Mrs. Connie Mattingly is the first grade teacher at St. John. Mrs. Mattingly has been on the staff of St. John since1987. She has also served as the director of the primary choir since its creation.
First Grade Curriculum
Religion
Students understand that Jesus, their Savior,
died to take away their sins. They learn how important the Bible
is to them and that it contains the knowledge of what Jesus has done for
them, how they should live, and how they can be in heaven. Enjoying
Bible stories, these students ask to hear them and have favorites.
Learning to ask for forgiveness for specific sins is a big step for them.
As the students begin to learn more about the Lord and what He expects
of us, they recognize differences in other people who are non-Christians.
Realizing that everything they have comes from God is a major step for
these students. The students begin to learn about Martin Luther
and his teachings. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are also recognized
as gifts given to us.
Math
Students learn basic facts as they begin to explore
the concepts of simple addition and subtraction. Manipulatives that
enhance the students’ understanding of word problems, patterns, and fractions
are used. Objects are ordered by measurements. We also practice
telling time to whole and half hour. Money is presented and we practice
counting dimes, pennies, and nickels.
Language Arts
Incorporating reading, listening, writing, speaking,
and thinking skills provides a broad foundational base upon which students
can build each year. Word attack skills strengthened by phonetic
decoding enable the students to be successful. They continue to
develop their oral language and communication skills and move to becoming
independent readers and writers. Distinguishing features of stories,
poems, and informational texts is introduced. They regularly read
(both orally and silently) in texts of appropriate difficulty with fluency
and understanding. The use of the writing process enables students
to work independently and cooperatively in achieving success.
Handwriting
First graders will continue to use proper formation
in writing manuscript letters and numerals paying attention to correct
placement of letters on the line. An awareness of the effects of
posture on writing skills is developed as they continue to self-evaluate
their work.
Social Studies
God places special responsibilities on families
and the members of each family. As these students progress through
this grade, the emphasis is on helping them grow as members of both their
school and biological families. They look at changes in the family
and what causes these changes, choices that people make and how those
choices affect their family, and the placement of individuals in a family
and how special and unique each individual really is. Following
and participating in examples of good citizenship help them understand
the importance of individual and collective participation. We learn
directional word and use north, south, east, and west.
Science
Survival and protection of God’s creations are
relevant topics as the students study about habitats, plant and animal
life and what is required for many plants and animals to survive as well
as what is needed for their daily existence. With hands-on investigations,
students learn about magnets and the interaction of objects. They
learn what is needed for a healthy body such as nutrition and safety issues.
Identifying how the body works aids their understanding of disease control
and health habits. We explore the purpose of the 5 senses.
Computer Science
Students at this level begin to concentrate on
expanding their keyboarding skills by recognizing additional keys and
the proper fingering for using the keyboard effectively. In addition
to the word processing skills, students begin basic desktop publishing
as they learn how to us graphics. They also have the opportunity
to strengthen classroom objectives by using educational software.
Art
Students experiment with colors as they mix them
together and find out what results from their actions. This experimentation
encourages the students to recognize God’s creation as a source of beauty
and variety. Through different mediums, they express themselves
individually yet in an artistic way. Blending of patterns such as
geometric designs and differing line types and qualities allows the students
to be creative with their projects. Understanding realistic art,
like in a photograph, versus drawings or sketches give students a chance
to be aware of concepts such as similarities and differences. Students
use of different mediums helps to create art in a varied way.
Music
Students become more involved in response to
musical pieces and can display their involvement in moving, clapping,
echoing, and distinguishing beats and rhythms. They become more
aware of the melody and pitch of musical pieces and can respond in a variety
of ways. As they relate to music and what is around them, they have
the opportunity to be creatively involved in learning.
Physical Education
Learning to follow the rules of a game can be
a challenge at this age, but work on this idea occurs as they interact
with others and learn to cooperate to accomplish the sport of a game.
Activities such as jumping rope, bouncing a ball, and hopping on one foot
challenge their physical development. At the same time, students
learn to respect the differences of one another. From their activities,
both individually and collectively, a positive self-concept begins to
evolve.
