First Grade Expeditions

Friendship Topics: Friendship, Diversity, Conflict Resolution & Family  Guiding Questions: What behaviors and feelings demonstrate friendship? Why are friends important? How do we make & keep friends?

Core Texts
How to be a Friend by Marc Brown
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Elmer by David McKee
Frog and Toad are Friends
Best Friends for Frances
When the Sun Rose Today

H2Oh!*
Topics: Water flow of Haw Creek to the Gulf of Mexico, native western N.C. plant & animal habitats, travel log, computer research

Guiding Questions:

1. Where does the Water from Haw Creek originate and end?
2. What kinds of habitats support plant and animal life in our area?
3. How does too much water or too little water affect our surrounding community?

Core Texts
Paddle to the Sea
Life in a Stream
Swimmy
Rainbow Fish
One Tiny Raindrop
Bill Nye Science Guy water cycle video

*The H2oh! Expedition will not be repeated in 2nd grade for students in the 2007-2008 cohort of first grade.

Let's Move
Topics: Movement and transportation, sound waves
Watch for more details on this expedition after the school year begins.

The Circle of Life Topics: Exploring life cycles of insects and other animals including birth, developing into an adult, reproduction, aging and death, with an emphasis on “change” as a guiding scientific principle. Identify characteristics of living things, and why animals adapt or evolve. Guiding Questions: What is a life cycle? How do living things grow, age, and transform over time? What are some common stages of the life cycle in different creatures?

Core Texts
Stone Girl, Bone Girl
Curious George and the Dinosaur
Dinosaur Times
Magic School Bus—Look Inside the Earth
Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki,
BoxCar Children—Dinosaur Mystery & The Star Ruby
Jigsaw Jones—The Disappearing Dinosaur
Magic Treehouse—The Sunset of the Saber
Bill Nye dinosaur video

Language Arts Overview:
Students participate in literature circles and read daily. We write short stories focused on beginning, middle, end, and include a problem, solution, characters, setting, and details. Research projects focus on looking up factual information about a topic using books and the Internet, and writing reports from this information. Students explore the writing process, including  revising and editing. They learn the parts of a letter and practice letter writing. They also write simple poetry, including Haiku, couplets, and cinquains. In grammar, students learn about parts of speech, with a focus on verbs and nouns. Students use graphic organizers in all areas of study.

Math/Science Overview:
First graders continue to master number sense up to one hundred, including addition and subtraction with single digits, concepts of place value and order. They learn to tell time to the half-hour, study patterns, simple geometric shapes, and concepts of measurement. In science we focus on observation of plants, animals, and earth materials, and on recording data with accuracy using line plots and graphs. We classify and organize dinosaurs and do research on their characteristics.  We discuss rock properties and classifications.
Field Work:
Pumpkin picking, Colburn Earth Science Museum, Dinosaur Exhibit, Haw Creek, French Broad River Park, Nature Center, Quality Forward service project, Water Authority visit, Red Cross water safety, end-of-year camping in gym.

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