Detailed Elementary Curriculum

Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (partial listing)

Religion: Children are introduced to our Catholic faith.  The emphasis is on caring about one another. The children are encouraged, praised and rewarded for helping others and showing kindness. The class participates in group discussions, songs and stories about good and bad choices. The following prayers are taught: The Sign of the Cross, Grace, The Hail Mary, The Glory Be, and The Our Father.

Social Studies: Children are just beginning to understand that they are part of a bigger world. Community is emphasized. We explore other countries through food, art and music.

Math: Children begin the year with an introduction to shapes, spatial relationships, size, weight, and patterns. Math is taught through “hands-on” experiences and center activities and materials. As the year progresses, more abstract concepts are introduced including simple addition and subtraction, fractions (half/whole), money, and time.

Science:  Science units are based upon Natural Science topics such as plant growth, human growth, health and safety, dinosaurs, new life, butterflies, weather, solid/liquid experiments and color. All projects are “hands-on” and allow children time to explore materials.

Language Arts: Children are given time for dramatic play, group discussions, individual sharing times, center time and begin to learn the “magic” that will enable to read! language and phonics are used as instructional techniques for the children to explore the alphabet and beginning letter sounds based upon their personal development

Penmanship:. Practice really does make perfect in this area of children’s development. Our emphasis is centered on small motor control, holding a pencil correctly, and writing out names in capital and lower case letters.

Activities: The Pre-Kindergarten curriculum focuses a great deal on developing happy independent learners. A number of developmental centers have been established to help the child learn through experiences. Here are a few examples of the learning centers used in Pre-Kindergarten: Computers, reading, art easel, craft table and the listening corner.

Music: Students participate in singing and musical games, focusing on awareness of Beat, Rhythm, and Melody. Singing will enhance awareness of the sound of their own voices and how to improve the singing sound. Class participation will foster group participation and the idea of working together for a common goal. Games and handling rudimentary instruments will help students develop Beat awareness and readiness (also important for preparing to learn to read in regular class.)

P.E. The emphasis during the course of the year is large motor development through planned recess times, music exploration and general movement activities. The school P.E. teacher takes the prekindergarten classes twice a week for “formal” P.E. instruction and exploration.

Computer Technology: Children have the opportunity to experience “hands-on” introduction to the keyboard. There are a variety of Math, Language Arts, and educational programs as well as Art and Health related CD’s for the children to explore using the computer.

Health: Children learn how to stay healthy. How eating good foods, washing our hands and taking care of ourselves when ill, help our bodies to grow.

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 Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (partial listings)

Religion:  The student will learn to: recognize God as a loving creator, identify God’s gift to the world of His Son, follow Christ’s example of respect and love,  see our families as a celebration of God identify and recognize a need for prayer in daily life

Math: The student will learn to: recognize and print numerals to 20, one-to-one correspondence, count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s, order and relative time(first, before, after), recognize basic shapes,  sort and classify by attribute, and identify, extend and create patterns .

Reading: The student will learn to: appreciate the value of literature,  retell stories in proper sequence, understand print contains meaning, interpret and use pictures , identify upper and lower case letters, identify and use letter sounds, recognize and use rhyming words , identify own name in print, identify print conventions (capitals, periods) ,memorize text and basic sight words, distinguish letters, words, and sentences and match initial and final consonant sounds with letter names

Writing: The student will learn to: demonstrate directionality, legibly write the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, print his/her own first and last name,  identify areas to improve and recognize those changes in drawings and writing, demonstrate basic writing conventions, hold and use a pencil correctly, write basic words, and write numerals in sequence

Social Studies: The student will learn to: compare and contrast the seasons by weather and climate changes, identify/understand holidays as times to remember special people and events in our nation’s history, distinguish between needs and wants, recognize a need for rules and authority, demonstrate respect for rights, responsibilities, and property, describe school and community helpers, identify the American flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, identify various means of transportation

Computer Technology: The student will learn to: use basic educational (computer) programs and view the computer as a learning tool

Science: The student will learn to: recognize the five senses, identify weather changes associated with the, four seasons, classify things as living and nonliving, observe and describe the physical properties of objects, and practice basic safety precautions.

P.E. Students receive 30 minutes of P.E. two times a week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.

Music: Students receive 30 minutes of music instruction one time a week. They will be learning beginning music-reading. They will focus on basic music concepts – Beat, Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Phrasing, etc., and how to hear them, perform them, and read them.                                                                                                            

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First Grade Curriculum Guide (partial listing)

Religion: The student will learn God as our Father and our Creator, Jesus is the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is our Helper, the Bible is God’s word,  to share our faith with our Catholic community in prayer, at Mass, and through service, and to make choices using Jesus as an example.

Math: The student will learn to: extend and create patterns, rote count by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s, write numbers to 100, recognize odd and even numbers,  identify the ordinal position of objects through tenth, read and interpret data in a bar graphs, compute addition facts, add and subtract 2 digit numbers, recognize and associate value with coins, identify time to the hour and half hour, and use the correct operation (-,+) for solving problems

Reading: The student will learn to recognize letters and their sounds, use phonetic skills when reading, recognize high frequency words, read orally with clarity and expression,  use context clues to determine reading, recall details, identify correct sequence of events, retell a story from beginning to end including characters and setting, and identify parts of a book

Writing: The student will learn and practice identifying various sentence types and their structure, proper word order and usage, understanding and demonstrating proper use of capitalization and punctuation and journal writing.

Spelling: The student will learn letter-sound relationships – blends - consonant , long and short vowel recognition-diagraphs, spell high frequency words correctly, spell correctly in weekly tests.

Social Studies: General areas of study are maps and globes (identify symbols, land, and water,), holidays, patriotic symbols and citizenship, and our community.

Science: The student will: Use the process of scientific inquiry to develop understanding and gain information on solids and liquids, weather, and comparing and  measuring

Computer Technology:  The students will use technology in there areas: the Accelerated Reader program, STAR Reading Assessment program, supplemental reading programs, and other various educational programs.

Health: The student will learn about: personal hygiene and the spread of germs, nutrition and fitness, and safety emergency response.

P.E.: Students receive 30 minutes of P.E. two times a week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.

Music: Students receive 30 minutes of music one time a week. They will continue to learn a large variety of folk songs, learn to listen to their singing and determine how to improve it. They will focus on learning and using basic music concepts – Beat, Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, etc.

Art: Art projects are integrated into the classroom curriculum through 30 minutes of instruction each week with our school’s art teacher. The student will create art involving: crayon drawing, tempera and watercolor painting, finger painting, collages, and proper use and care of art materials

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Second Grade Curriculum Guide (partial listings)

 

Religion:  The students will learn the following:  to prepare and receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.  They will cover the Creed; the Holy Trinity; Mary, the Mother of God; and the Church, as the People of God on that journey. 

Math:  The students will learn to accomplish the following:  count, compare, read, write and order whole numbers; identify the place value of digits – ones, tens, hundreds and thousands; add and subtract one-digit numbers; add and subtract with re-grouping two-digit and three-digit numbers; tell time to the hour, half hour, five-minute and one-minute intervals using both standard and digital clocks; identify and count pennies, dimes, nickels, quarters, half-dollars and dollars; add and subtract all of these money amounts; and read and apply the correct math concepts to problem solving.

Reading:  The students will learn to develop vocabulary, read independently, use decoding skills when reading, use context clues, retell a story recalling details and sequences, distinguish between fantasy and reality, draw conclusions, and utilize alphabetical order. 

Writing:  The students will learn to write for a wide variety of purposes such as letters and paragraphs, use capitalization, use-ending punctuation, write complete, coherent sentences, write legibly and begin cursive writing.

Spelling:  The students will learn to apply spelling generalizations and spelling strategies and to spell correctly in daily writing.

Social Studies:  The students will learn communities – past and present, consumerism (buying and selling of goods and services), transportation, communication and citizenship (laws and rules), and community service.

Science:  The students will learn general areas of study including the solar system, animals – vertebrates and invertebrates, balancing and weights, and soils. 

Computer Technology:  Students will go to the computer lab (computers are also in the classrooms) on a weekly basis to experience basic keyboarding skills, basic functions, and using educational software that supports classroom instruction.

P.E.:  Students receive 30-minutes of physical education two times per week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.

Music:  Students receive 30-minutes of music once a week.  They continue to focus on singing, adding in movement and background about the songs.

Art:  The elements and principles of art are integrated into the classroom curriculum through 30 minutes of instruction each week with our school’s art teacher.  The students will learn skills involved in watercolors and tempera paints, contour drawing, collage, paper mache, paper and Play-Doh sculpture, marbling, and the proper use and care of materials.

Health:  The students will study dental health, nutrition, the human body, and drug abuse prevention.

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Third Grade Curriculum Guide  (partial listing)

Religion: The student  will learn to plan and participate in school liturgies,  research information on saints for reports, write prayers, memorize Bible verses, learn about family life, stewardship and community.

Reading: The student will learn decoding, word attack skills and vocabulary development to build fluency.  They will skills involving cause and effect , comparing and contrasting , context clues, attention to details, drawing conclusions, differentiating between fact and opinion, finding the main idea, making inferences and predictions, predicting outcomes, and differentiating between reality and fantasy.  Third graders will participate in the Accelerated Reader program and the Star Reading Assessment program

Language Arts:

Grammar: The student will learn applications of subject and predicate, sentence types, common, proper, singular, plural, and possessive nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and contractions.    

Writing: The students will learn narrative, explanatory, and expository forms of writing along with learning about the various traits of writing such as contest, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and word choice.          

    Spelling: The student will have weekly spelling word lists interrelated with the current reading series.  

Math: The student will learn addition and subtraction facts, place value and number sense, addition with money, time, data, graphs, multiplication facts, division facts, multiply and divide by 1 digit numbers, measurement, geometry, fractions, decimals, and problem solving strategies

Science: The student will learn about matter, electricity, and magnets, the  circulatory, skeletal, and digestive systems of the human body, nutrition and health.  They will study endangered species and ecosystems.

Social Studies: The student will learn about oceans, continents, land forms, maps, graphs, globe skills, natural resources, adaptations and ecology. 

P.E.:  The students receive 30 minutes of P.E. two times a week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.

Art:  The elements and principles of art will be integrated into the classroom curriculum through 30 minutes of art instruction each week with our school’s art teacher.   The student will learn contour drawing, collage, watercolor, color theory, chalk drawing and the proper use and care of art materials

Music: The student will participate in music classes for 30 minutes once a week. Singing is the primary focus, and learning about other cultures through their songs. More emphasis on musical terminology.

Computer Technology:  The student will use word processing to create, edit, and publish.  The student will learn to use technology to aid in research and to create multimedia presentations

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Fourth Grade Curriculum Guide

Religion: The student child will learn about God, as our Father, and his message to us in the Bible, the life of Jesus, the liturgical seasons throughout the year  and parts of the liturgy.

Language Arts: The student will learn to identify parts of a sentence (such as: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions), Identify the subject and predicate of a sentence, recognize homographs, homophones, synonyms, antonyms, and analogies, follow written directions  and apply spelling patterns to everyday sentences.

Reading: The student will learn to read for purpose and meaning, draw conclusions from text, predict outcomes, make inferences and judgments, summarize and paraphrase text ,  and decode using context clues, prefixes, and suffixes.  The student will also be assessed using STAR and will utilize the Accelerated Reader program.

Writing The student will learn to write expository text (writing to explain), write narrative text (writing to tell a story), and understand and apply the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing)

Math: The student will learn to compute addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems with multi-digit numbers (including money and regrouping), rite number sentences that represent addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division situations , identify, compare, and order numbers to 1,000,000, as well as simple common fractions, apply strategies (guess and check, draw a diagram, make a list, and work backwards) to solve story problems, tell time to the minute as well as add and subtract time, identify basic geometric shapes (triangle, cube, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, cylinder, cone, rectangular/triangular prism and sphere), find area and perimeter of figures and recognize symmetry and congruency and read and interpret charts, tables, and graphs in order to make predictions, comparisons,

Social Studies: The student will learn about state government and symbols  and rights and requirements of citizenship.

Science: The student will learn about land and water earth science, electrical circuits and predict, hypothesize and experiment.

Computer Technology: The student will learn about word processing programs,  keyboarding techniques, and Internet searches.

Art: The elements and principles of art are integrated into the classroom curriculum through 30 minutes of art instruction each week with our school’s art teacher. The student will learn skills involved in crayon resist, watercolor and tempera painting, oil pastels, and color theory

P.E.: Students receive 30 minutes of P.E two times a week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.

Music: Music classes occur once a week. Students continue with singing, adding instruments as songs allow, basic folk dances, and background of different cultures related to the songs. Reading music is emphasized,

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Fifth Grade Curriculum Guide (partial listing)

Religion: The student will learn about the Nicene and Apostles Creeds,  the seven sacraments, the liturgical year, parts of the liturgy, and respect for all of God’s creations

Reading: The student will learn to read fluently using decoding skills, vocabulary development, and context clues, use strategies for comprehension such as: identify purpose for reading, follow
directions, infer main idea, develop a summary, determine cause/effect, character development, and interpret diagrams/charts in text, read and respond to various literary genres (fiction, nonfiction, biography, poetry, etc.) for enrichment, recreation and lifelong learning and locate information using traditional and electronic text.

Writing: The student will learn to use the writing process: pre-writing, compose, evaluate, revise, edit, and publish, apply correct capitalization and punctuation, and write coherent paragraphs using complete sentences.

Spelling: The student will learn to spell a list of words selected by the teacher which focuses on a new spelling pattern each week.

Math: The student will learn to understand place value using decimals,  divide whole numbers by a two digit divisor, with or without a remainder, add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals, add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers, understand basic geometry skills, develop and interpret graphs, charts, and tables from data, and apply problem solving strategies to word problems and other applications.

Science: The student will use the scientific method to solve problems and explore food chemistry, ecosystems, and motion & design using inquiry based activities.

Social Studies: The student will learn to develop directional skills and mapping, understand the reasons for studying history and an awareness of how we learn from the past, and to become familiar with the early explorers of North America and their impact on the development of the United States.

Computer Technology: The student will learn proper keyboarding techniques, word processing, and give presentations to classmates using Power Point.

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Sixth Grade Curriculum Guide (partial listing)

Religion: Sixth grade religion uses the Silver Burdette Ginn  Blest Are We series. The text is in accordance with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and uses many Scriptural references from both the Old and New Testaments. Attention is given to liturgical seasons and special feast days of the Church. Emphasis is placed on Gospel values.

Literature (Reading): The student will develop skills for effective comprehension: main idea, inference, drawing conclusions, and context, build vocabulary through reading, context clues, word origins, and structural analysis, read for enrichment and enjoyment, and try to maintain high Accelerated Reader standing.

Language Arts: The student will recognize the major parts of speech with an emphasis on correct sentence structure, apply the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing, and apply correct writing conventions: spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

Spelling: The student will spell new words using phonetic groupings and spell words frequently used in writing.

Math: The student will use multiplication and division in a variety of applications, add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers; see how they are related, engage in a variety of beginning Geometry activities, create and interpret graphs using graphing terminology, describe and list prime and composite numbers, factors, and multiples and acquire and apply pre-algebra skills.

Social Studies: The student  will explore the civilizations of the past, discover what we have gained from these civilizations and how they impact our lives, understand how all people have the same basic needs and desires, that our cultures and beliefs are what make us unique, and begin to comprehend how a civilizations’ beliefs and culture leads to its actions and decisions.

Science: The student will learn about the scientific method and skills, matter and energy, forces and machines, magnetism and motors, atoms and elements and buoyancy, water displacement, and density.

Computer Technology: The student will use classroom and Lab computers to report research and to apply word processing when and where needed and to gain proficiency in using Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.

Art: The student will gain confidence in drawing and painting skills and will  present  projects which include -----of art.

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