Curriculum Information for Parents

Subject area descriptions are based on what students are expected to learn (provincial learning outcomes). Classroom programming may vary to accommodate local situations such as second language learners, multi-grade classrooms, and students with special needs. As well, subjects may be combined through integrated themes. Parents are encouraged to discuss specific details about their child's programming with the classroom teacher.

In all grades, students develop skills in literacy and communication, working with others, solving problems, and using technology.

 

Arts Education

Music

Students begin to develop their musical skills and understandings through a variety of learning activities.

Grade 1 students:

  • Begin to read and write simple patterns of beats, accents, and so on, through rhythm activities.
  • Develop an understanding of melody through singing and playing bells and xylophones.
  • Learn harmony, form, and tone colour through singing, movement, and using instruments.

Visual Arts

Through a variety of learning activities and experiences, students learn about visual art forms in their environment, make their own art, and appreciate the art of others.

Grade 1 students:

  • Develop an understanding of themes in art through discussing and viewing natural and crafted materials they see around them, viewing their own and others' work, and drawing, painting, or creating three-dimensional objects.
  • Learn to use design elements such as line, shape, texture, balance, and unity in their art for different purposes (such as creating motion).
  • Use a variety of materials such as crayons, pencils, paint, clay, and so on, to express themselves visually.

Arts Education K-8...

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English Language Arts

In the study of English language arts, Early Years students learn to listen, speak, view, represent, read, and write at different times and in different ways. Classroom learning reflects "everyday" experiences where students learn to choose and use appropriate materials for real purposes.

At the end of Grade 1, students can do many of the following learning activities/tasks:

  • Talk and think about their own experiences and familiar events; and respond to others' ideas and feelings to set classroom and personal learning goals.
  • Learn and practise word-solving strategies through familiar songs, chants, nursery rhymes, and pattern and picture books; choose stories, songs, and poems to be read aloud by an adult; and talk about or show personal connections to what they have seen and heard from print and videos.
  • Talk and ask questions about a topic and what they want to learn for class or personal projects; and find answers from their own experiences, others, objects, pictures, books, libraries, and videos.
  • Tell, draw, and write their own ideas to share with others through storytelling, pictures, singing, and role-playing.
  • Learn to share ideas, take turns, cooperate, help others, and ask others for help.

English Language Arts K-8...

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Mathematics

From Kindergarten to Grade 12, students use seven critical processes to build their understanding of mathematics and to support lifelong learning:

  • Communication—showing learning orally, through diagrams, and in writing.
  • Connections—making connections among everyday situations, other subject areas, and mathematics concepts.
  • Estimation/Mental Mathematics—developing understanding of numbers and quantities.
  • Problem Solving—investigating problems, including those with multiple solutions.
  • Reasoning—justifying thinking.
  • Technology—using technology to enhance problem solving and encourage discovery of number patterns.
  • Visualization—drawing on mental images to clarify concepts.

Grade 1 students:

Patterns and Relations
  • Sort collections of objects.
  • Compare and create patterns from real life.
Statistics and Probability
  • With help, collect information in different ways and display it on graphs.
  • Describe and compare data.
Shape and Space
  • Estimate, measure, and compare using non-standard units.
  • Classify objects according to their characteristics.
  • Describe the relative position of objects and shapes.
Number
  • Recognize and use numbers from 0 to 100, and explore halves.
  • Use informal ways of solving addition and subtraction problems (0 to 18).

Mathematics K-8...

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Physical Education/Health Education

In the combined physical education/health education curriculum, students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for leading physically active and healthy lifestyles. The curriculum content highlighted for each grade is organized within five general learning outcomes (GLOs), which are the same for each grade.

General Learning Outcomes (GLOs) Content Highlights
1. Movement
The student will demonstrate competency in selected movement skills and knowledge of movement development and physical activities with respect to different types of learning experiences, environments, and cultures. Grade 1 students:
  • Recognize concepts related to directions (e.g., forward, backward); levels (e.g., high, medium, low); body shapes (e.g., curled, straight); qualities of effort (e.g., strong/light, quick/slow); moving in relation to others (e.g., lead, follow, chase); rules; strategies for target games (e.g., bowling); and fair-play behaviour.
  • Demonstrate basic movement skills (e.g., running, hopping, jumping, underhand throwing, catching, striking, bouncing, kicking, balancing) by participating in a variety of physical activities.
2. Fitness Management
The student will demonstrate the ability to develop and follow a personal fitness plan for lifelong physical activity and well-being. Grade 1 students:
  • Sustain participation in moderate to vigorous physical activities and recognize the physical changes on the body caused by physical activity (e.g., increased heart rate, body temperature).
3. Safety
The student will demonstrate safe and responsible behaviours to manage risks and prevent injuries in physical activity participation and in daily living. Grade 1 students:
  • Recognize and follow safety rules related to appropriate footwear, different surfaces (e.g., mats, climbing frames, ice), equipment, facilities, playgrounds, and exercising in different weather conditions.
  • Identify safety risks related to toys, clothing, roads and vehicles, school buses, holidays, fires, floods, tornadoes, lightning, unsupervised situations, violence prevention, and abusive situations (including sexual exploitation).
  • Identify where to go and whom to ask for help in the community.
4. Personal and Social Management
The student will demonstrate the ability to develop self-understanding, to make health-enhancing decisions, to work cooperatively and fairly with others, and to build positive relationships with others.

 

Grade 1 students:
  • Demonstrate how to set and achieve simple goals.
  • Demonstrate behaviours for getting along with others and for dealing with conflict and anger.
5. Healthy Lifestyle Practices
The student will demonstrate the ability to make informed decisions for healthy living related to personal health practices, active living, healthy nutritional practices, substance use and abuse, and human sexuality. Grade 1 students:
  • Identify daily habits (including daily physical activity, personal and dental hygiene, healthy eating, and adequate sleep/rest) for healthy living.
  • Identify safe and unsafe substances and ways of avoiding unknown substances.

Note: In Grade 1, the health topics that contain potentially sensitive content are personal safety in GLO 3 and substance use and abuse prevention in GLO 5. Prior to teaching the content, schools are expected to communicate appropriate information to parents, including a parental option. A parental option means that parents may choose a school-based or alternative delivery (e.g., home, professional counselling).

Physical Education/Health Education K-8...

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Science

In the Kindergarten to Grade 12 science classroom, students are actively engaged in "doing" science and developing related skills and attitudes, as well as extending their understanding of science concepts. In addition, they make links between science and daily life and appreciate both the power and limitations of science.

Grade 1 students develop an understanding of science concepts in the following units (thematic clusters):

  • Characteristics and Needs of Living Things
  • The Senses
  • Characteristics of Objects and Materials
  • Daily and Seasonal Changes

These topic areas serve as contexts for students to develop the following skills, attitudes, and understanding about the nature of science:

  • Recognize that learning can come from observing and investigating.
  • Observe, using a combination of senses.
  • Construct an object or device to solve a problem, based on specific criteria.

Science K-8...

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Social Studies

Social studies is the study of people in relation to each other and to the world in which they live.  In Manitoba, social studies comprises the disciplines of history and geography, draws upon the social sciences, and integrates relevant content from the humanities. As a study of human beings in their physical, social, and cultural environments, social studies examines the past and present, and looks toward the future. Social studies helps students acquire the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to become active democratic citizens and contributing members of their communities, locally, nationally, and globally.

Grade 1 students explore connections and relationships that exist in groups and communities. They become aware of their responsibilities and rights and discover how they can contribute to the well-being of the groups and communities to which they belong. Students enhance their awareness of Canada as a country and consider the connections that bring people together in communities, past and present. As they learn about human diversity and interdependence, students begin to appreciate the importance of connecting and belonging.

Cluster 1: I Belong
Students examine their relationships with others as they explore groups in communities. They discover family and community expressions of culture and identity, and explore how traditions, celebrations, and personal stories connect them to the past.

Cluster 2: My Environment
Students explore their environment. They study maps and globes, locate themselves in their community, in Manitoba, and in Canada, and discover various aspects of their community, including the natural environment and important landmarks and places. They also explore the national aspects of official languages and Canada’s national anthem. In addition, students distinguish between needs and wants, and explore how the media influence choices.

Cluster 3: Connecting with Others
Students explore their responsibilities and rights as members of communities and learn various ways people help and depend upon one another. They consider diverse and similar ways people live, meet their needs, express themselves, and influence each other. They also explore the purpose of rules and the causes of and solutions to conflict.

Go to Grade 1 Social Studies Curriculum...

Social Studies K-8...

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