First Grade Curriculum at Canyon Heights Academy

Our language arts program is designed to develop strong foundational literacy skills while cultivating a love of reading and writing.

In reading, students will:

• Develop phonemic and phonological awareness
• Master all letter-sound correspondences
• Read words and sentences with fluency and expression
• Recognize and read high-frequency sight words including color and number words
• Practice comprehension strategies: predicting, summarizing, visualizing, asking questions, and making connections and inferences whether stories are read silently or aloud.
• Explore literature elements: main idea, cause/effect, sequencing, fact vs. opinion, and point of view
• Identify literary genres: fiction, nonfiction, folktales, and poetry

In phonics and spelling, students will:

• Learn decoding strategies and word blends
• Build encoding skills through structural phonics
• Practice spelling rules and vocabulary through weekly spelling units aligned with reading materials
• Correctly spell high frequency sight words

In grammar and composition, students will:

• Compose simple paragraphs using correct grammar and punctuation
• Explore different types of sentences: questions, statements, commands, exclamations
• Learn basic parts of speech and verb tenses
• Use the writing process: plan, draft, revise, and publish
• Create a variety of writing pieces: creative stories, reports, instructional writing, and letters

In handwriting, students will:

• Use proper pencil grip and sitting posture
• Write legibly and efficiently in both manuscript and cursive using D’Nealian formation on lined and unlined paper

We give students many opportunities to share their voice through classroom projects, socratic method instruction, and wider audience engagements, which fosters confidence and poise for a lifetime of self-advocacy.

Students will:

• Sustain focused attention for up to 30 minutes
• Ask and answer questions clearly and respectfully
• Recite poems and passages from memory
• Present oral reports with organized main ideas
• Practice public speaking skills with poise and confidence

Our elementary math curriculum builds number fluency and problem-solving abilities through interactive lessons and hands-on practice.

Students will:

• Understand number values and place value (up to 3-digit numbers)
• Add and subtract (regrouping introduced in Quarter 3)
• Practice fact families up to 20
• Read and interpret clocks and calendars to measure time
• Identify and create patterns
• Use basic fractions, linear and volume measurements
• Apply strategies to solve one- and two-step word problems
• Understand coin values and money concepts
• Practice mental math, speed math, and estimation

Our science program encourages inquiry, exploration, and wonder about God’s creation. Students learn through hands-on experiments and discovery-based learning.

Students will:

• Engage in hands-on experiments and STEM-based investigations, using the scientific  method
• Develop scientific thinking skills, including analyzing, predicting, and hypothesizing
• Study life cycles, states of matter, forces and motion, simple machines, weather, and the solar system
• Explore human anatomy, health, and nutrition through the lens of God’s design

First Grade social studies at Canyon Heights Academy introduces students to community, history, and the world around them in an age-appropriate, Catholic context.

Students will:

• Develop an understanding of chronological thinking and historical change over time
• Learn about U.S. history, including Columbus, the Pilgrims, Native American cultures, the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, Civil War, Civil Rights Movement
• Become familiar with North, Central, and South American geography
• Compare and contrast historical stories, people, places, and situations
• Understand points of view based on perspective, developing concepts of community
• Develop basic research skills

‍

Through our religious education program, children begin to understand that they are intentionally and uniquely created in God’s image and called to live with purpose and love.

Students will:

• Discover God as the source of life and grace as a loving Father who send us his Son to be our Savior
• Explore the Bible as the Word of God
• Learn about the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist as sources of grace and communion in the Body of Christ, God’s family
• Study the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Mary
• Identify the Church, liturgy, and prayer as means of worshiping together
• Develop an awareness that others deserve love and respect because they made in the image and likeness of God
• Learn various forms of prayer, introduction to the lives of the saints, and participation in  the Holy Mass
• Begin to practice virtue and morality through age-appropriate lessons in Theology of the Body
• Use Sacred Story as a reflective, contemplative practice to develop prayer habits

‍

To nurture the whole child, First Grade students also attend weekly classes in:

• Art
• Music
• Spanish Language
• Physical Education

These subjects enrich creativity, expression, motor skills, and global awareness.