Grade One

The Nantucket Elementary School teaches to the standards of the Massachusetts Department of Education. The information below helps families understand those standards and measures of progress. The information is taken from the document linked at the bottom of the page.

New Expectations for First Grade:

• Notice when a story has a message or lesson for its readers. For example, understand when an author uses a character’s actions to show why being kind is important.
• Respond directly to what other people say in a conversation. For example, when a classmate says “I like this book,” ask “Why do you like it?”
• Choose and use words in speech and writing to show whether something happened in the past (like I ate), is happening now (like I am eating), or will happen in the future (like I will eat).
• Have a clear ending when writing about something. For example, end a story with
• “It was a fun day” or end an explanation with “That is how to brush your teeth.”

By the End of First Grade, Students Can: 

• Explain the differences between common types of stories (like folk tales and fairy tales).
• Understand who is telling a story: for example, an author or a character in
• the story.
• Stop and read a sentence again if it does not make sense the first time.  
• Use clues like headings and a table of contents to find information in a text.
• Break words into syllables. For example, helping has two syllables: help and ing.
• Understand that the same word can take different forms: for example, look,
• looks, looking. 
• Understand that numbers (like 2) can also be written with words (like two). 
• End written sentences with a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation
• point (!).
• Capitalize the names of months (like January) and people (like Martin Luther King, Jr.). 
• Describe people, places, things, and events clearly in both speech and writing.

Focus Areas for First Grade:

• Understand how counting, adding, and subtracting are related. For example, solve 18-3 by counting back 3 numbers from 18: 17, 16, 15.
• Understand that two-digit numbers are made of tens and ones: for example, 27 is made of 2 tens and 7 ones. Use this knowledge to add and subtract.
• Understand how to measure the length of objects. For example, compare the lengths of two pencils by using paper clips to measure both.
• Put shapes together and break them apart to create new shapes. For example, use triangles to create a trapezoid.

By the End of First Grade, Students Can:

• Count to 120. Read and write numerals up to 120.
• Fluently (quickly and correctly) add and subtract with numbers up to 10.
• Mentally (without writing or objects) add and subtract with numbers up to 20.
• Use various methods to solve problems like 23 + 9 and 23 + 20.
• Solve one-step word problems using addition and subtraction.
• Explain what an equal sign (=) means. For example, tell why writing 5 + 1 = 4 + 3 is wrong.
• Explain how addition and subtraction are related.
• Use analog and digital clocks to tell time to the nearest hour and half-hour. Write the times.
• Tell how much different United States coins (like nickels and dimes) are worth. Show how different coins can make the same amount (like 2 nickels and 1 dime).
• Draw and build two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes, like rectangles, squares, trapezoids, half-circles, quarter-circles, cubes, prisms, cones, and cylinders.
• Separate shapes into equal parts. Describe the parts using the words halves, fourths, and quarters.

Focus Areas for First Grade:

• Use language and numbers to describe patterns: for example, how the sun, moon, and stars move across the sky. 
• Understand that weather changes from season to season and that, by observing patterns carefully, people can predict those changes.
• Understand that individual plants and animals are unique but we can sort hem into categories (like maple trees or dogs) based on their similarities.
• Explore how light and sound move through different materials. For example, notice how humming causes the throat to vibrate or how sunlight is partly blocked by a curtain.

By the End of First Grade, Students Can:

• Collect data on seasonal changes in the local environment: for example, birds leaving an area or sunsets happening earlier.
• Use patterns in temperature, rainfall, and snowfall to predict what future weather will be like.
• Explain how animals use their body parts and senses to meet their needs: for example, how owls use their eyes (seeing) and ears (hearing) to find food. 
• Describe how parents help their babies survive: for example, how birds feed their babies when the babies chirp to say that they are hungry. 
• Build something that can send a signal (light or sound) over a distance.
• Figure out how an object can help solve a problem: for example, how a heavy box can hold a door open.
• Think about possible solutions to a problem, like a window that won’t stay shut. Use drawing and language to explain how the solutions could work.

Focus Areas for First Grade: 

• Understand what it means to be a leader of a group and a citizen of a nation. 
• Use cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) and various maps to find and describe places. 
• Explain how the concepts of unity and diversity, respect for differences, and respect for self shape life in the United States.
• Think about how people decide what goods and services to buy and what resources to save.

By the End of First Grade, Students Can: 

• Use examples from state, local, and community systems to explain how groups choose their
• leaders. 
• Explain why people use maps. Find political features (like cities and capitals) and physical features (continents, oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains) on a map. 
• Explain the motto of the United States: “Out of Many, One.” 
• Use a calendar to record seasonal events or personal experiences.
• Explain how an area’s resources affect its jobs and industries.
• Understand and use words like income, wages, and salary. 
• Explain why people try to save some of their money rather than spend it all. 
• Use examples from history, texts, events in the news, and personal experience to explain how a good community member acts. 
• Use features like headings to find information in a history or social science text.