All you need to know about the first grade and its common core math standards

All you need to know about the first grade and its common core math standards

Children in the first-grade range between the ages of six and seven.  At this age, according to Jean Piaget, the child is only beginning to develop intellectually, socially, and emotionally. Their physical experience increases and they start to think in the abstract to realize and conceptualize things that they have formed through physical experiences.  They begin to understand numbers and classify objects.

The first grade is where the child is conditioned into paying more attention and for more extended periods, unlike in kindergarten.

To understand more about the first-grade common core math standards, let us attempt to first understand their mental abilities and relations with people at this age.

• Cognitive/intellectual development.

At the age of six, the child develops logic and reasoning skills. They try to think before making any decisions as they see the world in a more abstract view. Unlike kindergarten, where they mostly observed to learn, the first grade expects the child to listen, observe, and think to learn.

By the time a child is at the age of six, they usually have gained a better concept of time and can recognize time increment in terms of days, weeks, months, years, and seasons. They can also identify and form patterns.

When it comes to math, a first graders’ intellectual capacity allows him/her to count and recognize numbers 100 by ones, twos, fives and tens as well as write the numbers 1-20 in words. The child can also do basic addition and subtraction of numbers of up to 20.

• Social and emotional milestones.

Learning should be fun, especially for children. Fun learning is the best way to encourage intrinsic motivation in a developing mind. Teach the child in such a way that they will want to learn, not for the reward, but because they want to.

Research has shown that first-grade children have the need to be independent but can be very insecure, especially if the subject is complicated. They understand the feeling of being embarrassed and hurt very easily.  This is the age where, with their constant need for approval and attention, both parents and teachers need to approach them like little adults. Teach them with the importance that they feel they need, but be wary not to crush their feelings when they make a mistake, however trivial. This is achieved through extrinsic motivation. Reward the child for work well done, and if need be, reward them for the effort and encourage them to do better the next time.

The common core standards are the expectations laid on a learner in terms of understanding, knowledge retained, and skills acquired on a given topic. These standards are governed by a set of principles that have taken into consideration the child’s cognitive abilities at that particular age, as shown above. These principles are;

1. Technology

Incorporating technology into learning mathematics allows the teacher to overlap and intersect different domains that collaborate all learning experiences in favor of problem-solving and critical flexible thinking.

2. Equity

The equity principle dictates that every child is provided with math education of high quality.

Equity requires that all learners are accommodated, and their learning differences put into consideration.

For example, in retrospect, slow learners were mostly left unattended. However, the equity principle requires that they are given extra attention and more opportunities to boost their learning in class. A teacher can ask one of the slower learners in class to solve a simple question. This helps boost their morale and even challenges the learner to work on harder problems.

3. Curriculum

The curriculum should be coherent. It should be well organized, aligned according to the grade, and without gaps. It should include math problems fit for the first grade and good enough to challenge the learner.

4. Teaching

The teacher is required to understand the learners’ needs then stimulate, guide, direct, and encourage the learner to solve math solutions at the first-grade level.

5. Learning

The learner should be able to build up on their knowledge of mathematics by understanding the different math concepts and relating them to similar experiences.

6. Assessment

With every covered topic, the learner should be assessed to determine the progress and point out areas that require more attention.

Math core standards are classified into two. These are the;

1. Process standards.
2. Content standards

Process standards

Process standards are the ways used to help better grasp mathematical problems and how to solve them effectively. There are five practical process standards in math. These are;

1. Problem-solving.

Problem-solving is an integral part of math. The learner is immersed in the process of finding math solutions.

Problem-solving requires a safe and friendly environment for the first-grader to explore their cognitive abilities to the fullest. The teacher achieves  this by encouraging learners, and asking questions that promote thinking, such as,’why’, or,’ how did you come to that conclusion?’

Truth be told, most learners fear math from a young age. Teachers are required to have the proper communication skills necessary to handle first-grade learners. This creates an environment where the child is confident enough to face the teacher with the problem that is bothering them as well as participate in classroom activities.

For example, a teacher can select one of the shy students to solve a simple math problem on the board. This will encourage the learner to speak up and interact with the rest of the classroom.

The teacher can also make the math lessons fun by incorporating flexible and fun teaching and learning methods in the class, such as a pie-eating contest for subtraction, or arranging learners from the tallest to the shortest for patterns.

First graders are known to overgeneralize things, especially when it becomes hard for them to make decisions. When faced with a problem, the learner may ignore patterns that require them to reason. Most times, they choose to use shortcuts, especially in this technological era, where even the youngest of them all can type a question on google and get a direct answer immediately.

Asking questions such as,” how did you get that answer?” will ensure the learner avoids shot cuts when solving math problems and that they show their work in proper order.

Representation requires the first-grade student to explain mathematical ideas in more than one way. These ways include;

• Written symbols.
• Static pictures.
• Spoken/written language.
• Manipulative models.
• Real-world situations

Children at the grade level work best in real-world situations. They use this mode of representation to show a problem and then solve it within the mathematical context.

For example, use apples to solve addition or subtraction problems in class.

5. Connections

When you relate one math problem to another, then you are using the connection process standard. Connections help the learner to better reason. It is usually built up from previously learned lessons.

For example, when the grade ones are in kindergarten, they are taught colors. In grade school, you can help them connect colors and addition by asking them the number of blue cups in a bucket.

There are six types of connections. These are;

• Problem-solving strategies.
• Mathematical topics.
• Prior or current math learning.
• Math and other subjects.
• Real-life situations and math.

Content standards.

Content standards in the first-grade common core math standards cover the content taught in the first grade. At the first-grade level, the focus should be on addition, subtraction, measurement, and geometric shapes.

1. Numbers

Addition and subtraction fall under numbers.

At the first grade level, the learner should be able to grasp the concept of numbers.

If different items were to be placed on a table, the learner should be able to sort them in terms of color, size, shape, use, and amount.

The learner should understand the concept of fewer than, more than, less than and equal to.

The learner should learn the concept of whole numbers and place values. They should be able to count in tens and ones.

The teacher should incorporate different methods of teaching suitable for the first grade in teaching them how to add and subtract numbers adding up to twenty.

In the first grade, the learner is taught and expected to understand measurements. They should understand the use of linear measurements using things like sticks or a ruler and iterating length units.

The learner should be able to identify an item as longer than, shorter than or the same length as another object.

The learner should understand the concept of mass in measurement by identifying an item as heavier than, lighter than or of equal weight as the object in comparison.

This can be achieved through various activities, both in and out of the classroom. The first graders can be asked to make to lines and measure them in variation to bring out the three situations: longer than, shorter than and as long as.

They can also be asked to hold items of different weights and determine which one is heavier, lighter, and equal to the other.

The first-grader is required to develop reasoning about the attributes of different geometric shapes.

Shapes come in different forms — for example, straight lines, curved lines, circles, waves, etc.

To better understand, the teacher should introduce activities such as forming straight lines, forming circles, forming curved lines, drawing shapes on the ground, joining dots in class to create shapes, and the lines.

Learning is best when it is made fun. Ensuring that the first graders have a positive outlook on mathematics from a young age will contribute significantly to a future full of critical thinkers who can quickly solve problems with a positive outlook on life