The class before first grade, she made a friend named Truman Capote who also later become a fiction writer, short-story writer, and wrote plays.

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Which one is correct?

1. The class before first grade,
2. In the class before first grade,
3. In a class before first grade,
4. In the class before the first grade,
5. In a class before the first grade,

I’d use only the second one. The fourth is okay, too, but the second one is best.