Primary School

Grade 1

Submit Your Online Inquiry
Inquire Now

First grade is an exciting time! This is the year students become confident readers. Students come in learning to read and leave reading to learn. First graders learn independence through a fun, engaging yet structured atmosphere. Students are encouraged to ask questions and be active participants in their own learning.

Students are immersed in language daily during literacy stations, read alouds, guided reading and writing, writer’s workshop, independent reading, and during visits from our reading buddies.

Communication between home and school is necessary and important to a child’s success in school. Unit newsletters are sent home to keep parents informed of classroom happening and important dates. Homework follows a consistent pattern each week; students receive homework assignments on Friday, and return the week’s work to school on the following Thursday.

PYP is a program of inquiry used throughout our school. What children already know and what they want to know is taken into consideration when planning lessons. This allows individual needs to be accommodated and helps children to see that their questions influence the curriculum. This process motivates students and encourages participation. It strives towards the development of an international student who relates experiences in the classroom to the realities of the outside world. This is done using units of inquiry that transcend all traditional disciplines, and provide a framework for all that we do in the classroom.

Grade 1 students will have the opportunity to identify and reflect upon “big ideas” by making connections between the questions asked and the concepts that drive our inquiries. They will become aware of the relevance these concepts have to all of their learning. Mathematical studies at ISB are tied to real world experiences by exploring the five strands of mathematics within the PYP framework: Data Handling Shape and Space, Numeracy, Measurement, and Pattern and Function.

The power of mathematics for describing and analyzing the world around us is such that it has become a highly effective tool for solving problems. It is also recognized that students can appreciate the intrinsic fascination of mathematics and explore the world through its unique perceptions. In the same way that students describe themselves as “authors” or “artists”, ISB’s programme also provides students with the opportunity to see themselves as “mathematicians”, where they enjoy and are enthusiastic when exploring and learning about mathematics.

In the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), mathematics is also viewed as a vehicle to support inquiry, providing a global language through which we make sense of the world around us. It is intended that students become competent users of the language of mathematics, and can begin to use it as a way of thinking, as opposed to seeing it as a series of facts and equations to be memorized.

You can find the details of each grade level in our Mathematics scope and sequence document.

Students have many classes during the week outside of the classroom with teacher specialists. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to have other models of learning by teachers who are experts in their fields of art, music, and physical education.

First grade truly provides the framework for all future learning!

ISB Parents

ISB Students

ISB Faculty

Grade 1