First Grade

Lunch Delivery Program

CIS does not have a cafeteria. Thus, normally students bring their own lunches from home and eat either in their classroom or outside on picnic tables when weather permits. As an alternative, there are vendors who deliver meals to the school. CIS also provides for nut-free rooms for those students with allergies. ORDER HOT LUNCH

Snack- Please send in a nutritious snack daily.  We recommend carrots, an apple, orange slices, crackers, cheese, etc.  Please do not send in unhealthy snacks such as soft drinks, doughnuts, cupcakes, etc.  Also, a reusable water bottle labeled with your child’s name is essential as well as reusable cutlery as we are an environmental school.

• Journeys used during whole & small groups (Daily 5) instruction
• Phonics: Working with sounds, sound spellings, decodable books go along with sounds that have been introduced; quick rhyming, syllable games
• Spelling: go with spelling for the week; using spelling rules with words and emphasizes using sound spellings
• Grammar: focus on writing mechanics like sentence structure, types of sentences, and parts of speech
• Comprehension: Summarize, Main idea/details, compare/contrast, visualize, predict, etc.

First Grade students will participate in set spelling lists and Sight Word Spelling.

• Continuation from Kindergarten
• Research based phonics, spelling, and language program.
• Review of phonograms and introduction of common dipthongs (oi,ou)and diagraphs ( th, sh, ch)
• Focus on rules of spelling and language

Science Essential Standards NC units of focus:

• Force of Motion
• Patterns of the Earth, Moon and Sun Systems
• Physical Properties and Uses of Earth's Materials
• The Needs of Plants
• Needs of Living Organisms

Social Studies Essential Standards NC units of focus:

• Civics and Government
• Geography
• Behavioral Science
• History
• Economics

We teach Science and Social Studies in an integrated format . We work to teach content in a connected way to show how science and social studies impact one another in our world.

Our sister country is India.

• We will do a monthly lesson on India with a set focus.
• We discuss weather in India during calendar time.
• International Extravaganza
• Monthly events/celebrations are discussed

(We will create solutions)

Earth Day school wide event- takes place in the Spring

Recycling focus daily, 3 R’s

(We will serve others)

K-2 will be collecting new or gently used coats to help children and families in need!! This is a great way to teach our kids caring about others.

We will assign homework every night. This includes 20 minutes of reading, a spelling tic-tac-toe choice board and Math assignment. We will have special projects throughout the year as well. Our nightly homework is a review opportunity of objectives we are covering during our day in the classroom. We will never give homework that covers a skill or objective your student is unfamiliar with. It is our goal to meet the needs of our students allowing for differentiation within the monthly choice grid format. SPELLING: Weekly spelling list given out on Friday, so students have a full week to complete homework and study for the spelling test (every Friday). MATH: Math Homework is updated in the COMETS binder daily and due on Friday of every week. READING: Nightly reading (20 minutes) is necessary to build sight words knowledge, practice reading skills and build up important comprehension skills.

Testing Practices in First Grade: MAP: An assessment given at the beginning, middle and end of the year to assess where students are academically in terms of reaching 1st grade standards. Running Records: An assessment where student reads text and the teacher follows the reading with comprehension questions. It highlights your child’s reading and retelling behaviors, strengths and weaknesses. Math: End of Chapter Tests Reading: Bi-weekly phonics, language-usage, and comprehension assessments are given to monitor growth. Weekly Journey’s Assessments Spelling: Weekly assessments follow sound spelling patterns covered to monitor mastery. SS/Science: Hands-on approach taken where exposure is highlighted and students are measured with vocabulary and skill mastery demonstration tasks in a wide variety of ways. We will have Formal quizzes and assessments at the end of units.

Powerschool

Categories for grading: participation, homework, tests/quizzes, projects, class work.
All Categories are graded 1-3.
Each is weighted equally.

• 3:  Mastery- meets expectations
• 2:  Partial Mastery- demonstrates partial understanding or can perform with assistance
• 1:  Little or No Mastery- cannot demonstrate mastery, even with teacher assistance

• Students should be able to read First Grade level texts smoothly, with minimal errors and with expression.
• By the end of 1st grade, student’s Running Record level should be 18 or higher.
• Fluency is tested at the end of each quarter. Sight words should be given with a 5 second wait time.
• Sight words make up over half of written texts, students with a strong sight word base are more fluent readers.
• Mastery is considered reading a sight word within 3-5 seconds.
• Dolch Sight Word Lists- mastery of 1st grade list is goal by end of the year.
• Sight words are tested at the end of each quarter. Please practice your child’s list at home.
• 2 nd-3rd grade sight word lists are given to challenge students (If they Have mastered the first-grade list).

SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY

Carolina International School requires students to follow a uniform policy. The school’s Board of Directors and administration believe that there are important reasons for a school uniform, including:

• Allows students to better focus on educational objectives

• Reduces conflict among students and promotes social harmony by de-emphasizing economic differences displayed by clothing

• Provides ease and convenience for parents and students in daily dressing

• Increases school safety by allowing for easier identification of potential intruders

Please review the appropriate School Uniform Policy for your student(s) on our K-8 Dress Code Matrix  or HS Dress Code Matrix to understand the standards for clothing at CIS. For any questions, please contact Dr. Griffith.

​Though parents may purchase school-appropriate attire anywhere, to assist parents we have partnered with Tommy Hilfiger School Uniforms. We suggest parents visit this vendor website as it displays a variety of appropriate clothing for CIS and thus will help parents/student to visually understand our dress code. You can also download How to Order information sheet for additional information.

Labeling-Placing your child’s name and the teacher’s name on any item will better your chances of it being returned rather than forever lost. We suggest you label anything you do not want to have to replace.  Jackets, sweatshirts, bottles, lunch boxes, hats, and gloves are a few items you may want to consider labeling.  You cannot depend on lost and found!

2024 - 2025 Academic Calendar