The First Grade Facts

Liberty Corner’s First Grade teachers strive to create a positive learning environment where students are encouraged to take risks. The students are engaged in hands-on, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that meet all learning styles.

Language Arts

It is our goal in Language Arts to help the children develop a love for reading and writing. We teach and model many different reading strategies to help them become independent readers. We do this with a balanced literacy approach of shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. Students learn to problem-solve text independently. We focus on concepts of print, phonological awareness, fluency, and vocabulary development. We model and teach the writing process. The students learn to brainstorm ideas, draft writing, proofread, edit and publish their stories. We will focus on various phonetic rules and spelling patterns to help children build upon their writing skills.

Math

The first grade program, Go Math offers children a deep and complete understanding of the first grade curriculum and our national standards of mathematics. It helps students to achieve fluency, speed and confidence with grade level concepts. The children will learn these topics through fresh teaching approaches, hands-on explorations, and partner and small group activities that address the rigors of new standards and assessments.

Social Studies
Our first graders have the opportunity to explore Social Studies and Languages Arts concepts through our integrated curriculum of thematic units. This year the students will be exploring the concepts of Family, Food, Clothing and Shelter. In addition we will study the significance and pride of our American Symbols.

Science
Our students have the opportunity to explore Science with hands-on science experiments and activities. We will discover many concepts about the natural world around us. Our units of study are Weather, Balance and Weighing and How to Grow a Garden.

Handwriting

The First Grade implements a Zaner-Bloser Handwriting program.

Character Education

Our Character Education program is an important aspect of your Liberty Corner experience. We believe that character education is a life’s work. This year we continue to adopt our Bucket Filling program where we work to “fill” other people’s internal buckets with kind words and actions. In addition, we will engage in community service projects to demonstrate caring and compassion for others.

Each night children will have word study and math practice. Reading for pleasure each evening is a special learning experience that children enjoy sharing with their families. Keep reading!

We look forward to an exciting fun-filled year of academic, character and social growth!