Curriculum in the Classroom....
International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP)
The mission statement of the International Baccalaureate Organization–
“Through comprehensive and balanced curricula coupled with challenging assessments, the International Baccalaureate Organization aims to assist schools in their endeavors to develop the individual talents of young people and teach them to relate the experience of the classroom to the realities of the world outside. Beyond intellectual rigor and high academic standards, strong emphasis is placed on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship, to the end that IB students may become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners and informed participants in local and world affairs, conscious of the shared humanity that binds all people together while respecting the variety of cultures and attitudes that makes for the richness of life.” (Making the PYP Happen, IBO)
Guided Reading
Students are guided through reading in small groups. Each small group has 5-7 students and they meet with me for 15-20 minutes everyday for individualized, focused instruction on the reading process. We will use fiction and non-fiction books at their instructional or independent level. We work on various skills from phonics to fluency to comprehension.
Everyday Math
Everyday Mathematics is a research-based and field-tested curriculum that focuses on developing children’s understandings and skills in ways that produce life-long mathematical power.
The Everyday Mathematics curriculum emphasizes:
Writing Alive
The Six Components of Writing Alive
(1) Structures – Writing Alive instruction begins with mastery of the sentence and its structure. It grows to connected sentences, paragraph, composition, and story structures. Handwriting instruction is built into the curriculum.
(2) Grammar – Every Monday I deliver scripted, hands-on direct instruction lessons on a skill that is implemented and practiced in daily writing, in sentence styling revision during the week and across the curriculum. Grammar skills follow a prescribed scope and sequence at each grade level.
(3) Traits – I model and teach how to improve orgaization, content, word choice, voice, fluency, style, conventions and presentation. Students set goals and assess the traits using rubrics.
(4) Process – We follow Writing Alive’s unique guided, interactive writing process:
plan, verbally rehearse, set goals, draft, assess goals, revise, edit
(5) Modes and Genres – I give students the tools and planners to think about and organize their thoughts for the different modes and genres of writing.
(6) Assessment – We set goals from the rubrics before drafting and and assess these goals upon completion. The rubrics are diagnostic, helping them grow as writers.
F.A.S.T. Phonics
Students learn, practice and understand phonics using magnetic boards with letter/grapheme tiles. I guide students through five steps everyday to help them understand how words work: letter/grapheme sounds, letter/grapheme recognition, mini-lesson, build words/syllables, read words/syllables.
Open Court
Open Court Reading© is a core reading program for grades K–6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill that is designed to teach comprehension, inquiry, and writing. We use the Reading and Responding section to emphasizes reading literature for understanding, comprehension, inquiry, and practical reading applications.
The mission statement of the International Baccalaureate Organization–
“Through comprehensive and balanced curricula coupled with challenging assessments, the International Baccalaureate Organization aims to assist schools in their endeavors to develop the individual talents of young people and teach them to relate the experience of the classroom to the realities of the world outside. Beyond intellectual rigor and high academic standards, strong emphasis is placed on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship, to the end that IB students may become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners and informed participants in local and world affairs, conscious of the shared humanity that binds all people together while respecting the variety of cultures and attitudes that makes for the richness of life.” (Making the PYP Happen, IBO)
Guided Reading
Students are guided through reading in small groups. Each small group has 5-7 students and they meet with me for 15-20 minutes everyday for individualized, focused instruction on the reading process. We will use fiction and non-fiction books at their instructional or independent level. We work on various skills from phonics to fluency to comprehension.
Everyday Math
Everyday Mathematics is a research-based and field-tested curriculum that focuses on developing children’s understandings and skills in ways that produce life-long mathematical power.
The Everyday Mathematics curriculum emphasizes:
- Use of concrete, real-life examples that are meaningful and memorable as an introduction to key mathematical concepts.
- Repeated exposures to mathematical concepts and skills to develop children’s ability to recall knowledge from long-term memory.
- Practice of basic computation skills to build mastery of procedures and quick recall of facts, through games and verbal exercises.
- Use of multiple methods and problem-solving strategies to foster true proficiency and accommodate different learning styles.
Writing Alive
The Six Components of Writing Alive
(1) Structures – Writing Alive instruction begins with mastery of the sentence and its structure. It grows to connected sentences, paragraph, composition, and story structures. Handwriting instruction is built into the curriculum.
(2) Grammar – Every Monday I deliver scripted, hands-on direct instruction lessons on a skill that is implemented and practiced in daily writing, in sentence styling revision during the week and across the curriculum. Grammar skills follow a prescribed scope and sequence at each grade level.
(3) Traits – I model and teach how to improve orgaization, content, word choice, voice, fluency, style, conventions and presentation. Students set goals and assess the traits using rubrics.
(4) Process – We follow Writing Alive’s unique guided, interactive writing process:
plan, verbally rehearse, set goals, draft, assess goals, revise, edit
(5) Modes and Genres – I give students the tools and planners to think about and organize their thoughts for the different modes and genres of writing.
(6) Assessment – We set goals from the rubrics before drafting and and assess these goals upon completion. The rubrics are diagnostic, helping them grow as writers.
F.A.S.T. Phonics
Students learn, practice and understand phonics using magnetic boards with letter/grapheme tiles. I guide students through five steps everyday to help them understand how words work: letter/grapheme sounds, letter/grapheme recognition, mini-lesson, build words/syllables, read words/syllables.
Open Court
Open Court Reading© is a core reading program for grades K–6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill that is designed to teach comprehension, inquiry, and writing. We use the Reading and Responding section to emphasizes reading literature for understanding, comprehension, inquiry, and practical reading applications.