Elementary

Course Description/Class Summary:

Students in pre-k will demonstrate understanding of the features of print as they develop a sense of letters and words.  Students develop Phonological Awareness Skills through activities such as rhyming syllables, and isolating beginning and end sounds.  Students connect letters with their corresponding sounds.  Students will ask and answer questions in order to seek information.  Students will orally say and begin to write sentences that match an illustration.

Course Description/Class Summary:

Students in kindergarten will demonstrate understanding of the features of print as they develop a sense of letters, words and sentences. Students develop phonological awareness skills through activities such as rhyming, syllables and isolating beginning, middle and end sounds. Students connect letters with their corresponding sounds. Students will develop comprehension strategies that enable them to read grade level texts. Students will write sentences and stories using their letter sound knowledge and grammar conventions. Students will ask and answer questions in order to seek information.

Course Description/Class Summary: 

In grade K our instructional time will focus on four critical areas: 1) representing, relating, and operating on whole numbers, initially with a set of objects; 2) describing shapes and space; 3) developing an understanding of addition and subtraction to 10; 4) developing an understanding of measurement.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In grade 1, our instructional time will focus on 4 critical areas:
1. developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20;
2. developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones up tp 120;
3. developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units;
4. reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In 1st grade, students move toward independence as readers. They learn and apply more advanced phonological and phonics skills as they fluently read a variety of grade-level appropriate literary and informational texts. As they engage with texts, they expand their knowledge and use of vocabulary. They demonstrate their understanding of the details and central message in texts through activities such as retelling literature in sequence, explaining similarities and differences between texts, and asking or answering questions. 

First grade students also write for a variety of purposes. They write to inform, to support an opinion, and to describe an experience. As they write, they organize their content, include a sense of closure, and use a variety of words and phrases. They master grade level conventions of language and use complete sentences when writing and speaking. First grade students also listen critically and pose clarifying questions.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In Grade 2, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) extending understanding of base-ten notation; (2) building fluency with addition and subtraction; (3) using standard units of measure; and (4) describing and analyzing shapes and partitioning them into equal-sized pieces (halves, quarters and thirds) while developing an understanding that the more pieces in the whole, the smaller the piece.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In second grade, students begin to read with greater accuracy and fluency.  They conduct more sophisticated word studies and use their decoding skills and expanding sight word bank to read longer, more complex texts-including fables and folktales from diverse cultures.  Students recount the stories they read, determining the central message, lesson, or moral and describe how characters respond to major events and challenges.  As students read grade level text, they cite textual evidence to support the author’s purpose.  They acquire and use grade-appropriate general academic and domain specific vocabulary. 

Students in second grade deepen written and verbal communication skills.  In addition to informational and narrative writing, students create pieces that state their opinions supported with reasons, using linking words to connect ideas and providing a concluding statement or appropriate grammar and conventions including plural and proper nouns, prefixes, and suffixes.  Students engage in collaborative, respectful discussions about topics and texts.  They use technology to record, present, and embellish both written and verbal communication using audio recordings, drawings, or visual displays and digital publishing tools.

Class Summary:

In Grade 3, instructional time should focus on five critical areas: (1) developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100 (2) developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); (3) developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes; and (5) solving problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, money, liquid volumes, masses, and lengths of objects.

 

Course Description/Class Summary:

In third grade, students select and combine skills to read fluently with meaning and purpose. They apply comprehension and vocabulary strategies to informational text and a wider variety of literary genres including poetry. Students demonstrate comprehension by participating in discussions, writing responses, and using key details and evidence from text to support their thinking. They explore the author's point of view and also begin to infer meaning from texts. They read for pleasure and choose books based on personal preference, topic, or author. Students are writing longer texts, especially narratives. They embed their ideas in time and place and develop characters through detail and dialogue. Students organize around a central idea and elaborate using complete sentences. Their writing is often divided into sections through paragraphing or book parts (e.g., table of contents, chapters) and follows logical

Course Description/Class Summary:

Students write for a range of purposes, including describing, telling a story, and explaining. They produce writing that goes beyond formulaic compositions to more self-directed pieces that include domain-specific vocabulary, precise language, and using transition words to convey meaning. Because they are aware of the interdependence of the topic, audience, purpose, and form, they select and sometimes adapt basic forms to meet specific requirements. Their understanding and use of figurative language introduces imagery to their writing. Informational writing reflects understanding of specific purpose, often requiring gathering, paraphrasing, and synthesizing facts and details from a number of resources to express and justify an opinion. There is an increased use of technology, including the internet. Students are more aware of the conventions of writing as they reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and strive to improve.

Course Description/Class Summary:

 In fourth grade English, students broaden and deepen their understanding of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, and punctuation. Students identify the parts of speech in their writing. Students revise and edit writing effectively. Students utilize subject verb agreement in writing and oral speaking. A strong personal voice is developed in narrative writing. Opinions are supported with credible reasons and evidence in opinion writing. Informative writing is organized to completely explain a topic. Students experiment  with sentence length and a variety of sentence structures to develop their writing craft.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In fourth grade students begin the year learning about America’s symbols, charters of freedoms, and national holidays. Next students will explore different types of maps, and the geography, resources and regions of Pennsylvania and the United States.  Students will then learn about the 3 types of governments and their roles in our lives. From there our students will learn what PA was like before European settlement focusing on the Indians of PA. Students will then venture into what explorers first arrived in PA establishing settlements beginning our early colonial period.  Students will then learn why Pennsylvania plays a key role in forming our country with its involvement in the French and Indian war that leads us into the American Revolution.  Students will also learn how transportation impacts the growth of industry and farming in PA.  Lastly the students will immerse themselves in the issue of slavery resulting in a great Civil War and the impact of Gettysburg being the turning point of the war.
 

Course Description/Class Summary:

In Grade 4, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication including familiarity with patterns, factors and multiples, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; (2) developing an understanding of fraction/decimal equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; (3) understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry; and (4) solving problems involving length, weight, liquid, mass, volume, time, area, and perimeter.

Course Description/Class Summary:

In fifth grade, students broaden and deepen their understanding of informational and literary text through comparing and contrasting. Students reflect on their skills and adjust their comprehension and vocabulary strategies to become better readers. They use textual evidence and quote accurately to support their analyses and interpretations. Using evidence from multiple texts, students discuss, reflect, and respond to a wide variety of literary genres and informational text. Students read for pleasure, choosing books based on personal preference, topic, genre, theme, or author. Students develop a strong personal voice in their writing beginning in fifth grade. This is demonstrated by the way they sometimes inject humor into their narratives and support their opinions with credible reasons. Students use precise, specialized vocabulary appropriately in content-area writing. Students develop their writing craft with an emphasis on pacing and an awareness of style. They experiment with sentence length and complex sentence structures and vary leads and endings. Students are able to summarize and synthesize important works to include in their compositions.
 

Course Description/Class Summary:

In fifth grade students begin the year with the study of the terrorist attacks on September 11th .  Students will learn current events by exploring big news events throughout the world and the United States.  Next, the students will learn about several countries of the Western Hemisphere such  as Canada, Central and South America primarily focusing on their history, political system, and economies.  In the period 1948-2000, the students will learn how the events of the Berlin Wall - start of the Cold War, Korean/Vietnam wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Moon Landing, and racism/segregation, have impacted society.  In the period 1900-1947 students will learn how society changed with President Teddy Roosevelt, WW I, Roaring 20s, Great Depression, and WWII.  In the period of 1860-1900 students will learn how society changed with the westward expansion, industrialization of America, and conclude the year with Civil War studies and lastly learn about the tragedy of the Johnstown Flood.   

Course Description/Class Summary:

The mathematics grade 5 course is designed to create an integrated learning environment.  It provides thorough coverage of the state standards and eligible content.  It was designed to help build conceptual understanding, skill proficiency, problem solving, and logical reasoning while carefully developing concepts within and across the mathematics standards.  The students cover a span of skills including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers, decimals and fractions, graphing, geometry, algebraic operations, measurement concepts involving computing volume and conversions between units of measurement.  All the materials and activities foster a curriculum that meets the needs of all learners.  For most students, the ideas that unify mathematics and make connections between them are the most valuable in retaining knowledge. Students are able to see clearly how math relates to the real world.