Grades K-4

Course OverviewThe curriculum for all of our grades and subjects not only meets but exceeds the New Jersey state standards. The faculty strives to provide an environment where all pupils can enjoy the learning process. We provide our students with the necessary resources to support their learning in and out of the classroom.

Here is a brief description of the topics we cover in each subject during the course of the school year.

Art

The art activities are designed to spark students’ imaginations, promote their skill development, and encourage them to take risks as they engage in the creative process. The art program celebrates the creative thinking of the individual, the inventive and creative use of materials, and the impact of creativity on the school environment.

Health Education

  • The primary goal of health education is to provide our children with the knowledge and skills necessary to initiate and maintain a healthy lifestyle that will continue into and throughout adulthood.
  • The health program at our School follows the New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Content Standards. The various topics covered are grade/age-related and the information builds year to year.
  • Topics covered include: mental and emotional health-character education, family and social health relationships, growth and development, pregnancy and childbirth, nutrition and dietary guidelines, personal health, violence and injury prevention, first-aid skills, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, communicable and chronic diseases, consumer and community health, media influences and environmental health.

Library

The Library program prepares students to be:

  • Effective readers who use appropriate strategies to construct meaning.
  • Critical thinkers who actively and skillfully interpret, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information.
  • Effective researchers who use varied resources to gain or expand knowledge.
  • Responsible citizens who use information ethically and productively in a global society.
  • Active listeners who make meaning from what they hear by questioning, reflecting, responding, and evaluating.
  • Effective speakers who prepare and communicate messages to address audience and purpose.

Math

EnVisionMath Common Core helps students develop a conceptual understanding of important math concepts through Problem-Based Interactive Learning, Visual Learning Bridges, and Visual Learning Animations. It also provides ongoing assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. Formative assessments art interwoven throughout the program at the lesson and topic level.

To make it easy for teachers to respond to students’ individual needs and provide them with the opportunity to succeed, each lesson includes daily, data-driven differentiated instruction.

Music

  • General Music is available to all students, once a week for 50 minutes.
  • Students will learn how to read, write and analyze music scores.
  • Students will be required to write and perform their own original composition.
  • Students will be introduced to famous composers and trace the development of Western music through historical story.
  • Students will have the opportunity to write and perform improvised dramatic scenes. They will learn stage terms as well as utilization of the facial masque and negative space.

Physical Education

  • All students will work on game skills, hand-eye coordination activities, physical fitness, sports skills, teamwork and sportsmanship.
  • Students will meet for physical education three to four times each week for 50 minutes.
  • All students are required to wear running sneakers to class.

Reader’s Workshop

Reader’s Workshop gives students tools for selecting and comprehending literature. Students who were once reluctant to read now find themselves with the skills needed to be successful readers. Over the course of the year, students read many books and are encouraged to do “as good reader's do” in exploring different genres, authors, and texts.

The program emphasizes the interaction between readers and text. Students learn to ask questions, make connections with prior knowledge and previously read texts, and ask questions to clarify faulty comprehension they recognize has occurred. The program includes peer conferences and teacher conferences with students but emphasizes students' independence and allows them to become successful readers outside of the classroom.

Science

Four main units of study at each grade level include: Chemistry, Physics, Earth/Space, and Life Science. Within each of the units STEM (Science, Engineering , Math and Technology) is integrated with a focus on engineering. The cross-cutting concepts of cause/effect, scale, proportion/quantity, structure/function, interdependence of science, engineering, technology and the influence of science, engineering and technology on society and the natural world provide for an understanding of the core disciplinary ideas. Students demonstrate grade appropriate proficiency in developing and using models, and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. These units align with the NGSS and state science standards. The program utilizes a mix of inquiry-based science and problem-based learning.

Social Studies

In grades K-4, students learn fundamental concepts about government, citizenship, geography, economics, and history. The focus of instruction is on developing an understanding of core democratic values, the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, and how key people and events contributed to the development of the American heritage. Exploration of cultural universals enables students to realize how the availability of resources, the changing environment, and innovation impact everyday life.

Special Education

Our Special Education classes focus on math and language arts. The Orton-Gillingham supplemental approach to reading is used as well as the Davis Learning Strategies for reading and writing. Our program also includes handwriting, phonics, word attack, oral and silent reading, comprehension, vocabulary development and writing.

Technology

  • Project-based technology literacy classes strive to make students comfortable using technology in the 21st century.
  • We work with a variety of technologies to increase students’ confidence in an increasingly digital world.
  • Topics covered include productivity applications, web applications, digital photography, digital video editing, mobile devices and computing, basic computer use and management, and communication and collaboration software.

World Language: Spanish

  • Blending of the five C’s of communication, culture, connections, comparisons and communities will continue to receive attention.
  • Varied activities will empower students to learn to speak, read, write and comprehend spoken Spanish, and to do so in a culturally authentic manner.

Writer’s Workshop

Writer’s Workshop supports writing independence and fluency, while developing and refining strategies for writing across the curriculum. Students learn the differences in fact/opinion, information, and narrative writing with increasing complexity and sophistication. The program fosters high-level thinking, including regular chances to synthesize, analyze, and critique. It also includes strategic performance assessments to help monitor mastery and differentiate instruction and provides a ladder of exemplar texts that model writing progressions across grade levels, K–4.