Objectives For Instruction First Grade
Bible
The primary focus of Bible instruction in first grade is the concept of making life choices
in accordance with God’s will for God’s people, using the examples of Biblical
characters and the teachings, miracles, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Bible stories covered include: Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph
and his family, Prophesy and birth of Jesus, Jesus in the temple, Jesus’ Baptism,
Temptation, Healing ministry, Choice of disciples, Sermon on the Mount (Beatitudes),
Calming of the sea, Raising of Lazarus, Healing of the demoniac, Healing of the blind
man, and The ten lepers.
Also included is instruction in the life of Martin Luther and the Reformation, and the
seasons of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Ascension.
Concepts taught include:
 God created the world for us and shows His majesty in the formation of it.
 Humankind broke the covenant God made with us through disobedience.
 God sought to restore the world to Himself through a new covenant with His
faithful servant Noah.
 God begins to interact with humankind again through the covenant with Abraham.
 God demonstrates his faithfulness through the story of Joseph.
 Jealousy can lead to wrong choices.
 Forgiveness leads to reconciliation.
 The coming of the Messiah was foretold by the prophets.
 The birth of the Christ reveals God’s intentions for the world.
 Children can grow in and share the faith as surely as adults can.
 We resist temptation by using the scriptures as Jesus did.
 Our God wants wholeness for His people as shown in Jesus healing ministry.
 Those who are called to be Jesus’ disciples are from every walk of life.
 We are called to follow God’s ways.
 Jesus taught a new way of life for His followers.
 Christians are called to show the characteristics taught in the beatitudes.
 Jesus was the Son of God as shown by His power over nature, disease, and death.
 The Passion of Christ demonstrates His awesome sacrifice for us.
 Christ’s resurrection reveals God’s reconciliation with the world.
 Because of God’s amazing gifts we should worship Him.
 God deserves our thankfulness.
Phonics and Spelling
The primary objective of Phonics instruction is to teach the student to identify and
connect the assigned sounds of the letters of the alphabet with their written symbols both
individually and in common patterns. Phonics instruction is explicit and systematic.
Phonemic awareness instruction gives students practice in discriminating the sounds that
make up words. It is taught by two complementary techniques: oral blending and
segmentation. Students use oral blending to put sounds together to make words, and they
use segmentation to separate words into sounds.
Spelling instruction follows a see, hear, say, write sequence. Sound spellings are taught
using an associated picture card.
Content areas covered include:
 The sounds of the 21 consonant.
 Identifying the sounds at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of words
 The five short vowel sounds
 The five long vowel sounds
 Memorizing the common patterns for writing the five long vowel sounds
 The spellings ‘er’, ‘ir’, ‘ur’,
 The spellings ‘ar’, ‘aw’, ‘au’, ‘ow’, ‘ou’, ‘oi’, ‘oy’ and ‘oo’
 Final consonant blend ‘ng’
 The letter ‘y’ as a vowel
 Inflectional endings ‘ed’ and ‘ing’
 Consonant digraphs ‘th, wh, sh, ch, tch, and kn’
Reading
The primary objective of reading instruction is to teach the student to decode the written
word. Instruction includes both phonetic and visual techniques for the interpretation of
the text. The student should progress in both oral and silent reading, moving from
systematic decoding to fluent reading for enjoyment and content.
Content areas include:
 The blending of sounds into syllables
 The combining of syllables into words
 The memorization of common “sight” words
 The application of phonetic rules to the decoding process
 The fluent tracking across text from left to right
 The rhythms of common punctuation
 The basics of creating a story: characterization, setting, and plot
 Comprehension techniques of: visualizing, summarizing, predicting, asking and
answering questions, monitoring and clarifying, and making connections.
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Comprehension skills of: cause and effect, reality/fantasy, main idea and details,
sequence, comparing and contrasting, classifying and categorizing, making
inferences, and drawing conclusions.
Vocabulary concepts of: antonyms, compound words, contractions, homonyms,
base or root words, and suffixes
The joy of experience through reading
Language Arts
The primary objective of language instruction is to introduce the student to the patterns
and structures of the English language through grammar instruction. As a part of
language instruction the student is introduced to the concept of personal and creative
expression through writing instruction.
Grammar Content areas include:
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Common punctuation including period, question mark, exclamation mark, comma
quotation marks, and apostrophe
Basic sentence structure includes a subject and predicate (naming part and action
part)
Different types of sentences require different punctuation (telling versus asking
sentences)
Parts of speech including nouns, proper nouns, possessive nouns, plural and
singular nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives
Capitalization
Writing Content areas include:
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Collaborative writing
Brainstorming and prewriting
Drafting, proof reading, revising
Forms of writing will include autobiography, writing lists, journal writing,
friendly letter, thank you, signs and labels, descriptive writing, and end rhyme
Mathematics
The primary objective of mathematical instruction is to expand the number sense,
problem solving skills, computation skills, and mathematical thinking of each student to
include:
 Skip count by ones, twos, fives, and tens
 Compare and order numbers
 Identify place value to 100
 Identify ordinal position to tenth
 Identify a sorting rule
 Identify and extend patterns
 Solve routine and non routine problems
 Master all basic addition facts and most of the basic subtraction facts
 Add and subtract two-digit numbers without re-grouping
 Use comparison symbols
 Picture and name fractions
 Identify a fractional part of a set
 Measure using inches, feet, and centimeters
 Compare volume mass and area
 Tell time to the hour and half-hour
 Order events by time
 Count pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
 Identify and draw polygons
 Identify geometric solids
 Tally
 Identify events as certain, likely or impossible
 Create, read and write observations about real graphs, pictographs, and bar graphs
Science
The primary objective of Science instruction is to expand the student’s knowledge of
the world in the areas of physical science, life science, and earth science through
instruction, investigation, and experimentation.
Content areas include:
Life science
 Living and Nonliving
 Habitats
 How plants and animals live
 Life cycles
 Food Chains
Earth Science
 Land, Water, and Air
 Temperature and Weather
 Environmental awareness
Physical
 Properties of matter in its three states
 Movement and Sound
 Learning About Energy
Space and Technology
 Day and Night Sky
 Science In Our World
Social Studies
The objective of social studies instruction is to expand the child’s awareness of the
broad concepts of rights and responsibilities in the context of community. This is
done through an examination of the events leading to the establishment of settlements
in North America.
Concepts addressed include:
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Concepts of Family and Neighborhood
Similarities and differences in work, dress, manner, games etc.
Using maps and globes
The seven continents and four oceans
Geographic impact on a community
Describing how location, weather, and environment affect a community;
including food, clothing, and shelter.
Comparing and contrasting structures of schools and communities in the
past.
Concepts of exchange of money to purchase goods and services
Human need vs. Human want
Historic American figures and their impact on America
Freedom as key to establishing of just societies
Civics
Civics instruction includes the basic concepts of the four building blocks of
democracy. They include authority, responsibility, justice, and privacy.