1st Grade
First grade is an adventure full of explorations and discoveries. Reading and Language Arts programs cement our children’s ability to interpret the written word. Comprehension is emphasized along with basic sight vocabulary and decoding skills. Children identify the beginning, middle, and end of stories, identify the main idea, and even choose titles. Creative writing and listening skills become more fine-tuned.
The children use spelling and handwriting skills to create sentences and stories. Children regularly work on problem solving exercises including story problems during Math. This is intertwined with strengthening addition, subtraction and double-digit computation skills. There are units on place value, money and geometry. Enrichment activities and games make practicing math fun!
In Social Studies, holiday customs of countries and cultures around the world are studied. We also learn about our own country and study Native American Cultures. Enrichment activities include baking, gingerbread house construction, and pumpkin painting. Children continue to be engaged by Science. A variety of materials, experiments and methods are incorporated to study topics, like the human body, plants, and the Five Senses.
• Decode words at a fourth grade level
• Write stories and begin expository writing
• Refine manuscript skills, spelling and vocabulary
• Master basic skills, spelling & vocabulary
• Master basic skills and facts in math and use in real life problems
• Use problem solving strategies, gathering data & patterns
2nd Grade
In Reading, Second Grade children select books for pleasure as well as information, and continue growth in phonics and decoding skills. Learning how to meet the demands of schoolwork and modern life through reading, writing, listening, speaking, thinking and language study continues. In Language Arts, our children learn about proper nouns, pronouns, and nouns in the singular and plural forms. You will see your child write his or her first book report while learning about summarization.
Our spelling program supports the learning experiences in social studies and science. We build dictionary skills, proofreading skills and writing mechanic skills during this busy year. Cursive handwriting is introduced and practiced. Social Studies provides the opportunity to learn about the land, erosion, first Americans, settling the land, citizenship, and protecting our resources. Instruction in map skills is introduced.
Children learn about the interdependence between trees, soil, and animals while studying different ecosystems in science. The second grade Science program focuses on learning about the earth. Children explore the structure of the earth, the changes in the earth’s crust and different types of rocks. They learn how people, plants, and animals change the earth’s crust along with the forces of wind, water, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
• Decode words at a sixth grade level
• Regroup in math, begin multiplication and learn facts
• Write three paragraph stories and a research paper
• Identify nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in english grammar
• Begin public speaking
• Sciences includes the human body, animal kingdom, earth and environmental
• Social studies includes government and basic american history
Third Grade
Third Grade is a transition year in which students show tremendous growth in many ways. In Language Arts, cursive writing skills are taught and refined. Spelling instruction continues and additional linguistic development is added. Creative writing encourages children to write stories, poetry, and edit products. Writing is further extended to book reports, research reports and projects, and initial analysis of literature.
Reading instruction emphasizes comprehension, analysis skills, drawing inferences, reaching conclusions and using reading for information gathering and research. English includes compound subjects, complete predicates, nouns, pronouns, present and past tense verbs, adjectives, adverbs, sentence fragments, commas and quotations marks. Compositional skills including expository writing skills in personal narratives, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and instructions are part of this all-encompassing curriculum.
The Math program facilitates multiplication and division while continuing to develop fractions. Games are used to motivate the children to learn multiplication tables, and manipulatives make fractions fun and easy to understand. During Social Studies, history on settlement and expansion, roles in early U.S. societies and the settlers is presented. Primary resources and artifacts are explored. Geography includes the interactions of humans with their environment and reasons for migration. Economic concepts are introduced with the barter system, use of money, and the history of business as well as economic cycles and technology. Cultural concepts include contributions to local history, the groups in regions and their cultural systems including settlers, cowboys, and Native Americans, as well as ethics and belief systems.
General Science concepts are presented. Concepts of adaptation show how plants and animals survive and adapt to their environments, which teach about classification, growth, groups, and animal behavior, ecology, and food chains. The nature of matter, energy and work are introduced. Information on electricity, magnetism, light, and sound are studied. Earth science includes landforms and oceans. Weather units focus on measuring weather conditions, and space studies teach movement in the solar system. Concepts dealing with the human body include digestion, circulation, the brain and sense organs.
• Decode words at a seventh grade level
• Understand and use story elements of plot, character, setting, point of view subject
• Problem and solutions in writing expository paragraphs and short stories
• Identify subject, predicate and subject/verb agreement in grammar
• Master multiplication facts, learn two digit multiplication and division, add and subtrtact from 100 to 1000
• Conduct scientific investigation in matter and density, electrical circuits and make solar oven
• Social studies includes appreciation of american development and the industrial revolution
4th Grade
In Fourth grade, increasing comprehension and improving silent and oral Reading are among the many skills. We study novels, both collectively and on an individual basis. Our children practice using dictionaries and develop good writing and punctuation skills, including the proper use and knowledge of commas, apostrophes, and paragraphs.
Our Language Arts skills also include understanding the four types of sentences and how to use them correctly. Children experiment with different types of writing and learn how to apply the genre. The steps to Writing well are learned through a writing process. Our spelling lessons shed some light on many of the spelling generalizations, which encourage correct spelling in our children’s written language. Cursive handwriting skills are practiced everyday.
The Math program continues to help our children understand and comprehend math concepts. We work on comparing and ordering numbers, rounding skills and estimating sums and differences. The properties of addition and subtraction, time and money are reviewed, and work continues on multiplication and division. Activities have been designed to provide enrichment and practical application of mathematics for your child. Problem solving and thinking skills are continually reinforced. You might even see us playing the stock market game. Now that’s real life!
Colorado History is one of the many topics our children explore during this year. We make our own relief map and do many projects that relate to Colorado and its rich history. Understanding about our own state helps us understand about the many struggles people went through while taming the West. We delve into learning about laws and responsibilities and our role in these important life skills. Hands-on experimentation solidifies many Science concepts. This year we focus on observation skills, which enable us to classify objects into certain and specific categories. You might see us learning about vertebrates and invertebrates.
• Decode words at an eight grade level
• Identify metaphors, similes and literary elements
• Solve simple algebra equations, and double digit multiplication problems
• Master math facts for accuracy of math skills
• Write a narrative, expository composition
• Edit writings for all punctuation and use six trait concepts
• Knowledge od colorado history
• Knowledge of life science including: classification of living things, plant process, populations, habitats and communities
5th Grade
In Fifth Grade different genres are explored in Reading, both through class and individual novel selections. Comprehension skills and literary skills include learning about the author’s point of view, conflict, plot, and character analysis. In addition, our children write and present independent book reports. We continue to study the English language and its many components. Articles, demonstrative adjectives, comparison and proper adjectives are a few of the skills we study. Our editing skills receive daily attention from a variety of sources such as writing logs. Writing skills continue to grow as students write different types of poetry, and develop creative and expository writing. We write often. Independent research papers help our student learn how to analyze and synthesize information.
Our spelling program supports the other fifth grade academic areas and many challenge words are given. Division, multiplication, and word problems are a part of our comprehensive Math program. As children learn how to analyze word problems, they are better able to solve them. Fractions, decimals, and ratios are explored to find the relationship among and between them. Timed tests are used to improve our children’s competence with math facts.
Chemistry, earth, and physical sciences comprise part of our general Science curriculum. By using the scientific approach and understanding the testing process for variables, our children learn how to objectively find results and come to reasonable conclusions. Children investigate compounds and learn about matter and its structure. Social Studies lessons include learning about the early beginnings of our country. We focus on the reasons for exploration, the trials of settling in a new frontier, the specific characteristics of the southern, middle, and New England colonies. Along with this, our children learn how our government became what it is, and the influences that we had on other parts of the world. Presentations and group work supplement this rich program.
• Decode words at a ninth grade level
• Read from all genres
• Identify parts of speech and outline information
• Write five paragraph essay and short stories
• Create expository compositions and a major research report
• Enhance knowledge of united states history and culture
• Master division facts in math, learn three digit division and multiply and divide with fractions as whole numbers
• Develop knowledge of physical science including light, electricity, energy, gravity and experimental activities