First Grade
Welcome to First Grade!
We are so excited to welcome you and your child to first grade at Highland Park Elementary! This year will be filled with learning, growth, and fun as we build a strong classroom community and explore new skills together.
First grade is such a special time, full of curiosity and discovery. Throughout the year, we will focus on developing reading, writing, and math skills, while also encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and a love for learning. Our goal is to create a supportive and engaging environment where every student feels valued and excited to come to school each day.
We look forward to getting to know your family and working together to make this a great year. Please feel free to reach out with any questions—we believe that strong communication and collaboration between home and school are key to a successful year.
Here’s to a fantastic first-grade adventure!
Best,
The First Grade Team
IB/PYP Curriculum
Reading: We follow the Reader's Workshop model. Students meet in small groups in addition to core instruction to meet their specific needs. We teach the Phonics Curriculum, read shared stories in whole group and have Guided Reading Groups for small group instruction and reading practice. First grade focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and comprehension. A big part of fluency and being about to read well is by recognizing whole sight words. Our school uses the Fry Word List, along with the Science of Reading "heart" words. These are words that are mainly on the Fry List as well, but are introduced during lessons relating to a skill. You will find a copy of this in your child's Learning Folder/ also called their Thursday Communication Folder/Binder. It's used as a homework folder. It has valuable resources for your child to practice at home to support learning important skills. We use it during the day as well, so it needs to be returned daily.
Writing: We follow the Writer’s Workshop model. This model encourages all students to write at their own level while building on the foundation skills taught in kindergarten. Some of our units include: question and answer books, persuasive writing, and small moment stories.
Math: Students will explore and begin to understand the relationship numbers have in our everyday lives through our St. Paul Public School newly adopted Math curriculum. We use the St. Paul Common Core and State of Minnesota Standards to guide our instruction.
Inquiry: First graders explore, inquire and learn through our six IB/PYP Units of inquiry. Learn more about IB/PYP by clicking on the website of our PYP Coordinator, Mrs. Michelle Strecker.
Specialists: First graders rotate through for a week each at a time: Art, Science, Physical Education. We will also have a Music Specialist this year!