Curriculum

The Responsive Classroom curriculum acts as a framework for creating a cooperative learning environment.  It also meets many Maine Learning Results related to membership in a community, conflict resolution, and understanding individuals' rights and responsibilities.

 

Writing, reading, speaking and listening are all related and must be taught as such.  We believe that language arts  must be taught by integrating reading, phonics, phonemic awareness, written and oral communication and the appreciation of literature.  Our goal is to meet each child at his/her own level and provide an atmosphere in which he/she feels confident to excel.

The following are the instructional components used in the teaching of reading:

Guided Reading                                            Scholastic News
Shared Reading                                            Readers'Theater
Independent Reading                                  Drama-songs, charts, poems, rhymes
Read-Alouds                                                Author Recognition and Appreciation
Repeated Reading                                       Computer Activities
Phonics                                                         Authentic Reading Activities in
Phonemic Awareness                                  Science and Social Studies

The following are the instructional components in the teaching of writing:

Word Study                                                   Letter Writing
Developmental Spelling                              Writers' Workshop
Prompted Writing                                         Creative/Imaginative Writing
Journals                                                         Authentic Writing Activities in
Reading                                                         Science and Social Studies
Poems

 

The first grade science curriculum is based on active learning to increase the child's awareness of his/her environment and to meet the Maine Learning Results.  Every child is exposed to a variety of science concepts using several different styles of presentation.  The following are descriptions of the year long units of study in the first grade science curriculum:

 

The students will learn about this local environment.  They will learn about the different life forms (mammals, insects, birds, plants, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) that depend on, share and change with the seasons in the Maine Forest environment.

 

The students will demonstrate that shadows change based on the position of the light source.  They will understand that the sun is a source of heat, light and energy.  Students will understand the cycles of day and night, and seasons.  They will study the reuses, renewal, and recycling of products from the environment.

The following are the instructional components used to teach science:

Reading                             Observations
Scholastic News                Journal Writing
Field Trips                          Read - Alouds
Hands On Activities            KWL - Know, What you want to know,
                                            What you have Learned

 

Social Studies is incorporated into our themes, and the day to day process of the classroom.  It parallels calendar holidays, i.e., Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Veteran's Day.  We will expose children, through literature, to cultures around the world.  Students will examine farm and forest products and compare life today to life in the past.  It is our goal to promote a climate, which fosters responsible, caring students who take pride in themselves and their surroundings.