Dear Parents,

We are so pleased that you have chosen Colegio Maya as your child's school. We realize that this was a significant decision on your part and we will honor your trust by providing a quality, broad based, multiply intelligent education for your child. One means by which we can demonstrate our accountability is in providing you with these grade level curriculum books.

Each grade level booklet was produced through the efforts of our elementary teachers and is intended to give you an outline of what your child will learn this year. In addition we want you to understand our philosophy, so we have also included a belief and mission statement for each subject area. You will find a profile of the intellectual, physical and emotional make-up of a child at each grade level. Because we believe as Howard Gardner that all individuals have the capacity to demonstrate intelligence in a variety of ways, we have also provided you with a listing of Gardner's 8 Intelligences. You will find that your child will have the opportunity throughout the school year to experience learning and demonstrate knowledge through these intelligences.

We believe curriculum is a process as well as a product and as such is always changing. Each year as we revise curriculum, we post our most current information on our web site www.cm.edu.gt. Please check the website to see in greater detail what your child will learn in Social Studies. Spanish will be added soon and this year we will add Language Arts.

Colegio Maya Elementary is proud to be partners with you in the education of your child. We welcome your comments and questions regarding this booklet and hope that you will find it useful.

Sincerely,

Donna K. Lyne
Elementary Principal

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Linguistic intelligence	Musical intelligence
Linguistic intelligence consists of the ability to think in words and to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings. Authors' poets, journalists, speakers, and newscasters exhibit high degrees of linguistic intelligence.	Musical intelligence is evident in individuals who possess a sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone. Those demonstrating this intelligence include composers, conductors, musicians, critics, instrument makers, as well as sensitive listeners.
Logical-mathematical intelligence	Interpersonal intelligence
Logical-mathematical intelligence makes it possible to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complex mathematical operations. Scientists, accountants, engineers, and computer programmers all demonstrate this intelligence.	Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand and interact effectively with others. It is evident in successful teachers, social workers, actors, or politicians. Just as Western culture has recently begun to recognize the connection between mind and body, so too has it to come to value the importance of proficiency in inter- personal behavior.
Spatial intelligence	Intrapersonal intelligence
Spatial intelligence instills the capacity to think in three-dimensional ways as do sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters, and architects. It enables one to perceive external and internal imagery, to recreate, transform, or modify images, to navigate oneself and objects through space, and to produce or decode graphic information.	Intrapersonal intelligence refers to the ability to construct an accurate perception of oneself and to use such knowledge in planning and directing lif one se. Some individuals with strong intra- personal intelligence specialize as theologians, psychologists, and philosophers.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence	Naturalist intelligence
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence enables one to manipulate objects and fine-tune physical skills. It is evident in athletes, dancers, surgeons, and craftspeople. In Western societies, physical skills are not as highly valued as cognitive ones, and yet elsewhere the ability to use one's body is a necessity for survival as well as an important feature of many prestigious roles.	Naturalist intelligence consists of observing patterns in nature, indentifying and classifying objects, and understanding natural and human-made systems. Skilled naturalists include farmers, botanists, hunters, ecologists, and landscapers.

The Mayan School of Guatemala intends to provide an excellent educational opportunity, based on a U.S. curriculum, primarily for the international community in Guatemala, regardless of race, nationality or creed. The Mayan School shall offer a program of studies to prepare for success in the U.S. university system. Recognizing the transient nature of the student body, the curriculum should enable students to transfer between the Mayan School and other U.S. international and Guatemalan schools, insofar as equivalency requirements do not conflict with U.S. curriculum standards. The Mayan School shall endeavor to provide a program that maintains, and benefits from the international diversity of the community. The Mayan School is committed to the development of the whole individual and is dedicated to fostering students' intellectual, social, emotional and physical growth to prepare them to become good citizens and productive members of society.

We at Colegio Maya believe in educating lifelong learners by:

Fostering a safe, caring, and joyful environment;
Celebrating the diversity of our Colegio Maya family;
Creating responsible world citizens;
Encouraging a social and environmentally aware conscience;
Preparing for a changing technological world;
Stimulating curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking;
Affirming the students' right and responsibility to explore their potential.

The Colegio May Community Will:

1. Integrate and celebrate diversity within and beyond the campus.
2. Enhance information management skills and resources.
3. Create opportunities to improve communication and participation within the school community.

Every child is an individual who grows and develops at his/her own rate. Children in the same grade may be expected to differ widely from others in their group. There are, however, general characteristics, which apply to most of the children at a certain age.

THE FIRST GRADE CHILD MAY:

§ Be active - climbing, running, jumping and experiencing pride in newly-developed motor skills.
§ Be more interested in playing than eating.
§ Experience extremes of behavior. (There may be periods of laughter and tears in quick succession, periods of deep thinking, and periods of inattention.)
§ Be learning social behaviors such as how to make friends and solve problems independently.
§ Be learning to organize his/her belongings.
§ Become more independent in his/her self-help abilities (washing, dressing, cleaning up, etc.).
§ Be interested in helping with household chores.
§ Be losing baby teeth.
§ Be growing rapidly.

THE FIRST GRADE CHILD NEEDS:

§ A sense of being loved no matters what he/she does.
§ Generous praise and not too much criticism of errors.
§ Opportunities to show what he/she can do and to talk about him/herself and his/her interest.
§ To have frequent periods of rest and relaxation.
§ Proper medical care for the usual childhood diseases.
§ Good nutrition habits.
§ Nine or more hours of sleep each night.

PARENTS CAN HELP BY:

§ Providing encouragement, regular study time, and a place with no distractions for homework.
§ Monitoring your child's progress by having close contact with the teacher, and having knowledge of the school and classroom program.
§ Being supportive and positive when working with your child. Accept errors. He/she is just learning.
§ Showing your child how to use telephone response systems.
§ Discussing that medicines should be taken only supervision of responsible adults and health care givers.
§ Teaching the potential harmful effects of some medicines and substances of his/her body.
§ Choosing limits that fits your child's age and establishing behavior consequences and rewards.
§ Talking with your child about his/her interest.
§ Notifying the teacher of problems in the home that could cause emotional stress for the child (i.e. divorce, death in the family, a parent being away for an extended period of time).
§ Providing opportunities to extend and apply school learning at home.
§ Asking the teacher for suggested ways to help your child.
§ Limiting television viewing and encouraging active creative play.

Philosophy

A comprehensive Language Art Program encourages the integration of listening, speaking, reading, writing, critical thinking and learning of the language skills is meaningful content. Emphasis is on the sense of significant literary works, including books at the child's instructional and independent reading levels. These books are used to provide instructions and promote love of language for all students at all levels of ability.

LANGUAGE ARTS OBJECTIVES:

1. Listening to and follow directions, progressing from one step to multi-step directions.
2. Listens to and identifies the difference between beginning, middle and ending sounds.
3. Recall oral directions and / or list and able to repeat them.
4. Listen attentively within an active classroom.
5. Listens to story and answers comprehension questions.

SPEAKING

1. Speaking before a group in a classroom setting.
2. Participates in choral recitation.
3. Relates ideas, opinions and feelings in complete and clear sentences.
4. Responds appropriately during conversations and discussions.

THINKING

The student applies thinking skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The student:

1. Develops ability to classify the relationship between objects.
2. Relates a sequence of events.
3. Compares and contrasts literary works.
4. Observes details in stories and writing.
5. Predicts outcomes.
6. Draws conclusions for stories.
7. Understands cause and effect relationships.

READING
A. Decoding/ Phonics

The student integrates various word attack skills to pronounce a word and utilizes context to get meanings for words. The students:

1. Recognizes beginning and final consonants in words.
2. Reads common digraphs such as th, sh, ch, and ng.
3. Blends common clusters such as fl, fr, br, tr,pl, st, sc, gl,sl, and nk.
4. Identifies the long and short sounds or a, e, I, o, u and y.

5. Recognizes vowel combinations such as ai, ay, oo, ow, ee, ea, oi, and ew.
6. Understands the c-v-c short pattern and the c-v-ce silent long vowel pattern.

B. Word Forms and Word Parts.

1. Recognizes common contractions such as can't, I'm, here's, he'll.
2. Identifies compound words recognizing that two smaller words can make a larger one.
3. Base words and their affixes s and es form plurals.

C. Comprehension

1. Explains context from pictures.
2. Uses sentence context to define a word.
3. Identifies the meaning of punctuation such as the period, question mark, exclamation point and comma.
4. Listens to a paragraph and responds to sequencing questions.
5. Identifies and uses the sequencing terms first, next, and last.
6. Lists and labels words according to given category.
7. Selects the topic of a passage.
8. Draws conclusions from passages.
9. Predicts the outcomes of selections.
10. Listens to and reads a passage and tells what happened and why.
11. Identifies antonyms, synonyms, and rhyming words.
12. Relates the referents for words such as he, she, it, they and I.

D. Reference and Study Skills

1. Uses a table of contents to locate a story and page.
2. Identifies the meaning of the term title, author, and illustrator.
3. Recognizes the order of letters in the alphabet.
4. Alphabetizes words by their first letter.

E. Literary Skills

1. Distinguishes between fiction and non-fiction or between real and make-believe.
2. Recognizes poetry as a literary form.
3. Identifies characters in a story.

WRITING

A. Writing Process

Pre-Writing

1. Contributes ideas for a group story.
2. Selects a topic for writing.
3. Sequences simple events.
4. Contributes to group generated word lists during brainstorming and clustering.
5. Compiles list as needed.
6. Dictates an account of an experience in sequence.

Drafting

1. Writes a sentence for a picture.
2. Writes a first draft.
3. Writes simple stories or poems about personal experiences, feelings, imaginative happening, etc.
4. Composes group thank you notes and invitations.

Revising and Editing

1. Corrections and revisions are made during conferencing with the teacher.

Publishing

1. Publishes finished product with illustrations and revisions.

B. Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage

1. Writes sentences with a period or questions mark.
2. Knows that the pronoun "I" is always capitalized.
3. Begins a sentence with a capital letter.
4. Adds s for common plural forms.
5. Writes sentences produced orally.
6. Uses simple sentences.
7. Utilizes sentence models as a basis for writing.
8. Writes a complete sentence with subject, verb and object.

C. Spelling

1. Spells words correctly that are written on the chalkboard.
2. Uses phonetic spellings for words they need in writing.
3. Recalls the correct spellings for common words from a core vocabulary of high frequency words.
4. Creates a personal dictionary for independent writing.
5. Transfers the correct spelling and reading list words into independent writing.

D. Penmanship

1. Uses correct manuscript form for all upper and lower case letters.
2. Writes the correct form for all numbers.
3. Uses correct spacing between letters and words.

PARENTS CAN HELP BY:

§ Having your child read to you daily. Be supportive and positive. It's OK if they memorized the words.
§ Reading to your child daily.
§ Discussing what you've seen or done when you've gone places together.
§ Helping develop listening skills by giving your child opportunities to remember and follow two or three simple direction at the time.
§ Encouraging writing (notes, lists, letters, and diaries) by providing materials and places to write.
§ Discussing the books being read at school.
§ Having 5 minutes of uninterrupted conversation with your child.

Philosophy:

The goal of mathematics education is mathematical power for all the students. The developmental of mathematical power requires work that is challenging and engaging for every student and which accommodates the full range of diversity within a classroom. Students learn and use skills and concepts within large mathematical units. Thinking mathematically, using understanding of important mathematical ideas, using tools and techniques, collaborating with other students, and communicating results are all involved in assessment as well as instructional activities.

YOUR CHILD IS LEARNING TO:

§ Count orally 1's, 5's, 10's to 100
§ Understand number order.
§ Recognize a given number in its various combinations, (i.e. 6=6+0, 5+1, 4+2, etc.)
§ Add and subtract with manipulative and record the answer.
§ Add and subtract using pencil and paper.
§ Wrote number sentences in both horizontal and vertical position.
§ Understand place value to 100.
§ Understand ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.)
§ Estimate a number and check it by counting and grouping.
§ Sort by single and several attributes then describe how he/she sorted.
§ Create and interpret concrete, pictorial, and symbolic graphs.
§ Identify and name shapes and solids (cube, cone, sphere, etc.)
§ Recognize and apply patterning in his/her environment.
§ Measure with standard and - standard units.
§ Identify the value of individual coins, sets of coins, dollar bills.
§ Tell time to the hour and half - hour.
§ Use computers.
§ Apply mathematics to everyday situations.

PARENTS CAN HELP BY:

§ Encouraging counting things around the house.
§ Providing opportunities for your child to learn to count pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
§ Helping your child learn to tell time (hour and half hour on the clock), and watching for times important to the child.
§ Helping your child identify the day and month.
§ Helping your child become aware of math in all facets of daily life (cooking, shopping, sewing, etc.)
§ Sorting and folding clothing with child to model categories and fractions.

Philosophy:

Science gives children opportunities to explore how things work through activities and experiences. Science activities stimulate them to wonder, predict, and offer explanations. Children learn to use the scientific process skills of observing communicating, comparing, ordering, and categorizing. This helps them construct their own knowledge of scientific principles and concepts, making these a part of the way they see the world and influencing the decisions they make about their lives.

Your child is likely to investigate these concepts:

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

§ Identify living and non-living things.
§ Objects can be grouped by shape, size, color, weight, length, and texture.
§ Matter can classified as a solid, liquid, or gas.
§ Light comes from various sources, can vary in intensity, and can be blocked or bounced back from certain objects.
§ Sound comes from various sources, can vary intensity, and is transmitted in various ways.
§ Heat comes from various sources and has special characteristics; temperatures can be measured.

EARTH SCIENCE

§ Changes on the earth can be observed.
§ Air has certain properties, is necessary for human life, and has useful functions.
§ The differences between night and day can be observed.
§ The seasons can be observed.
§ Weather can be hot, cold, windy, still, rainy, dry, cloudy or clear.
§ The weather can change in each of the four seasons.
§ The sun, moon, and stars, and the earth are visible in the sky.
§ Compare the size of the sun, moon, and earth.

LIFE SCIENCE

§ Describe the development of a plant from a seed.
§ Identify different types of places where plants grow.
§ Plants have similarities and differences.
§ Plants need air, water, food, and light to grow.
§ Plants provide food and materials for such items as cloth and paper.
§ Identify plants of the rain forest.
§ Plants and animals have different structures related to their environment that help meet their needs.
§ Identify animals of the rain forest.
§ Animals of the rain forest differ in size, shape, covering, and mean of movement.
§ Recognize different parts of the human skeleton (the human body).
§ Describe the health care practices that promote good health.
§ Describe several ways people change as they grow.
§ Discuss fire and bicycle safety.

PARENTS CAN HELP BY:

§ Cooking together and observing changes.
§ Taking a walk at night and observing changes in the moon over a month's time.
§ Visiting a planetarium.
§ Observing what happens in the summer, winter, fall and spring and discussing the differences.
§ Taking your child on science-related trips.
§ Letting your child assist with gardening.
§ Observing stars using simple star maps.
§ Using a telescope or binoculars.
§ Making popcorn and discussing how matter changes.
§ Getting travel brochures from different countries to see the difference in seasons.
§ Visiting the zoo and Wild Animal Park and observing demonstrations on animal adaptations.
§ Promote good health habits at home/
§ Reading and discussing about fire and bicycle safety.

Family and Community

Description

In first grade the social studies units are taught for an entire quarter. The theme is integrated throughout the curriculum during each grading period. There are multiple resources available for the classroom teacher. It is recommended that during the quarter, the teacher choose a variety of activities that enrich the Multiple Intelligences of the children. Students mastery of these beginning level social studies concepts are evaluated on a developmental basis with each learning activity. First grade resources are in the form of Activity or Thematic books or Resource Files.

Self -Awareness
Key Terms, Facts and Principles

· I have a name
· I have a birthday that tells the day I was born.
· I am an age that is determined by the number of years since I was born.
· I am special.
· Words can be used to describe how I look.
· Words can be used to describe my emotional state.
· I have preferences.
· I can make choices.
· I grow and change.
· I am like other people in some ways; I am unique in some ways.

Family
Key Terms, Facts and Principles

· Everyone is a member of a family.
· Family members do some things with each other and some things alone.
· Family members express a variety of feelings toward each other at different times.
· Family members sometimes agree and at other times disagree with one another.
· Family members often teach one another new things.
· Family members depend upon one another in different ways for different things.
· Family members can help each other.
· Traditions are important to family life.
· Every family has stories.

During the third quarter the entire elementary participates in a World's Fair. Each grade level has been assigned a specific country or region of the world that is connected to other grade level units of study. First grade will present Latin America. There is a great deal of information available on countries in South and Central America. In addition we study the rain forest in science which integrates well with the Latin America for social studies.

The World's Fair part of the Family unit should include information about the country such as; map, capital city, native dress, special customs, significant animals and plants, popular food dishes, interesting land forms, special music, etc. and of course try to relate family customs as much as possible. Be prepared to present two showings (one to parents and one to elementary campus).

Friends
Key Term, Facts and Principles

· Who are your friends:
· Know your name
· Like you
· Let you play with them.
· Hold your hand, hug you, pat you on the back.
· Invite you to play our use their things.
· Care what happens to you.
· Help you do things; let you help them.
· Forgive you.
· May disagree with you.

Community
Key Terms, Facts and Principles

· A community is a place where people live, work and play.
· Recognize the use of a map.
· Community laws keep us safe.
· There are helpers in our community:
· School helpers - teachers, nurse, principal.
· Firemen
· Policemen
· Mailmen
· Doctors and Nurses

Significant historical figures have had an influence on our history and world community.
People in a community have needs and wants.
Jobs in a community provide goods or services.
People in a community have similarities and differences.

Resources:

Scott, Foresman Families and Neighborhoods Unit 1
Teaching Young Children Using Themes
Families Around the World Thematic Unit
Frank Schaffer Theme Book Series Families
My Family and Me - poems
My Family All Together - poems
Picture Prompts for Young Writers
File - Multicultural Activities
File - Who Helps

Philosophy:

From the early years, students learn about themselves and their world by drawing and painting, sculpting, singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, and dramatic exercises and presentations. Each of the arts provides students with increased perception that awakens their senses and helps them better understand and interpret the world around them. In a well-planned arts program, students gain the skills necessary to creatively express their idea, feelings, and imagination as they produce works in the arts.

YOUR CHILD IS LEARNING TO:

§ Express his/her feelings to music by using body movements.
§ Participate in simple dances and rhythmic movements.
§ View theatrical events.
§ Dramatize literary selections.
§ Listen to different styles of music and express his/her opinions about them.
§ Use simple rhythm instruments.
§ Sing in a group.
§ Tap rhythms in poetry, language, and music.
§ Study and describe some major pieces of art through studying art prints.
§ Illustrate a story.
§ Respect his/her own creativity and be respectful of the creativity and be respectful of the creativity of others.
§ Appreciate the contribution the arts have made in his/her own and other cultures.
§ Playing a wide variety of music.
§ Encouraging interest in playing a musical instrument.
§ Singing together.
§ Visiting art shows and museums.
§ Providing a variety of art materials for creative expression (crayon, paints, water, cotton, macaroni, magazines, chalk, etc.)
§ Encouraging creativity in play.
§ Watching performing arts program on TV.

Philosophy:

A physical education program meets a student's need to develop physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially by providing physical activity and the learning of skills that enable him/her to participate in activities throughout life. A physical education fitness program for primary children should be based upon learning the fundamentals of movement and building a foundation for physical fitness.

YOUR CHILD IS LEARNING:

§ Develop body coordination through motor skills: walk, run, hop, gallop, jump, and skip.
§ Develop body coordination through body awareness and safety: balance, posture, body image, and creative movement.
§ Develop body coordination through rhythm with music.
§ Develop body coordination through activities: animal walks, jump rope, and simple rolling movements.
§ Develop body coordination through game skills" catching a ball, hitting a target, passing objects, bouncing a ball, and kicking a ball.
§ Develop responsibility by taking turns, playing with others cooperatively, following directions, and taking care of equipment.
§ Develop a positive attitude toward the value of physical activity and cardiovascular system development.
§ Develop safe habits for proper use of playground equipment.

PARENTS CAN HELP BY:

§ Practicing skipping with your child.
§ Jumping rope (group and individual) with your child.
§ Playing with a ball or bean bag with your child.
§ Practicing throwing, catching, hitting, and kicking a ball.

First Grade Classroom Sets and Novels

§ Sunshine Books - The Wright Group
§ I went Walking - spotlight Books
§ Rain
§ Five Little Ducks
§ The Chick and the Duckling
§ The Good Bad Cat
§ My Friends
§ Bet you Can't
§ Coco Can't wait
§ Down By the Bay
§ Jasper's Beanstalk
§ An Egg is an Egg
§ Whose Baby?
§ Everything Grows
§ White Rabbit's Color Book
§ Hattie and the Fox
§ Any Kind of Dog
§ Seven Sillies
§ The Story of Chicken Licken
§ One Monday Morning
§ You'll Soon Grow Into Them, Titch
§ Seven Blind Mice
§ The Surprise Family
§ In the Attic
§ Julieta and Het Paitbox
§ Jimmy Lee Did It.
§ New Shoes for Silvia
§ Just a Little Bit
§ A Birthday Basket for Tia
§ Guinea Pigs Don't Read Books
§ A letter to Amy