First Grade Curriculum Guide for Mentally Retarded Students Essay Example for Free

First Grade Curriculum Guide for Mentally Retarded Students Essay Various models of language, which are rich and are in various forms of literature, including, poetry, songs and fiction are to be introduced. The five major ideas in reading are some of the basis of the curriculum and the instructions. They inspire the various assessments that to be used. Phonemic Awareness: It involves the ability to and be able to manipulate sounds in words. It also involves the ability to isolate letters and sounds and also to blend sound and segment sounds. Alphabetic Principle: This refers to the capability of associating sounds with letters and uses these sounds to form new words. Fluency with text: Is the effortless and the ability of the reader to read words in connected text automatically. Vocabulary: Being able to effectively understand and use words so as to acquire and convey meaning. Comprehension: This process involves the intentional communication that takes place between the reader and the text to be able to convey meaning. Literacy Centers Each day a child will be expected to participate in centers. This will allow the children to be able to explore various materials, try to reinforce concepts already taught and direct their own learning. The centers are likely to change weekly. They include: Word wall centre, Art centre, Listening centre, poetry centre, spelling centre and Reading centre. Writing, Spelling and Phonics The children will be given the courage to apply their knowledge of letter sounds as temporal spelling. After the child knowing how to say words slowly as well as listening to the sounds, this should help him record the message and think of himself as a writer. As the child progresses, he will be expected to move toward a more convectional spelling and therefore will be held increasingly accountable. Words and spelling of high frequency are taught when working with words block of time. In each week, there will be an introduction of word wall words which will be seen by the child always during the time of reading and therefore he will need to spell frequently while writing. To add on that, through these words, the child will be taught letter sounds and some spelling patterns of the words that are well known such as â€Å"at† so that they are able to spell words like â€Å"fat†, â€Å"sat†, â€Å"mat† and even â€Å"cat†. The goal is to enable the child recognize the spelling patterns and then consistently use them while writing. The writers’ workshops will consist of ample time for writing, mini lessons and during guided writing sessions, there will be sharing of time. Grammar will be taught to children including the use of punctuation marks. There will be the use of modern manuscript as a form of handwriting. There will be no extra time being spent on teaching formal handwriting, but rather there will be incorporation of the teaching of proper letter formation into some other daily lessons. Reading Curriculum The development of literacy will form the primary focus of the first grade year. There will be a well balanced literacy program which will include a wide range of language experiences which involve reading, writing, listening and speaking (American Association and School Administrators, 2006) Reading aloud to children This will be a guided reading where by the teacher will be required to read allowed for the children to pay extra attention to be able to hear what is being read. The children listen carefully. The children will then read with the teachers help. This is achieved when the teacher reads then the children repeat what is being reading. Shared Reading This is also referred to as Independent reading. There are two forms of independent reading: †¢ Children read in group together †¢ Children read alone First, there will be grouping of children to enable them read as a group. In this they will be able to assist each other catch up. Those who are fast in mastering the words are likely to play important roles. After doing this the children will be allowed to read on their own (individually). This is the best time to determine whether a child has got something from the session.