing kind acts and words that come our way.  It takes each individual to make a better whole. From our class community outward through the school, our families, the local community and the larger world, we try to echo these expectations and actions.  We will be interacting with the town of Fairfax, learning about the history, interviewing and visiting local community members at their workplaces.  Just who is critical to the smooth, happy, healthy running of the town?  What are basic needs which all people have?  How do we locate and imagine places beyond our local environment?  Who lived here before us?  How do we know? What is the ocean like under the surface?  How does the weather or local environment affect all of these things? Through mapping skills, role play, primary source interactions, research, games and activities, the students will move a little further along this road to discovery! Student Objectives: Respect the guidelines that work for the "group", such as sharing, taking turns, fair play, good sportsmanship, respect for self, other, the environment Trace the family history through primary and secondary sources Match simple job descriptions to the people who work at the school and in the local community Recognize state symbols such as bird, flower, flag Locate on maps and globes the local community, state, country, seven continents, and the four major oceans Construct a simple map, using cardinal directions and map symbols Decribe how location, weather, and physical environment influence how people live (food, shelter, clothing, transportation and recreation) Describe the different ways in which groups and countries interact to try to resolve problems SCIENCE Our 1st-2nd grade science program at Cascade Canyon is taught by our Science Specialist who is an expert in her field. For more information on the 1st and 2nd grade science curriculum, click here .