• Literacy

    Our curriculum goals follow Common Core State Standards for literature, informational text and foundation skills.  

    Reader’s Workshop

    Students engage in independent reading from their Book Box every day. The goal is to build fluency and stamina for up to 20 minutes of appropriate independent reading. There is also the opportunity for 1:1 coaching for fluency and strategies.

    Whole Group Reading

    The ReadyGen curriculum is an integrated literacy program focused on critical reading, thinking, writing, speaking, and listening and uses authentic and rigorous texts as the core of instruction. It encourages students to dig deep, think hard, and cite evidence as proof of their ideas. This approach helps students understand the interdependency between reading and writing and use it to become lifelong learners and communicators.

    Writing Workshop

    The ReadyGen instructional model uses reading to gain knowledge and writing as the tool for enhancing reading comprehension and learning from text. ReadyGen provides opportunities and guidance for students to analyze good writing models from text, explore styles and techniques, and apply the skills and conventions that they have learned. Lessons also focus on grammar, usage, and mechanics conventions. Each writing lesson in a module focuses on one writing type: narrative, informative/explanatory, or opinion. All assessments are performance based at the end of each module.

    Reading to Succeed

    All children learn to read at a different pace. Some need extra support; others are ready for more challenging material. During our Reading to Succeed block, children are grouped developmentally based on ability and progress and matched with books and strategies appropriate to their instructional reading level.

    Instruction is small group, when possible, and specific to reading skills, strategies and comprehension at that level. Assessment takes place about every 6 weeks for movement and growth.

    Fundations

    Fundations instruction emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics word study, high frequency word study, fluency, vocabulary, spelling and handwriting. It combines with our literature-based language arts program to provide a foundation and an integrated and comprehensive approach to reading and spelling.

     

    Math

    The Envisions approach is a problem-based teaching and learning program that promotes the depth of mathematical understanding needed for student success and higher achievement. The goal is for students to develop understanding and emphasize mathematical content connections from previously learned ideas.

    Topics include solving addition and subtraction problems, addition and subtraction facts to 20, representing and interpreting data, place value,

    comparing two-digit numbers, measuring length, telling time, shapes and attributes and equal shares.

    Science

    The science curriculum follows the Next Generation Science Standards which correlate with the Common Core State Standards. Goals in earth science under the topic of Sky Patterns (T1) are to observe, describe and predict objects and patterns in the sky. Goals in physical science under the topic of Light & Sound (T2) are to determine what happens when materials vibrate and what happens when there is no light. Goals in life science under the topic of Structure and Function (T3) are to determine how young plants and animals are like their parents; and how human protections are developed to mimic animal features.

    Social Studies

    Themes include Where We Live (community & state), Family, People at Work (jobs), Our World (natural resources) and special events & celebrations in America.

    Spanish

    Our language program, Espanol para ti, uses videos, songs and activities to elicit basic responses that include colors, number words, days of the week, months, and simple phrases.