What First-Graders Learn
- Class discussion skills, including asking and answering questions
- Working with a small group to solve a problem or do a project collaboratively
- Intensive phonics instruction to identify new words by decoding letter and word sounds
- Sight word recognition for high-frequency words such as the, and, it
- Spelling high-frequency words and word families such as hat, cat, pat
- Shared reading aloud led by the teacher, guided reading aloud in a small group, and independent reading of books that are levelized for first grade
- Identify the main idea and details of a story when it is read or told to them
- Parts of a book, including title, author, illustrator, table of contents
- Recognize and use basic punctuation and capitalization rules
- Practice handwriting and word spacing skills
- Write stories, poems, and in a journal with 'inventive' spelling
- Recognize, say, and write numbers to 100
- Count to 100 by ones, twos, fives, and tens
- Memorize addition and subtraction facts to 10 and peform addition and subtraction with manipulatives and using a number line up to 20
- Use mental or written math operations to solve a simple math word problem
- Classify, count, and sort objects on a worksheet
- Understand greater than, less than, and equal to of symbolized objects (on a worksheet) rather than concrete objects (manipulatives)
- Begin to use Venn diagrams and graphs to classify and represent information
- Addition and subtraction with coins and how different coins add up to the same amount
- Tell time to the hour and half hour
- Measure with rulers and measuring cups
- How to recognize continents, countries, states, and cities on a map and make a simple map of their neighborhood
- Facts about traditions and daily lives of children and families in their own and other cultures and in history
- Facts about the life cycle and basic needs of plants and animals
- Facts about community helpers and jobs people perform
- Facts about healthy nutrition and safety
- Learn why rules and laws promote fairness, justice, and responsibility
Next > The Six-Year Old - Play, Activities and Interests
Note to Parents...
Children, families, and schools vary so widely that it's possible only to state general guidelines for the skills needed to start the grade and those the child will learn in this grade. So, don't panic if your child or school doesn't match the list exactly. Just be aware of these skills and work on them with your child this year.
Child Development - The Six-Year Old
At Home
At School
At Play
