Physical Education 1
Description:
Physical Education activities include yoga, participating in a team or individual sport, and Connections Academy’s own fitness program.
CD/DVD:
Yoga DVDs (set of 2)
Supplies:
Jump rope
Art 1
Description:
Students expand their understanding of color, line, and shape. Activities include drawing, cutting, creating designs, and paper construction. We also introduce the concepts of texture and three-dimensional forms.
Art Kit:
Art Set (21 piece)
Colored pencils (set of 12)
Construction paper
Drawing pad
Paint, tempera (set of 4 colors)
Paintbrushes (set of 6)
Language Arts 1 A
Description:
In first grade, beginning readers work to become fluent readers. In the first semester, the students are taught to attack new words using a variety of decoding and contextual strategies. Students are given daily opportunities to apply these skills to decodable and authentic texts. They are taught to think about what they read through a variety of guided reading strategies. In writing, students create increasingly complex compositions and improve their handwriting.
CD/DVD:
Take Me To Your Readers CD
Manual:
Language Arts 1 A and B Course Guide
Supplies:
Letter Tiles
Textbook:
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1 (Unit 1)
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1 (Unit 2)
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1
Trade Book:
Ira Sleeps Over
Workbook:
Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing Practice Book 1
Scott Foresman Practice Book 1 (Volume 1)
SF Phonics and Spelling Practice Book 1
Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 1
Language Arts 1 B
Description:
In first grade, beginning readers work to become fluent readers. The second semester course continues to teach students to attack new words using a variety of decoding and contextual strategies. Students are given daily opportunities to apply these skills to decodable and authentic texts. They are taught to think about what they read through a variety of guided reading strategies. In writing, students create increasingly complex compositions and improve their handwriting.
Manual:
Language Arts 1 A and B Course Guide
Supplies:
Letter Tiles
Textbook:
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1 (Unit 3)
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1 (Unit 4)
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1 (Unit 5)
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman Reading Street 1
Workbook:
Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing Practice Book 1
Scott Foresman Practice Book 1 (Volume 2)
SF Phonics and Spelling Practice Book 1
Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 1
Math 1 A
Description:
In first-grade math, students will develop an understanding of numbers to 100 using a variety of models. In the first semester, the student is introduced to building strategies for addition and subtraction of whole numbers up to 18, students will also practice problem solving and reasoning skills. Hands-on activities and tools let students practice money and measurement concepts. We also explore geometry topics—shapes, congruence, and symmetry—as well as data analysis with picturegraphs, data, and bar graphs.
Manual:
Math 1 A and B Course Guide
Math Kit 1–2:
Base-ten flats, green (1)
Base-ten rods, green (10)
Base-ten units, green (20 cubes)
Clock face (1)
Coins (44)
Connecting cubes (snap cubes) (20)
Counters, 2-color (20)
Dollar bills (40)
Game spinner, blank (1)
Number cubes, blank with 50 labels (2)
Pattern blocks (27)
Tiles, color (20)
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman enVisionMATH 1
Workbook:
SF enVisionMATH 1 Interactive Homework Workbook
Math 1 B
Description:
In the second semester, students continue to develop an understanding of numbers to 100 using a variety of models. While building strategies for addition and subtraction of whole numbers up to 18, students will also practice problem solving and reasoning skills. Hands-on activities and tools let students practice money and measurement concepts. We also explore geometry topics—shapes, congruence, and symmetry—as well as data analysis with picturegraphs, data, and bar graphs.
Manual:
Math 1 A and B Course Guide
Math Kit 1–2:
Base-ten flats, green (1)
Base-ten rods, green (10)
Base-ten units, green (20 cubes)
Clock face (1)
Coins (44)
Connecting cubes (snap cubes) (20)
Counters, 2-color (20)
Dollar bills (40)
Game spinner, blank (1)
Number cubes, blank with 50 labels (2)
Pattern blocks (27)
Tiles, color (20)
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman enVisionMATH 1
Workbook:
SF enVisionMATH 1 Interactive Homework Workbook
Science 1 A
Description:
Science encourages students to explore the natural world. In the first semester, students will study Earth, its resources, and how to protect them. We will explore how plants and animals grow and change. We will create a model of a mountain and investigate the way sunlight affects leaves. Students will also learn about the scientific method and explore possible careers in science.
Manual:
Science 1 A and B Course Guide
Science Kit:
Goggles, safety
Hand lens
Modeling clay
Textbook (online access):
McGraw-Hill Science: A Closer Look 1
Workbook:
McGraw-Hill Science: Reading and Writing 1
Science 1 B
Description:
Science encourages students to explore the natural world. In the second semester, students continue to study Earth, its resources, and how to protect them. We will explore how plants and animals grow and change. We will create a model of a mountain and investigate the way sunlight affects leaves. Students will also learn about the scientific method and explore possible careers in science.
Manual:
Science 1 A and B Course Guide
Science Kit:
Dropper
Goggles, safety
Magnet, bar
Modeling clay
Thermometers (2)
Textbook (online access):
McGraw-Hill Science: A Closer Look 1
Workbook:
McGraw-Hill Science: Reading and Writing 1
Social Studies 1 A
Description:
In the first semester, students will learn about the ways in which people contribute to their communities and work together to the benefit of all. This course explores the concepts of good citizenship, neighborhoods, and economics. We will also study maps, photos, biographies, illustrations, poetry, and music to help explain the concept of communities and extend the concept of community to the larger world.
CD/DVD:
SF Digital Learning CD-ROM: All Together
Manual:
Social Studies 1 A and B Course Guide
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman Social Studies: All Together
Workbook:
Scott Foresman All Together Workbook
Social Studies 1 B
Description:
In the second semester, students continue to learn about the ways in which people contribute to their communities and work together to the benefit of all. This course explores the concepts of good citizenship, neighborhoods, and economics. We will also study maps, photos, biographies, illustrations, poetry, and music to help explain the concept of communities and extend the concept of community to the larger world.
CD/DVD:
SF Digital Learning CD-ROM: All Together
Manual:
Social Studies 1 A and B Course Guide
Textbook (online access):
Scott Foresman Social Studies: All Together
Workbook:
Scott Foresman All Together Workbook
Educational Technology and Online Learning 1
Prerequisites:
To participate in this course the student must have Microsoft Office including Paint, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint installed on his or her machine. It should be installed before the course begins.
Description:
First graders learn basic skills and terminology, and are introduced to the Internet and Internet safety skills using child-friendly tools. Your child will also learn how to properly place his or her fingers on the keyboard and how to write words and short sentences on the computer.
Children's French I
Description:
The Children’s French I course introduces students to the French language through activities such as singing, acting, drawing, and telling stories. Interactive games allow students to master vocabulary from adventure-based stories. The differentiated activities in this course help the students to express themselves in French and gain a general understanding of French grammar.
Children's French II
Description:
Children's French II employs a unique approach to building French fluency quickly and effortlessly. The stories are first introduced in English and then retold a number of times with progressively more French. Although the course focuses on the oral aspect of the language, there is more exposure to reading and writing than in the previous level.
Children's French III
Description:
This course engages students through the use of storytelling and solving puzzles, allowing students the opportunity to be active participants. The vocabulary learned in Children’s French II will help students adapt to the faster pace of this course. The Children’s French III course encourages the development of language skills by incorporating more French into the adventure-based stories. By the end of the course, students are able to read and understand passages written entirely in the target language.
Children's Spanish I
Description:
The Children’s Spanish I course uses a series of creative stories and games to build motivation for learning the language. Through these adventure-based stories, students gain new vocabulary and start to understand sentence structure. The stories are first introduced in English and then retold a number of times with progressively more Spanish. Eventually, it becomes an all-Spanish story, and students are prepared to understand and retell the stories in Spanish.
Children's Spanish II
Description:
Children's Spanish II employs a unique approach to building Spanish fluency quickly and effortlessly. The stories are first introduced in English and then retold a number of times with progressively more Spanish. Although the course focuses on the oral aspect of the language, there is more exposure to reading and writing than in the previous level. Fascinating information on Hispanic culture is gracefully interwoven into the captivating adventure stories.
Children's Spanish III
Description:
This course engages students through the use of storytelling and solving puzzles, allowing students the opportunity to be active participants. The vocabulary learned in Children’s Spanish II will help students adapt to the faster pace of this course. The Children’s Spanish III course encourages the development of language skills by incorporating more Spanish into the adventure-based stories. By the end of the course, students are able to read and understand passages written entirely in Spanish.
Music II
Description:
The Music courses, with content developed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, focus on teaching basic music concepts through traditional children’s songs and classical music examples. Students develop fine and gross motor skills that will enable them to keep a steady beat and learn rhythm instruments.
Units:
Opposites
In this unit your student will compare three basic elements in music: dynamics, loud and soft; tempo, fast and slow; and pitch, high and low. Through traditional folk and children's songs, he will begin to develop his singing voice. Your student will also learn important repertoire that will be used throughout the year to teach many music concepts and skills.
The Steady Heartbeat
In this unit your student will first move to music in a variety of ways to develop gross motor skills and keep a steady beat. After many opportunities to keep and feel the steady beat, your student will then identify the beat in music. Your student will identify the beat of a song as being fast or slow. Reading a heartbeat chart is another way to keep the beat and also prepares your student for music reading in units five and six.
Melody
In this unit your student will review and further develop his singing voice. He will identify the melody and tune or part of the song you sing. Your student will be introduced to musical phrases. The concept of "pitch" will be reviewed. Icons showing the relationship between pitches will be used, which will prepare the student for reading music in units five and six. Finally, form, the way a composer puts phrases together to create a melody, will be explored.
The Orchestra
In this unit your student will discover four families or groups of instruments in the orchestra. She will discover how all the instruments in one family are related by the way their sound is produced. The instruments of the percussion and brass sections will be further explored.
Rhythm
In this unit your student, using traditional folk songs and children's songs, will identify, read, write, and perform, basic rhythm patterns. He will define the music term rhythm and distinguish between the steady heartbeat and the rhythm of a song. He will play on rhythm instruments and perform rhythmic ostinatos with songs.
The Pentatonic Scale
In this unit, your student through folk songs and children's songs, will identify, read, write, and perform melodic patterns. She will distinguish between pitches that are higher and lower than each other. Additionally she will sing in canon and perform a melodic ostinato.
Sign Language
Description:
In this course, students are introduced to the fundamental concepts of American Sign Language. Students explore vocabulary, grammar, and conversational skills using basic signing and fingerspelling techniques.
Units:
Intro
In this unit, your student will be introduced to American Sign Language, or ASL. He will study the history of ASL and learn how it became the standard language for deaf and hard of hearing people in North America. He will also learn about some of the accepted rules of etiquette in Deaf culture. This introductory unit also teaches your student how to sign the letters of the alphabet and the mechanics of fingerspelling.
Numbers
This unit introduces the signing of numbers. Your student will learn how to sign numbers 1–100, as well as the signs for dollars and cents. A variety of fun activities give your student a chance to practice using ASL to discuss counting and using money.
Time
In this unit, your student will study various aspects of time. Not only will he learn how to communicate time using ASL, he will also learn the signs for the 7 days of the week and the 12 months of the year. The signs for various holidays as well as the four seasons are also taught in this unit.
Nouns
Your student will learn the signs for some commonly used nouns. The categories of family, places, food, colors, and animals are explored as your student practices these signs to add to her growing library of American Sign Language knowledge.
Descriptions
The lessons in this unit will teach your student how to sign various descriptions using American Sign Language. He will learn how to sign descriptive words that express feelings, sizes, possessions, and locations. In addition, he will combine some previously taught signs for numbers, time, and nouns, with descriptive signs taught in this unit.
Frog and Toad Quest
Description:
Students help scientists monitor frog and toad populations across the country using Frogwatch USA™. Managed by the National Wildlife Federation in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, Frogwatch USA™ uses data collected by students to develop new ways to protect amphibians, which are extremely sensitive to ecological changes. Students visit a local wetland site once a week, make careful observations, and submit their data online. This online project joins Connections Academy students and scientists around the country as they gather and analyze data.
Home Life I
Description:
Here, students select from a number of projects that develop the skills they will need for daily living. Activities include cooking, crafts, sewing, home maintenance, family outings, and genealogy. Recently added projects include model bridge building and orienteering, the sport of navigating with a map and compass.