First Grade Math Standards in California
Math is a constant part of a first grader’s life, even beyond the classroom. Figuring out how many chicken nuggets to trade at lunch for a cupcake, counting out equal teams at recess for kickball, calculating how many cookies are left in the cookie jar before a parent notices — math is everywhere for a first grader. In math classrooms in California, they'll hone those everyday skills to prepare for more advanced calculations.
Get a Prodigy account nowView all curriculum coverageProdigy’s first grade curriculum coverage in California
"When students finish their partner and independent work in math, they play prodigy. I assign each student assignments and standards based on what we are learning, what they are struggling with, and what needs to be reviewed for an upcoming test."
Paige V.
Teacher
Hawthorne School District, California
Here’s how Prodigy aligns to the California grade 1 curriculum.
Aligns content with widely accepted skills and standards
Allows flexibility for students to work at their own pace within the same curriculum
Presents students with relevant math questions that match the skills within their school’s curriculum
Four first grade math subject areas
On day one of first grade, students may not be able to count past their fingers and toes. But when summer comes around, they’ve mastered a whole new world of math skills. Here are the first grade math standards in California.
1. Operations & algebraic thinking
1st grade curriculum
Operations and algebraic thinking in grade 1 helps California students turn abstract concepts like addition and subtraction into instincts. With tools and concepts like drawings, sounds, situations and word problems, students build the foundation and skills of addition and subtraction.
Adults and older students often do this kind of math problem without blinking — from adding up how many meals to prepare for the week to subtracting minutes on a clock to make sure you’re not late to a meeting. The goal of operations and algebraic thinking is to simplify and practice these everyday calculations until they become instinctive. A child’s imagination comes to life when they play. When you connect a high level of engagement to 1st grade algebra fundamentals, there’s no limit to a child’s math potential.
Operations and algebraic thinking grade 1 skills
- Addition and subtraction with images
- Single digit addition and subtraction word problems
- Addition and subtraction word problems from 11 to 20
- Writing and solving equations from word problems up to 20
- Using counters, show a number up to 20
- Use counters to show addition or subtraction sentences (within 20)
- Subtraction and addition within 20 using tens frames
- Using images to describe addition and subtraction or create equation sentences
- Addition and subtraction in a number line
- Addition and subtraction to compare numbers up to 20 in a world problem
Example Problem:
Emilio has 3 daisies and Lee has 2 daisies. Emilio gives one daisy to his mom.
Who has more daisies?
a) Lee
b) Emilio
C) Lee and Emilio have the same amount of daisies
- Solve addition from word problems – 3 numbers to 20
- Addition to 20 with 3 numbers from word problems using tens frames
- Solve addition to 20 from word problems – 3 numbers to 20
Example Problem:
At Raya’s birthday party, she received 1 birthday card from her parents, 2 birthday cards from her cousins, and 4 birthday cards from her friends.
How many birthday cards did Raya receive?
- Add and subtract three single-digit whole numbers
- Identify similarities in equations
Example Problem:
Can you solve this equation: 1 + 1 + 2 = ?
a) 2
b) 5
c) 4
- Write the inverse of a subtraction equation
- Write the inverse of an addition equation
Example Problem:
Rewrite this addition sentence (1 + 1 = 2) as a subtraction sentence:
? - 1 = 1
- Count backward by 1s, 2s, and 5s from 20
- Tackle counting word problems
Example Problem:
You see 3 dogs at the park. Each dog has 2 ears.
- Identify correct and incorrect equations
- Simple addition and subtraction equations
- Fill-in-the-blank equations
- Equality expressions for sums up to 20
- Addition and subtraction using number lines
- Identify missing numbers in a number pattern up to 20
- In-and-out tables with addition and subtraction rules
- Add doubles together in an equation
- Add doubles plus one
- Use doubles rules to subtract
Example Problem:
Which addition statement is true?
a) 1 + 2 = 2
b) 2 + 1 = 3
c) 1 + 1 = 1
- Fill-in-the-blank equations that are missing a symbol
- True or false equality equations
Example Problem:
Is this equation true or false?
1 + 3 = 2 + 2
a) True
b) False
- Fill-in-the-blank addition and subtraction equations with a sum of 10
- Missing number subtraction and addition from 11-20
- Missing number equations using number lines
- Missing number equations using tables
Example Problem:
What number is missing?
9 + ? = 18
2. Numbers and operations
1st grade curriculum
“Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven, eight, nine!” This joke might make students giggle, but it also demonstrates a key mathematical understanding of core concepts: number sequences and operations.
In the 1st grade, students learn to count up to 120 and start to recognize and break down larger numbers between 1 and 20 into understandable chunks to add, subtract and compare them. From wriggling kindergarteners to excited first graders, students grow tremendously as they take their next academic step, especially when it comes to math. While students may start the year counting on their fingers, by the end they’ll need far more fingers and toes to show off their counting skills.
Numbers and operations grade 1 skills
- Order whole numbers
- Count by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s to 120
- Count on a number line
- Count using a hundreds chart
- Count with the use of counters and a hundreds chart
- Write numbers up to 34
Example Problem:
When counting up by one, what number comes after 5?
- Create two-digit numbers from word prompts, blocks, counters, and charts
- Group tens and ones to create numbers
- Align a statement of tens and ones to the number
- Show a number up to 100 using ten blocks
Example Problem:
In the number 92, what place is the 2 in?
a) ones
b) tens
- Greater than, less than, and equal to exercises with numbers 1-100
- Order numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least with numbers 1-100
- Order numbers between 1-100 within word problems, number lines, charts, and blocks
- Compare numbers with addition from 1-100
Example Problem:
Which number is less?
a) 52
b) 56
- Add two-digit and one digit numbers in a Place Value Chart (PVC)
- Add two 2-digit numbers together in a PVC
- Add two-digit numbers and multiples of 10
- Write and understand a double-digit number
- Add a multiple of ten and a one-digit number with blocks up to 99
- Compare numbers to 100 in a word problem using addition
- Add a hundred on a hundreds chart
Example Problem:
Add 9 + 1
How many tens and ones are in your answer?
- Use mental math to find the number that’s more or less than a chosen number (up to 10 more or 10 less than the chosen number, e.g., what’s 5 more than 7?)
Example Problem:
What number is 10 more than 60?
- Subtract multiples of tens in the range of 10-90 using charts, concrete models, drawings, and blocks
- Explain the methods used to come to the solution
Example Problem:
Using this number chart of 100, find the solution to:
20-10 = ?
3. Measurement and data
1st grade curriculum
Measurement skills serve students well in their lives, from figuring out how long until their favorite cartoon is on to measuring out solutions in high school chemistry class.
Students will learn how to tell and write time in hours and half-hours, using both analog and digital clocks. In the California curriculum, they’ll also learn how to ask and answer questions about data points, discern how many points fall into a certain category, and how many more or less points there are between categories.
Measurement and data grade 1 skills
- Match digital and analog clocks
- Understand hours and half-hours
- Read a clock to tell the time in hours and/or half-hours
Example Problem:
Which time shows twelve o'clock:
a) 12:00
b) 3:00
- Read primary data
- Read data from a horizontal bar graph
- Read data from a vertical bar graph
- Identify the total number of data points in a table or graph
- Identify how many data points are in each category
- Identify how many more or less data points are in one category compared to another
- Identify the difference between values in a table to 20
- Solve word problems asking to choose the correct bar graph
- Interpret data from a picture graph
4. Geometry
1st grade curriculum
Shapes make up the world around a first grader. At this level, California students are learning to distinguish between shapes and their characteristics. They’ll also familiarize themselves with halves, thirds, quarters and how to use those phrases to describe shapes.
- Identify 2D shapes
- Classify 2D shapes
- Compare sides and vertices of 2D shapes
- Identify the number of sides
- Sort 2D shapes
- 2D shapes word problems
Example Problem:
You draw a shape with 3 sides.
What shape did you draw?
a) triangle
b) square
- Identify partitions of circles and rectangles
- Divide a rectangle into equal parts (2 and/or 4 parts)
- Divide a whole circle into equal parts (2 and/or 4 parts)
- Describe shares or parts of a circle or rectangle using the words halves, fourths, and quarters
- Describe shares or parts of a circle or rectangle using the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of
The path to mastery should be paved with fun!
Learning to love math can make all the difference in 1st grade, 2nd grade and beyond. Give students the inspiration and academic development they need with a resource like Prodigy. Prodigy’s unique platform incorporates the 1st grade math standards California requires in a fun, engaging way.
Turn math learning into an exciting journey with Prodigy!
Educators — Set an Assessment today and choose the curriculum-aligned skills you want your students to practice.
Parents — Motivate your child to practice essential skills from their school’s curriculum, then use the powerful tools in your parent account to track and support their progress.
