Religion

St. George teachers follow the religion standards put forth by the Archdiocese of Seattle. Standards are tied to the 6 tasks of Catechesis:

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1. Knowledge of the Faith
2. Liturgical Education
3. Morality/Life in Christ
4. Prayer
5. Life, Community, and History of the Church
6. The Church’s Missionary Life and Service
 

All students have the opportunity to participate in daily prayer, weekly Monday morning prayer services, and weekly all-school Mass. All K-8 students are divided into cross-grade Faith Families that meet monthly and focus on a Catholic Social Teaching Principle and works of service to our community.

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• Focus:  God’s Creation, Jesus, and the Church

• Core religion concepts taught in first grade include:

  • Caring for the gifts of God’s creation

  • Being loving followers or disciples of Jesus by following the Great Commandment

  • Belonging to the Church and celebrating the Seven Sacraments

  • Celebrating our faith at Mass and God’s love for us

  • Practicing daily prayers as a way of life to grow closer to Jesus

• Catholic Social Teaching Principle Theme/Service to Others - Dignity of the Human Person – We Are All Children of God!

• Steps to Respect – “Circle of Grace” Program 

• Social Emotional Skills Focus:  

  • Developing a growth mindset and problem-solving skills

  • Setting personal goals

  • Practicing kindness and respect

  • Problem-solving skills

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Textbooks:  

• We Believe: God Loves Us (Sadlier/Catholic School Identity School Edition) 

• Holy Heroes

• Second Step Program

• A variety of trade books about Jesus, the saints, and special holy days
  
   

Reading

In 1st Grade, we are building the foundation of reading by using Structured Literacy which uses systematic, explicit instruction. A variety of research based strategies and curriculum are used to build a strong foundation for future reading success. Students read literacy rich grade level text with comprehension strategies embedded within each story. The focus is on high frequency words, decodable texts, 95 Percent Group evidence based phonics, phonograms, Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program, and small group skill instruction to meet the needs of all students. The small groups focus on decoding, fluency, comprehension building of fiction and nonfiction, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness.  Students’ progress is monitored by our reading specialist and adjustments are made to support learning of all students and further their reading skills.

Focus:
Multisensory approach with whole and small group reading instruction.  Individual book bins for independent reading.

Textbooks:

• 95 Percent Group

• Harcourt Journeys

• A-Z leveled fiction and nonfiction books

• Heggerty Phonemics Awareness Program

• Fry Sight Words

• Scholastic News

Phonics and Word Recognition:

• Letter and sound recognition

• Read consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words

• Read words with digraphs and blends

• Read and write the first 100 sight words on Fry’s Sight Word List

Fluency:

• Engagement with grade-appropriate decodable texts to help reinforce their decoding of words and word fluency

 

​​​Language Arts

Grammar Focus:

• Whole group instruction of parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, and adverbs), using correct punctuation, and writing complete sentences with subject and predicate.

• Textbook: Journeys Grammar

Writing Focus:

• Whole group teaching followed by independent writing of narratives, opinion pieces, and informative texts, individual writing response journals.

• Textbooks:  Writers Workshop by Lucy Calkins, Handwriting without Tears

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Math

St. George students follow the Common Core State Standards in math. CCSS for math are focused in four critical areas:

• Extending understanding of base-ten notation

• Building fluency with addition and subtraction

• Using standard units of measurement

• Describing and analyzing shapes

Focus:

• Develop an understanding of addition and subtraction facts and strategies within 20. 

• Understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones. 

• Understanding of using data to create simple graphs.

• Recognizing and counting coins.

• Telling time to the hour and half hour. 

• Reasoning and recognizing different attributes of geometric figures and composing and decomposing geometric shapes. 

• Understanding of linear measurement and using standard and nonstandard units of measurement.

Textbook:

• Progress in Mathematics

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Science

St. George teachers work within the Next Generation Science Standards.  In 1st grade, the standards include Waves:  Light and Sound; Structure, Function, and Information Processing; Space Systems:  Patterns and Cycles; and Engineering Design.

Focus:

• Plan and carry out investigations

• Analyze and interpret data

• Evaluate and communicate information. 

Big Units:

• Light and Sound

• Animals and Habitats

• Plants and Living Things

Textbooks:

• Next Generation Science Standards and Resources

• Mystery Science

• Scholastic News

• Science Spin Magazine

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Social Studies

St. George teachers follow social studies learning standards created by Washington State in the categories of civics, economics, geography, and history.

Focus:

• Develop an understanding of basic concepts and ideas from civics, economics, geography, and history focusing on the family and the ways they choose to live and work together.  

• Celebrate different cultures, traditions, and holidays throughout the year.

Textbooks:

• Scholastic News

• Scholastic Trade Books

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Technology

• iReady Program

• MAPS Testing

• EPIC Books

• Coding Class with IT Specialist

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Enrichment

St. George teachers understand the importance of teaching to the whole child, spiritually, academically, and socially, so that students may become lifelong learners in an ever-changing world.

• Weekly Classes in Art, Music, and Physical Education.

• Star of the Week and sharing “All About Me” posters with the class/Show and Tell also called Class Sharing.

• Reading Buddies with Middle Schoolers throughout the year.

• Field Trips to Seattle Children’s Film Festival and Museum of Flight, in-house field trip with the traveling Children’s Theatre.

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Music

See Music page for details.

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Physical Education

See PE page for details.

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Art

See Art page for details.

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