Oxford Word Skills Elementary Pdf

[Stetson Saenz]

Theacademic program at the Junior School encompasses a world of knowledge in various subjects, including language arts, math, social studies, Spanish, science and music. Through engaging coursework and activities, and with the help of caring teachers, the program instills in children a love of learning.

The goal of the art department is to help students develop skills and discipline in the arts. We provide exhibit and display opportunities for the appreciation of the visual arts and encourage students to seek new areas of investigation with a variety of mediums. We strive to promote an appreciation for self-expression and an understanding of the arts and the art-making process as an integral part of the human experience.

Art in PK is a joyful exploration of media and a consolidated expression of learning in many areas. Children have daily access to art materials. Additionally, students have an art workshop period and an art lesson with the art teacher each week. We offer rich experiences in drawing, painting, printing, sculpting, ceramics and textiles.

Young students are introduced to a variety of materials and media to explore during their early years in the art studio, where they build their vocabulary and skills regarding the arts. Students are also introduced to famous artists and the importance and influence of their work. The course enables young children to develop their self-expression, confidence and appreciation of the visual arts.

Students explore the elements of art including form, line, shape, color, texture, space and value. They develop and understand the principles of emphasis, balance, variety, movement, proportion and unity. A wide variety of techniques are explored: drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, multimedia and sculpture. Students become familiar with different artists and different cultural artistic traditions, while cross-curricular lessons bring together science, Spanish, social studies and language arts. Students display their work in the school, and their art is used at school assemblies.

Balanced Literacy is a comprehensive program of language arts acquisition. It contains all of the components necessary for students to master written and oral communication. Areas of focus include communication, grammar, handwriting, spelling, writing and reading. Purposeful, frequent assessments ensure teachers are constantly aware of students' individual needs and progress.

Balanced Literacy begins with creating a genuine appreciation for good literature. It includes teaching phonics, grammar skills, reading and comprehension strategies, and writing forms and skills. Direct and indirect reading instruction, shared reading and independent reading experiences are provided. As students progress through the grades, literal comprehension skills are solidified, and the focus expands to making inferences, drawing conclusions, analyzing, evaluating and summarizing. Students read literature from many cultures and gain insight into their own experiences as well as the lives of others.

The literacy goals in PK focus on fostering the love of language and the development of excellent communication skills. Books are an integral part of the classroom. Each day, teachers read aloud from a wide variety of quality literature relating to curricular topics. Children are given frequent opportunities for writing and drawing as expressions of concepts or experiences. Proper pencil grip, hand strengthening and handwriting at a very basic level are also emphasized.

The language arts program in kindergarten strives to meet individual needs through whole group, small group and individual instruction. We use the Heggerty program and the Fundations Phonics program, which emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, fluency, handwriting and spelling. Through a Writing Workshop approach, children learn the basics of the writing process. Students are introduced to a variety of genres to enhance the writing experience. They use both pictures and words to express their thoughts and ideas in written form. Throughout the year, they work on building their stamina, volume and independence when writing. Students also edit, revise, publish and celebrate their writing with their peers.

The Workshop model follows a predictable pattern, which includes a well-focused and condensed mini-lesson, a larger span of time devoted to independent writing and reading, conferencing with the teacher, and students gathering to share. In Writing Workshop, students generate ideas and determine topics that interest them for personal narrative, informational, and fairy tale pieces. Along the way, they receive guidance from the teacher, work through the process with one another, and proudly share their published work.

Words Their Way teaches students to study word patterns through weekly word sorts. Students learn to compare and contrast word features in each category, which helps to increase both spelling and vocabulary.

In Writing Workshop, students participate in teacher led mini-lessons focusing on specific writing strategies followed by student independent writing and partner/group sharing. Writers think about, draft, revise, edit, publish and celebrate their writing. Students also study mentor texts for examples of great writing. Writing units taught during the year include personal narrative stories, personal persuasive essays, realistic fiction stories and informational writing. Writing Workshop is a continuation of the writing program taught at all grade levels. Grammar, spelling, writing mechanics and vocabulary are included daily.

Reading and Writing Workshops are the backbone of the fifth grade language arts curriculum, where students are explicitly taught strategies and skills for proficient reading and writing. Reading and Writing Workshops are structured in similar, predictable ways. After daily, teacher-led, mini-lessons that focus on one or more specific reading and writing skills or strategies, students independently read and write. In reading, students read a variety of genres including: realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, informational, biography and poetry. During Reading Workshop, they work on skills like visualization, prediction and inference with fictional texts, and they learn how to determine importance, interpret and synthesize expository texts. In Writing Workshop, the students focus first on narrative writing, before moving on to information writing, argument writing and literary essays. Students spend their writing classes generating topics, drafting, revising, editing, publishing and celebrating their work. Grammar, spelling and vocabulary lessons are at times introduced explicitly but more often, embedded into workshop sessions.

The library is the heart of the Junior School, where a love of learning is promoted and reinforced through regularly scheduled library classes and special literary events. It is also a hub of learning as children develop the skills necessary to identify, locate, evaluate and use information. The library provides opportunities for individual pursuit of knowledge and literature, as well as time for learning and literary partnerships and collaborative work.

Library time for our youngest students supports the early literacy skills necessary for finding and using books for pleasure. The PK year provides an orientation to library expectations and enjoyment. Library visits alternate between story times with the librarian and book borrowing times facilitated by fourth grade buddies. Story times are used to model fluency, show pre-reading strategies for enjoying picture books and orient children to the library areas. Borrowed books circulate into the classroom for read-aloud stories and rest-time reading.

By learning the library layout and book organization and correlating call numbers to book location, students become more independent in finding books that match their interest and ability. Students are introduced to literacy elements and author craft through lessons on fiction. Non-fiction lessons help students develop a groundwork for beginning research skills.

Designed to equip students with 21st century information-seeking skills, the library curriculum helps students to access, evaluate, synthesize and use information to generate knowledge. Knowledge gained is shared through class discussion, the writing process, visual and media arts, and other emerging technologies.

Through extensive practice, hands-on work in pairs and small groups, communication and reflection and challenging problems, the series builds real-world problem solvers. The students attain the appropriate background to understand how effective math strategies work and to realize what makes sense in math. Learn more about Singapore Math.

The PK mathematics curriculum seeks to provide children with a strong base of concrete, hands-on, real-life experiences to build an understanding of a wide range of abstract concepts. Children have daily access to instructional materials including math games, puzzles, measurement tools and collections of materials for sorting and counting.

The Math in Focus: Singapore Math curriculum offers a strategic, articulated sequence of topics that are developed in depth to allow true mastery. Children are given opportunities to investigate, discover, explore and apply their own solutions to mathematical problems. Students work to develop number sense skills moving from the concrete to the pictoral to the abstract. In kindergarten, Math in Focus will:

The first grade mathematics program uses the Math in Focus: Singapore Math curriculum, which presents fewer topics at each grade level, but they are taught to mastery with deep understanding. The program is extremely visual and hands-on. Lessons flow from a model of concrete examples, to pictorial and then abstract. A strong emphasis is placed on a unified math vocabulary as well as critical thinking skills. Children are encouraged to use their math skills to deconstruct complex problems. First graders focus on:

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