FIRST GRADE CURRICULUM

PHONICS:
Short a, double final consonants ck, short I, blends with r, short e, blend with s.  Short u.  Final Blends.  Students learn short and long vowel sounds, digraphs, diphthongs, rhyming words.

READING:
Main idea, recognizing fact, reality and fantasy, sequencing, cause and effect, story elements, predicting, drawing conclusions,  recognizing facts vs. opinions, analyze characters, and read maps.

ENGLISH:
Recognize complete and incomplete sentences, punctuation, possessives, contractions, inflectional endings, nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and sentence structure.

SCIENCE:
Physical Science;  grouping objects, sound, light, heat, movement;   Earth Science; earth, soil, weather, sky; Life Science, plants animals and their habitats.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Families, neighborhoods, communities, jobs, needs, map skills, geography, citizenship and natural resources.

MATH:
Write and identify numbers 1 to 100, add and subtract to 20, place value, count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s, greater than, less than, between, before and after, money, time to the hour and half hour, patterns, geometrical shapes, fraction 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, and  subtract two-digit numbers without regrouping.

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Grammar (complete sentences) and writing (informative sentences that describe poetry, thank you notes and description).

SPELLING:
Learn to spell vowel patterns, identify properly and improperly spelled words, write sentences using spelling words, short a, e, i, o. u. vowels).

SECOND GRADE CURRICULUM

READING: 
Increase vocabulary, develop fluency and expression in oral reading, develop comprehension skills, character setting, plot, inference, informational text, homophone, and consonant.

PHONICS:  
Short and long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs, vowel digraphs and diphthongs, R-controlled vowels (ie., ar, er, ir, or, ur synonyms, antonyms and homonyms).

Language Arts:
Improve writing skills, use proper punctuation, and identify parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs). Grammar (plural and proper nouns), and writing (informational paragraph, instructions).

MATH: 
Count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s forwards and backwards, compare and order whole numbers, write numbers to 100 in standard and word forms, compare money amounts, compare and order halves, thirds and fourths using bar model.

SCIENCE:
Life Science (parts of a plant and their functions, characteristic of animal groups, dinosaurs and fossils) Earth Science (land forms, weather, the solar system) Physical Science (solids, liquids, gases, gravity, magnets, light sources).

SOCIAL STUDIES:  
Compare different kinds of communities, (urban, rural suburban), identify needs and wants, goods and services, use a compass rose, know directions, and find states and oceans on a map, and study famous people in our country’s history.

SPELLING: 
Learn to spell vowel patterns, identify properly and improperly spelled words, write sentences using spelling words, and verbs in the present.

3rd Grade Reading:

• Read for pleasure, read to get information, and read to support personal opinions.
• Read a wide variety of materials such as books, magazines, newspapers, lists, letters, personal stories, make-believe stories, factual information (non-fiction), and labels.
• React to poetry, informational, step-by-step, and story text, telling what was liked and what was not liked.
• Recommend books and other materials to friends.
• Make predictions about what happens next using text clues.
• Check self while reading independently using meaning clues, grammar clues, and phonic clues in text.
• Use strategies of reading ahead and review back to check and clarify meaning.
• Use synonyms.
• Summarize
• Know and use headings, subheadings, bold print, italics, and parentheses as help to understand what is read.
• Interpret poetry and know that stanza and verse are characteristics of poems.
• Tell main idea, lesson, or moral of fairy tales, tall tales, fables, legends, and myths.
• Know difference between fact and opinion.
• Tell cause and effect relationships.
• Tell likenesses and differences of characters, events, episodes, and/or stories.
• Tell likenesses and differences of poems, informational texts, and other types of materials read.
• Know simile (comparison using “like” or “as”) and metaphor (comparison which is implied) as figurative language.
• Know and use details.
• Read and understand maps, charts, diagrams, and graphs

Math:

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

• Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.
• Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division.
• Multiply and divide within 100.
• Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.

Number and Operations in Base Ten

• Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.

Number and Operations—Fractions

• Develop understanding of fractions as numbers.

Measurement and Data

• Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
• Represent and interpret data.
• Geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition.
• Geometric measurement: recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear and area measures.

Geometry

• Reason with shapes and their attributes.

Mathematical Practices

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Attend to precision.
• Look for and make use of structure.
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

3^rd/4^th Science:

Students will become scientifically literate citizens who develop and apply the skills of scientific inquiry by:

• Solving problems by applying scientific/mathematical reasoning
• Safely using the tools of science through active, hand on experiences
• Analyzing and synthesizing information and communication understanding of science concepts

Language Arts 3rd /4th

• Analyzing the impact of authors’ word choice and context.
• Examining the reasons for characters’ actions.
• Identifying and examining characters’ motives.
• Considering a situation or problem from different characters’ points of view.
• Analyzing differences among genres.
• making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes

• Paraphrasing what was said.
• Interpreting speaker’s verbal and non-verbal messages.
• Interpreting speaker’s purposes and/or intent.

• Proofread and correct most misspellings independently with reference to resources
• (e.g., dictionaries, thesauri, glossaries, computer spell-checks, and other classroom
• Use correct capitalization (e.g., names of languages, nationalities,
• musical compositions) and punctuation (e.g., commas in a series, commas in direct address, commas and quotation marks in dialogue, apostrophes in possessives.
• Use oral and written language present information and ideas in a clear, concise manner.
• Discuss, solve problems and make decisions

Social Studies:

Describes how communities work to accomplish common tasks:

• Students will understand that a community’s established location is affected by a variety of factors.
• Students will understand that cultural diversity enhances a community.
• How do natural and economic resources effect the establishment of a community?
• How do climate and physical features affect the establishment of a community?
• What is cultural diversity and how does it contribute to a community’s identify?

Writing: 

• Write for extended periods of time.
• Use standard spelling most of the time.
• Use correct punctuation most of the time.
• Pre-write, using a drawing, brainstorming, webbing, or story boarding activity.
• Use paragraphs and concepts of order and time to organize information.
• Use the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
• Proofread and edit writing to check spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Revise what is written by adding and/or deleting information to make it clear and understandable.
• Use a variety of sentences when writing (for example: dialogue, question, exclamation, and statement).
• Write personal and make-believe stories, each with a beginning, a middle, and ending.
• Know and understand that main idea, supporting detail, organization, and coherence are the criteria upon which the stories are scored.
• Write fairy tales, poetry, recipes, news articles, interviews, letters, notes, lists, and instructions.
• Write for pleasure, to respond to text, and to record learning.

Spelling

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds.
• Use knowledge of structural analysis to decode words.
• Spell words correctly.
• Use spelling strategies to achieve accuracy (e.g., prediction, visualization, and association).

4^th Grade Reading:

• Read a variety of text including magazines, newspapers, recipes, charts, graphs, brochures, step-by-step instructions, nutrition labels, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and riddles.
• Tell his/her reaction to narratives, biographies, and autobiographies.
• Use reading as a major source of information.
• Offer reasons for how the story makes you feel.
• Use suffixes (ex: -ly, -er), prefixes (ex: pre-, tri-) and word parts to determine meanings of new words.
• Use a variety of strategies when reading to unlock meaning of the text (ex: predicting, confirming, self-correcting, and sampling).
• Change pace of reading according to the type of text read.
• Ask questions about text while reading.
• Tell in own words what a paragraph or passage is saying.
• Use reference materials: thesaurus, encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, and Internet to get information.
• Use books and other materials to get information.
• Talk about themes of stories as related to self and others.
• Make assumptions and draw conclusions based on factual information and stories read.
• Know the characteristics of narrative text, both personal and imaginative (make-believe).
• Ask questions to determine point of view of text.
• Organize information using graphic organizers or outline.
• Talk about characters in text and determine possible motives.
• Know that authors and illustrators have different voices and styles.
• Follow written instructions.

4^th Math

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

• Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
• Gain familiarity with factors and multiples.
• Generate and analyze patterns.

Number and Operations in Base Ten

• Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers.
• Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.

Number and Operations—Fractions

• Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering.
• Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers.
• Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions.

Measurement and Data

• Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
• Represent and interpret data.
• Geometric measurement: understand concepts of angle and measure angles.

Geometry

• Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.

Mathematical Practices

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Attend to precision.
• Look for and make use of structure.
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

5th – 6th grade students work on the following in:

Reading:

• Active Reading Strategies:
  • Making Text-Self, Text-Text, Text to World Connections
  • Questioning, Making Predictions
• Exploring Text Structures
• Analyzing Story Elements
• Making Inferences
• Analyzing Point of View
• Making Character Analyses
• Main Idea and Supporting Details
• Improving Vocabulary
  • Working with Context clues to define unknown words
  • Analyzing Prefixes and Suffixes
• Exploring Different Genres and Sub-Genres
  • Fairy Tales
  • Realistic Fiction
  • Mystery
  • Fantasy
  • Narrative Nonfiction
  • Biography

Departmental Math Grades Fifth and Sixth

Fifth Grade Math

• Addition and subtraction of fractions and decimals
• Multiplication and division of decimals
• Multiplication and division of fractions
• Place value and decimals
• Coordinate plane
• Geometry
• Quadrilaterals
• Measurement and data
• Algebraic thinking; writing expressions, number patterns

 

Sixth Grade Math

• Ratios, rates, percentages
• Negative numbers
• Properties of numbers
• Variables and expressions
• Equations and inequalities
• Geometry
• Data and statistics

Departmental Writing 5th- 8th Grades

• Students will learn grammar rules and work with the various parts of speech:
  • Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions
  • Students will learn correct punctuation for sentences
• Students will learn how to organize, draft, edit, and revise essays
• Students will learn to write descriptively using “Show Don’t Tell Writing”
• Students will explore various styles of writing including:
  • Narrative Writing
    • Writing their own fairy tales
    • Writing about a time that they overcame a struggle
    • Writing a narrative history of a Grandparent
  • Persuasive Essays
  • Expository Writing Including:
    • Various Black History Month Themed Writing
    • Writing to Compare and Contrast
    • Students will conduct a research paper and write a biography about a historical figure
  • Students will learn the Components of a Letter and write each style of letter
    • Friendly, Business, Thank you, Invitation
  • Students will learn to informational for technology mediums including PowerPoint and create multimedia presentations

Departmental History 5th – 8th Grades

• Students will explore the reasons and history of colonization
• Students will explore early American History including Colonization and the Revolutionary War
• Students will learn to analyze maps and geographical features
• Students will analyze current events and engage in discussions about various news topics

7th and 8th GRADE CURRICULUM

Seventh and Eighth Reading 

• Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• Determine a theme or central idea of a text.
• Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text.
• Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts.
• Analyze differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience in a text.
• Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types.
• Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems.

 

Departmental Science Grades Fifth – Eighth 

• Formulate hypotheses that can be tested by collecting data.
• Conduct scientific experiments that control all but one variable.
• Describe features common to all cells that are essential for growth and survival.
• Diagram how matter and energy cycle through an ecosystem.
• Describe the relationship between living and nonliving components of ecosystems an describe how that relationship is in flux due to natural changes and human actions.
• Describe the basic structure of DNA.
• Explain that all objects and substances in the natural world are composed of matter in different states with different properties.
• Understand that there are different forms of energy with unique characteristics.
• Understand the cellular structure of single-celled and multicellular organisms.
• Explain that energy cannot be created or destroyed but instead can only be changed from one form into another or transferred from place to place.

Departmental Math Grades Seventh – Eighth 

Eighth Grade Math

• Know that there are numbers that are not rational, and approximate them by rational numbers
• Work with radical and integer exponents
• Analyze and solve linear equations and pairs of simultaneously linear equations
• Define, evaluate and compare functions
• Use functions to model relationships between quantities
• Understand congruence and similarity using physical model, transparencies, or geometric software
• Understand and Apply the Pythagorean theorem
• Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data

 

Seventh Grade Math

• Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real world and mathematical problems
• Apply and extend previous understanding of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numb
• Use properties of operations to generate equivalent expression
• Solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations
• Draw, construct and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationship between them
• Use random sampling to draw inferences about a population
• Draw informal comparative inferences about two population
• Investigate chance processes and develop, use and evaluate probability models.