Home » Class Pages » 1st Grade - Miss Snowden

                                                   Welcome to First Grade!

First grade is such a fun and foundational year at The Covenant School. Our classes will be exploring and learning about such concepts as family, community and the world around us. We have fabulous field trips to look forward to... our classes visit the Belle Meade Post Office to mail a friendly letter and then enjoy a special behind-the-scenes tour of Nashville Fire Station 17 (on West End Avenue), which both relate to our study of community. We also travel north of Nashville to Mansker's Station to be immersed in the sights and surroundings of frontier life in the actual original settlement in Tennessee! It is truly a trip back in time and correlates with our social studies theme of how things change over time. We will also enjoy visits to the Nashville Children's Theatre, as well as visits from the Nashville Ballet and the Nashville Opera when they take a field trip to come and see us! Our students are always thrilled by these wonderful performances, whether they take place downtown or on the premises of our school.

We love science!!! In first grade, students will delve into the concepts of the three states of matter, as well as balance and motion. We spend many hours in the science lab exploring properties of solids and liquids and answering questions such as, "What happens when solids are mixed with water?" We even play games that help reinforce the concepts and vocabulary (for example; viscous, bubbly, foamy, colorful, translucent, transparent) being learned in the lab. In our study of balance and motion, students will conduct experiments with trick crayfish, triangles and arches, pencils, twirlers, tops, rollers, spinners, spheres and runways to make real connections with concepts such as counterweights, rotation, stable positions, balance point, air resistance, axles, slopes, etc.

Students are taught reading through a philosophy of balanced literacy. Literacy experiences include whole-group shared reading and small group guided reading using leveled readers. Phonics also plays a central role in the reading experience. Students learn phonics rules and implement the rules throughout their day, whether it be within the context of reading, writing or spelling. As students are empowered by various and continually deeper literary experiences, they are able to use their solid foundation in all other academic content areas.

In first grade, math is taught with a problem solving approach and the emphasis is on the development and understanding of mathematical concepts. The primary focus of the first grade curriculum is on numbers and operations including addition, subtraction and place value, but time is also devoted to measurement, geometry, data collection and analysis, as well as patterns, which will all help create a foundation for algebraic thinking later on. The curriculum is also taught in a spiralling format, meaning that all the concepts taught are reviewed and expanded upon throughout the year.

One of the highlights of the year is reading novels aloud to our classes. Books are wonderful springboards for discussion of new vocabulary words, story elements, geography, as well as writing activities to extend what has been read and learned. Teacher-read novels also provide special bonding for the classes as they listen and experience the adventure of each story together. As teachers, we strive to instill in each student a love of literature that will deepen with time and be carried throughout life.

Weather and seasons are recurring themes throughout the year. We establish many daily routines that are directly related to our mathematic and science studies. Teachers and parents are amazed at the correlations our students find and identify among patterns, seasons, numbers, the water cycle, the calendar, etc. It is so encouraging and exciting to watch the first graders fall in love with learning and constantly discover the wonderful world God has created for us to know and explore.