In first grade at Moses Brown, we meet each child where they are, providing the challenge and support that keeps kids moving forward and discovering new capabilities within themselves. Students have reading time and writers’ workshop every day, and their journals provide a delightful (and funny) chronicle of the year at school and at home. ...

At Moses Brown, we introduce first graders to mathematical concepts by manipulating real materials.  Exploring these concrete objects helps children create mental models that support the underlying abstract concepts as we delve into addition, subtraction, and two- and three-dimensional geometry. Fun informal surveys give children practice with data analysis and graphing, and learning how to...

The purpose of social studies is to help students understand themselves and their place in the world. The first grade curriculum encourages inquiry, critical thinking, and the simultaneous development of one’s own viewpoint and ability to work with others.  We use two year-long units to frame our work. In our study of community, children explore...

In first grade, children visit the lower school science lab each week.  With every visit, they make careful observations and predictions about the ‘Animal of the Day,’ an unusual and likely unfamiliar animal projected on the whiteboard. Every science class brings a combination of hands-on activities, opportunities to practice collaborative work with partners, and time...

First graders at Moses Brown have technology class once a week.  Students use iPads and enrichment apps to support work they are doing in reading and math, while developing fluency in the iOS environment. Apps like Futaba, Bluster, Word Bingo, and Teach Me 1st Grade all reinforce reading and language arts lessons. We also introduce...

Each week, first graders spend 45 minutes with Simone Ahlborn, exploring Spanish language and culture through a literature-based curriculum.  With stories, songs, and games that reinforce thematic vocabulary, children begin elementary Spanish.  Students with greater understanding have opportunities to delve deeper, while those new to the language are still able to participate fully in class...

In addition to singing, moving, and improvising on glockenspiels and xylophones, first grade musicians begin to explore solfège (the international system for naming pitches), and how to label musical patterns, forms, and ideas. Inventing our own systems for writing songs and musical phrases introduces the concepts children will need for learning to read music, and...