Third through fifth grades are departmentalized with class periods lasting 45 minutes. We further develop and refine all subject matter in these grades.
Science—Life science, earth science, physical science and the human body are studied. Each grade level adds more detailed components each year. Each grade is introduced to dissecting; third grade dissects flowers, fourth grade dissects owl pellets, and fifth grade dissects pigs. Many hands-on-projects are assigned for group completion.
Language Arts—Sentences such as phrases/clauses, kinds of sentences, parts of speech, adding adverbs, conjunctions, prepositional phrases, interjections, punctuation, capitalization, cursive handwriting as well as spelling. The writing phase includes the writing process, figurative language, stories, poems; paragraphs include descriptive, narrative, expository and persuasive.
Reading—Skills including main idea, context clues, cause and effect, fact and opinion, summarize, drawing conclusions, reference skills, vocabulary skills, and literary terms. Also included are poetry, Greek mythology, tall tales, four novels are read during the year, and plays. Accelerated Reading plays an important role in improving students’ reading skills.
Social Studies—Topics covered are communities, citizenship, government, American culture, immigrants, ancient communities, nation’s history, geography, map skills, regions of Texas, native American groups in Texas, Texas Revolution, Texas and the Civil War, Texas history, World War I & II, Revolutionary War, the Constitution, and the 50 states and capitals.
Math—Consists of understanding numbers and operations, money, time, multiplication, division, data, graphing, probability, geometry, measurements, fractions, decimals, problem solving strategies, and algebra.
Physical Education—students in preschool through fifth grade attend physical education classes at least two times a week. Students acquire the knowledge and skills for movement that provide the foundation for enjoyment, continued social development through physical activity, access to a physically-active lifestyle and the relationship between physical activity and health throughout their lifespan.
Music—students in preschool through fifth grade attend music classes at least two times a week. Students acquire rhythm activities, intro to percussion instruments, pitch training, musical language, different styles of music, and intro to great composers and periods in music.
Art—First and second grade students attend art classes one semester and third through fifth grade students attend classes the entire year. Students acquire knowledge of different artists and their techniques, color, texture, form, and line through hands-on activities.
Spanish— First and second grade students attend Spanish classes one semester and third through fifth grade students attend classes the entire year. Each student is introduced to the basic Spanish language such as alphabet, vocabulary, numbers, days of the week, months of the year, colors, parts of the body, types of clothing, food and older students continue with verb conjugation, sentence structure, sentences writing,
Computer—students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend classes twice a week. Students are introduced to keyboarding, computer parts, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Publisher, PowerPoint. Third through fifth learn to design a web page.
Study Skills—Third through fifth grade are taught test taking skills, note taking, and organizational skills that will be a life-long benefit.
Our fifth graders attend an annual “senior” trip to the Mayan Dude Ranch in early April. This is a great way to form lasting bonds and memories before entering middle school.
Also, a portfolio of each student’s work is kept throughout the fifth grade to be used as part of the public school’s Challenge Program requirements. A healthy portion of our fifth grade population is accepted into the Challenge Program and IB Program.
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Language Arts—The study of sentence structure is continued by the use of the four kinds of sentences, subject and predicate, common/proper nouns, plural nouns, verbs/agreement, past tense/linking, and adverbs. The students use this knowledge to write paragraphs, reports, and a daily journal.
Reading—Use of graphic aides, predicting outcomes, figurative language, sequence of events, comprehension, context clues, main idea, important ideas help the students become strong readers. Each student is assigned a goal to accomplish with Accelerated Reading each nine weeks to improve their reading skills.
Math—components become more detailed with addition/subtraction strategies, number patterns, comparing & ordering, data & graphing, counting & using money, two digit addition & subtraction, plane shapes, solid figures, length, capacity, weight, temperature, simple fractions, multiplication, and rounding off with three digit addition and subtraction.
Science—Exploring matter, energy in motion, Earth’s surfaces, space, weather, how living things grow & change are introduced throughout the year.
Social Studies—Students are introduced to landforms, maps, economics, government, culture sources, locating information through reading, hands on activities and group projects.
Phonics/Language Arts/Reading that began in kindergarten continue to build with vowel diphthongs, vowel digraphs, variant vowels, contractions, and more in depth sentence structure as well as writing paragraphs. By the second semester of the first grade children are reading and testing on Accelerated Reading, recognizing main idea, predicting outcome of a story, sequence, alphabetic order, following written and oral directions.
Math—Emphasizes on number & operation, simple algebra & geometry, measurement, and problem solving are introduced in first grade. Students also practice daily on addition and subtraction facts.
Science—Students learn about physical, life, earth, space and the history of science through many hands on projects and experiments.
Social Studies—Students learn about government, citizenship, Texas history, consumer education, historical figures and their contributions, rules and why rules are important.
Our kindergarten program prepares our students for first grade and beyond. Phonetically oriented reading instruction, mathematics, spelling, and penmanship form the core of the kindergarten curriculum.
Each day begins with a chapel service which includes Bible stories, Morning Prayer, and weekly Bible verses. The children enjoy singing hymns of praise and learn to be attentive, reverent, and enthusiastic in their response to questions asked during the service.
Phonics—This is a key component to independent reading. Students will identify & produce rhyming words, identify and isolate the initial, middle and final sounds of spoken words, blends, digraphs, and diphthongs. Also, included are weekly spelling list and sight word flash cards to help children hone reading skills.
This process builds throughout the year until the child has learned the various sounds of the letters as well as blends to form a solid foundation upon which to perfect skills of reading and writing.
Writing—Students progress to writing of short, simple sentences through dictation and journal writing. The components of a sentence are introduced such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, as well as capitalization and punctuation usage.
Reading—Students are introduced to cause-effect, drawing conclusions, summarization, sequence, characters, setting of a story as well as parts of a book. Simple books are sent home with the children to read to their families and children are encouraged to read to their classmates.
Math—Students learn to count to one hundred by ones, fives, and tens. Number and quantitative reasoning include meaning of numbers, place value, compare and order and ordinal numbers. As the year progresses students will also cover money, fractions, addition, subtraction, classify, equations and expressions, length, capacity, weight/mass as well as the concept of time.
Science—Science is introduced through the study of animals, plants, earth’s land air and water, weather and seasons through class experiments and individual at home projects.
Social Studies—Units include Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, Ground Hog Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., families, communities, and self-awareness.
Our full-day program allows ample time for music, physical education, and computers.
Language Development
A. Listening (Receptive Language)
1. Is attentive
2. Listens without interrupting
3. Follows directions, commands and questions
4. Acquire the meaning of vocabulary words related to concepts being presented
5. Respond to storytelling or oral reading by telling what the story is about, recalling facts, details and sequence of events
6. Become aware of various speech sounds and patterns through rhymes, poems, etc.
B. Speaking (Expressive Language)
1. Uses a variety of words to express feelings and ideas
2. Engages in a conversation by sharing ideas with others
3. Retell a familiar story or nursery rhyme
4. Presents finger plays.
Cognition Development
A. Identifying
1. Match objects n a one-to-one correspondence
2. Relates sets of objects to numbers
3. “Me Facts”—name, age, gender, birthday, address, phone #
4. Familiarization with the five senses
5. Identifies 10 body parts
6. Names and identifies nine colors
7. Identify the basic shapes
8. Recognition of numbers 0-20
9. Can work and complete a 15 piece puzzle
10. Recognition of letters both upper and lower case
11. Creates and tells about own drawing
12. Familiarization with the 9 color words & number words zero through ten.
B. Comparing and contrasting
1. Uses vocabulary to compare objects (taller/shorter, heavier/lighter, etc.)
2. Compare similarities & differences among objects using the senses.
3. Understands the meaning of opposites & positional (ex. Hot/cold, over/under)
C. Classifying
1. Classifies related objects
2. Combine & separate groups of objects to form new groups (sorting)
3. Classify acceptable/unacceptable behavior at home & school
D. Sequencing and Ordering
1. Repeats simple patterns
2. Order objects by size (ex. Big/bigger/biggest)
3. Can arrange a story in picture sequence
4. Repeats in order: days of week, months of year, and seasons
5. Counting to 25 and beyond
6. Familiarization of counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s
Motor Development
A. Fine Motor
1. Builds structures from various sizes and shapes
2. Holds pencil correctly
3. Ability to trace designs
4. Stresses correct eye movement from left to right
5. Cuts out simple pictures
6. Paste cut-outs
7. String bead patterns
8. Imitates peg, parquetry and design block patterns
9. Write numerals from 0-10
10. Stresses lacing and tying shoes
11. Write first name
B. Gross Motor
We use these skills during activity records, playground and etc. Our Physical Education Instructor primarily addresses these skills.
Fine Arts
A. Art
1. Discover line, color, shape, and texture by seeing and feeling objects
2. Inventive and imaginative expression through art materials and tools
3. Expresses individual thoughts and feelings through picture making, puppetry and modeling
B. Theatre Arts
1. Develop body awareness and spatial perception using rhythmic and imitative movement
2. Dramatize limited-action stories & poems using simple pantomime & puppetry.
C. Music (our room)
1. Creates vocal sounds by imitating
2. Sings songs
3. Listens to music for quiet listening
4. Listens to music that tells a story
5. Responds to music through moving and playing
Our Music Instructor primarily addresses the music.
Social/Emotional Development
A. Self Concept
1. Shows self confidence
2. Works well with others
3. Takes pride in own work
4. Willingness to try new things
5. Willingness to try again after failure
6. Accepts constructive criticism
7. Respects the property of others
8. Reacts to change in a reasonable way
B. Self-help
1. Responsible for personal hygiene
2. Manages dressing and undressing
3. Eats, appropriately
4. Recognizes routine healthy behaviors
5. Recognizes signs of general illness and wellness
6. Recognizes hazards in the environment and acquire knowledge and skills needed to avoid injury and to prevent accidents
C. Interactions Between Individuals
A. Adjustments to school
1. Accepts school routines
2. Recognizes that he/she is one of many
3. Participates in leadership as well as follower roles
B. Self Discipline
1. Demonstrates appropriate independent as well as group behavior
Safety Rules
1. Knows what to do when lost
2. Stays away from medication and poisons
3. Knows rules about crossing the street
4. Knows what to do when strange or familiar adults behave inappropriately (abuse)
****Sources taken from St. John’s Episcopal School’s previous curriculum and the Pre-Kindergarten TEA Essential Elements
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