First Grade

Welcome to the First Grade Enrichment Page!

Our District Gifted Reading program begins in each First Grade classroom. I will join the students weekly from October through April in their classrooms to read stories and poetry together while further developing their reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking skills.

In January, those students whose reading levels are 2+ years above their grade level will be assessed for their ability to analyze text focusing on figurative language, main idea, tone, mood, and the author's purpose. In addition, the students will respond to a writing prompt employing their schema, or background knowledge.

In late January, a small group of students who meet the above criteria will be invited to participate in the next phase of our program. These students will come out of their regular class for the duration of the year for one class per week. During those classes, the students will be exposed to a wide variety of literary genres and strategies necessary to become independent readers. Students will continue to develop and strengthen their fluency, reading comprehension, text analysis, critical thinking, and writing skills through a thematic instructional approach.

All Marlboro Gifted and Talented programs conclude at the end of the academic year. Students may qualify again for the programs in Second or Third Grade based on their performance on the standardized CogAT assessment, which is administered during their first-grade year, as well as other customary requirements.

I am looking forward to getting to know the First Grade students this year!

Please refer to the following links for specifics relating to the MTPS Gifted and Talented program, qualifying criteria, and curriculum overview.