Modified Curriculum
Standards-Based
Benchmarks
for
Renaissance Gifted Academy
Grade 1
A parent’s guide
READING
Reads closely to determine to determine key ideas and details in a
variety of texts
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Applies reading strategies before, during, and after reading (predicting,
questioning, making connections, visualizing)
Retells/summarizes including key details, central message, characters,
settings, major events
Identifies who is telling the story at various points in a text
Begins to recognize miscues that interfere with meaning and uses selfcorrection strategies
Reads appropriate level texts independently for 20-30 minutes daily and can
retell, summarize, or respond to that reading
Understands how authors express ideas
Asks and answers questions about main topic and key details, summarizes or
responds to information from a wide variety of reading material
Distinguishes between fiction/non-fiction/poetry
Describes the overall structure of a story, how the beginning introduces the
story and the ending concludes the action
Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer,
explain or describe
Describes how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text
Uses knowledge of words / vocabulary to understand text
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Uses phonological awareness
Uses appropriate strategies to decode unknown words when reading ability
appropriate text (illustrations, word patterns, context, rereads, reads ahead)
o Distinguishes long from short vowels, knows common vowel team
conventions for long vowels
o Blends phonemes, including consonant blends
o Segments words into their individual sounds
o Knows the spelling-sound correspondences for consonant digraphs
and common vowel teams
Asks and answers questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words
and phrases in a text
Uses vocabulary skills to read and understand ability-appropriate text
Identifies words and phrases that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on ability-level reading and content, choosing flexibly from an
array of strategies.
Use sentence-level context clues to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.
Uses a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown
word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).
o Uses knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the
meaning of compound words (e.g. birdhouse, bookshelf)
Demonstrates understanding of word relationships & nuances in meaning.
o Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of
the concepts the categories represent
o Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a
duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes)
o Identify real-life connections between words and their use
o Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner
(e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing
in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by
acting out the meanings
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Integrates various print resources to make connections,
comparisons, and understand text
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Compares and contrasts the adventures and experiences of characters in
stories; describes how characters respond to major events and challenges;
acknowledges differences in points of view of characters
Describes the connection between two individuals, historical events, scientific
ideas, or pieces of information
Knows and uses various text features (e.g. headings, tables of contents,
glossaries, electronic menus, icons, bold print, indexes) to locate key facts or
information in a text
Compares and contrasts two or more versions of the same story by different
authors or from different cultures
Reads with sufficient accuracy & fluency to support comprehension
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Reads ability-appropriate materials with sufficient accuracy and fluency to
support comprehension, rereading as necessary
Attends to rate, expression, accuracy and phrasing that sounds like everyday
speech
LANGUAGE ARTS
Writes opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative pieces for a
variety of audiences
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Writes using developmental spelling, maintaining focus on a topic and using
support and elaboration
o Opinion pieces that introduce the topic, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, use linking words and provide a concluding
statement or section
o Informative/explanatory texts that name a topic, supply some facts
and provide a concluding statement or section
o Narratives recounting two or more appropriately sequenced events,
include details, use temporal words to signal event order, and
provide a concluding statement or section
 Organizes writing with a beginning, middle and end
 Uses correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization some/most of
the time
 Writes for a variety of purposes and audiences, revises and edits
 Uses a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing
 Participates in shared research and writing projects
Uses language skills to gather, evaluate, and share information
 Uses aids (KWL, graphic organizers, available technology) to locate and
generate information
 Finds and uses books to learn something new about a topic
 Distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information
 Finds and organizes information to answer questions and solve problems
 Analyzes and evaluates information
 Shares learned information through writing or speaking
Demonstrates understanding of standard English conventions when
writing
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Uses conventions of standard English grammar and usage
o Print all upper- and lowercase letters.
o Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.
o Use singular and plural nouns (regular and irregular) with matching
verbs in basic sentences
o Use personal, possessive, indefinite and reflexive pronouns (e.g., I,
me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything, myself, ourselves).
o Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., walk,
walked will walk or sat, hid, told).
o Use frequently occurring adjectives.
o Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so,
because).
o Use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).
Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).
Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to
prompts.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
o Capitalize dates, holidays, geographic names and names of people.
o Use end punctuation for sentences.
o Use commas in dates, to separate single words in a series, in
greetings and closings of letters.
o Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns
and for frequently occurring irregular words.
o Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness
and spelling conventions.
o Uses an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring
possessives
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Speaks and listens effectively for situations and audiences
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Listens effectively for a variety of purposes
Asks and answers questions related to the topic; asks questions to clear up
any confusion or to gather additional information
Speaks effectively for a variety of purposes
Describes people, places, things and events with relevant details, expressing
ideas and feelings clearly
Participates in collaborative conversations with peers and adults in small and
large groups; builds on others’ talk in conversations
MATH
Applies knowledge of numbers and operations to solve problems
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Count within 1000, skip-count by 5s, 10s and 100s
Read and write numbers to 1000
Solves one- and two-step word problems involving adding to, taking from,
putting together, taking apart and comparing, with and without manipulatives
including money (dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies) up to $1.00
Fluently adds and subtracts within 20 using mental strategies; knows from
memory all sums of two one-digit numbers
Fluently adds and subtracts within 100 using strategies based on place value,
properties of operations and/or the relationship between addition and
subtraction (including regrouping)
Determines whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number
of members
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Represents, orders, labels and compares familiar fractions
Uses addition to find the total number of objects arranged in rectangular arrays
with up to 5 rows and 5 columns
Applies and interprets concepts of measurement and data
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Tells and writes time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest minute using
a.m. and p.m.
Measures length to the nearest inch by selecting appropriate tools such as
rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks and measuring tapes
Estimates lengths using inches, feet, centimeters and meters
Measures to determine how much longer one object is than another
Relate addition and subtraction to length by representing whole numbers on a
number line
Measures temperature to the nearest degree
Reads, represents and interprets bar graphs, tally charts, pictographs and
tables
Solve simple problems using information presented in a bar graph
Draw a picture graph and a bar graph to represent a data set with up to four
categories.
Demonstrates understanding of patterns and simple algebraic
concepts
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Identifies, completes and extends number patterns
Finds missing terms in an equation
Orders and compares two three-digit numbers with <, >, =
Understands and applies concepts of geometry
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Identifies, draws and describes 2-D and 3-D shapes and specified attributes
Predicts the results of composing and decomposing shapes
Partitions circles and rectangles into two, three or four equal shares, describe
the shares using the words halves, thirds, fourths
Understands and applies place value concepts
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Understands that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of
hundreds, tens and ones
Mentally add or subtract 10 or 100 to a given number
100-900
SCIENCE & HEALTH
Understands the concepts of life, physical, and earth/space science
and their interconnectedness
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Identifies and describes animal and plant life cycles
Identifies, compares and contrasts animals based on their characteristics
Classifies animals as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, insects, arachnids
or fish
Identifies animal adaptations as they relate to function
Understands the position of the sun, planets, stars and moon as they relate to
each season/month
Describes how weather changes in the different seasons
Describes how the rotation of the earth causes day and night
Describes the force of air pressure on objects and materials
Solves problems through trial and error while exploring concepts of balance,
counterweight and stability
Explore magnetism
Uses inquiry process and concepts of technological design
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Arranges data into logical patterns and describes the patterns
When given a sample design problem, formulates possible solutions
Makes connections between science and society
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Uses basic safety practices (e.g., not tasting materials without permission,
“stop/drop/roll”)
Demonstrates ways to reduce, reuse and recycle materials
Understands the basic principles of health and well-being
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Identifies general signs and symptoms of illness
Identifies methods of health promotion and illness prevention (e.g. obtaining
immunizations, hand washing, brushing and flossing teeth, eating practices,
sleep, cleanliness)
Identifies dangerous situations and safety methods to reduce risks (e.g. traffic,
medicine, poisons, strangers)
Describes basic parts of the body systems and their functions (e.g. eyes, heart
and lungs
Identify individual differences in growth and development among people
SOCIAL STUDIES Effectively uses reading and writing strategies
to:
Demonstrate understanding of political systems
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Identifies the United States as a country comprised of states
Identifies major United States symbols
Explains the voting process and the need for citizens to participate in it to
maintain a representative democracy
Explains both the rights and the responsibilities of citizens
Identifies our local, state and national officials and their roles
Demonstrate understanding of economic systems
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Describes the goods and services provided by both wage earners and the
government
Identifies how transportation and technology has helped economics grow and
change
Identifies how economics and politics are interdependent within a community
Demonstrate understanding of local, state, and U.S. history
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Examines historical sources (e.g., myths, biographies, stories, artwork) to
describe how people in different times and places viewed the world in different
ways
Lists important individuals, landmarks and symbols that have shaped our
common history
Demonstrate understanding of geography
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Identifies physical features and political locations on maps and globes using
cardinal directions, colors, symbols and a map key
Compares and contrasts renewable and non-renewable resources and how
people depend on them
Demonstrate understanding of social systems
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Identifies personal characteristics that can lead to strong friendships
Identifies social institutions (e.g., schools, hospitals, religious, community
agencies) and how individuals relate to them
Explores the arts (e.g., folklore, language, music) from different cultures which
integrate into the American way of life