- Language Arts & Reading
Reading Units: Building a Reading Life; Poetry; Reading the Weather, Reading the World: Purposeful Reading of Nonfiction; Interpreting Characters; Reading History; Fantasy Book Clubs
Reading Workshop:
We begin with a mini-lesson about the strategies good readers use.- Students shop for their own books and read at their “just right”
levels. - Students read independently, with a reading partner, in buzzing groups, in
guided reading groups, and in literature circles. - Continual Assessments help to determine and meet individual needs.
- Individual conferences meet the needs of each child
- Students shop for their own books and read at their “just right”
Spelling
- Program: “Words Their Way”
- We focus on understanding word structure rather than memorization.
- Program is differentiated according to student needs.
- Weekly assessment
Writing
Writing Units: Exploring Writing Workshop; Poetry; Personal and Persuasive Essay; Realistic Fiction; Bringing History to Life; Literary Essay
Writing Workshop:
We begin with mini-lessons that outline strategies/techniques used by good writers.
- We employ the writing process from prewriting all the way to publishing.
- We read books by some of our favorite authors and examine the structure of their stories.
- Then we write, write, write!
- Immigration
- American Revolution
- Significant Events
Science:
- Environments
- Soil, Rocks, and Landforms
- Electricty and electromagnetism
- EnVision Math (Program)
A concept-based problem solving program
- Concepts are revisited
- Children construct their knowledge in rich, problem-solving situations
- Program includes a wide range of topics (e.g., measurement, geometry, decimals)
- Computation remains important
- Math games to practice understanding of concepts
- Frequent practice of basic skills
- Formative assessments as well as end-of-unit assessments