Language Arts:
Spelling: Students are encouraged  to use inventive spelling.

Vocabulary: Students are introduced to a wide range of thematic vocabulary.

Grammar: Students identify and use different types of punctuation and are exposed to commas, question marks, and abbreviations.

Writing: Students write daily in journals, participate in shared writing, and often make class books.

Reading: We promote a balanced literacy program including environmental print, shared reading, guided reading, phonemic awareness, sight words, and basic print concepts. 

Math:
Students learn to sort, graphs, patterning, shapes, calendar skills, simple measurement, beginning number concepts, addition and subtraction to 10, telling time to the hour, coin identification, simple fractions, and greater than and less than.

Science:
Students study the harvest, five senses, living things, wood, insects, zoo animals, and the ocean.

Social Studies:
Students study ourselves and the people around us, as well as holidays and celebrations around the world.

Physical Education, Art, Music, Guidance, and  Library  are also included in kindergarten.

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Language Arts:
Spelling: Spelling words are taken from short and long vowel word families, basic sight words, consonant blends, and digraphs.

Vocabulary: Included in Vocabulary are words related to the reading series, basic sight words, and words related to Science and Social Studies units. A "Word Wall" is also used.

Grammar: Grammar concepts taught include capitalization and punctuation, sentences, nouns, verbs, plurals, compound words, contractions, adjectives, and opposites.

Writing: Students write in journals daily. They are expected to apply grammar rules in their writing, use correct capitalization and punctuation, and stay on the topic. Opening and closing sentences are expected. 

Reading: Students read from the basal reader text which is literature based. (There are 5 first grade Reading books.) They also read trade books at individual reading levels and take Accelerated Reader tests on these books. Poetry folders are sent home weekly, familiar poems are read aloud. Reading skills taught include: characters, setting, problems, and solution.
Word attack skills, sight words, word families, and sequencing are also taught. 

Math:
Math concepts include patterns, counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, writing numbers 1-100, money, time, fractions, addition and subtraction facts, shapes, calendar and measurement. 

Science:
Science units are centered around STC Science Kits and include a study of weather, balls and ramps, organisms, and comparing and measuring.

Social Studies:
Current events, map skills, famous people in history, and holidays are the primary focus for first grade Social Studies units.

Physical Education, Art, Music, Guidance, and  Library are also included in first grade.

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Second Grade Curriculum   

Language Arts:
Spelling: Spelling words are taken from the reading lesson each week and emphasize a special skill. Students who would like to give themselves an Exceeds expectations on their report card know to pretest out of the weekly word list, make a list of words that are interesting to them and are words they would like to learn, and have that list approved by Mrs. Kittrell.  

Vocabulary: Vocabulary is developed through whole group reading instruction, independent reading, daily letter writing, social studies, and science curriculums.

Grammar: Students learn grammar through daily letter writing, sentence correction, focused
lessons on capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, and usage.

Writing:  Students focus on personal experience writing and informational writing. Emphasis is placed on writing an introductory sentence, detail sentences, and a conclusion sentence in each paragraph. Students also focus on sequential writing.

Reading: Students are grouped for whole group and small group instruction based on individual needs for skills instruction.  Trade book study groups are used.  The first nine weeks include My Family.  The second nine weeks include Cultures Around the World.  The third nine weeks include My City, My State, and My Country.  The fourth nine weeks include My Environment.

Math:
Math concepts include: addition and subtraction using 1, 2, and 3 digit  numbers with and without regrouping, time, money, measurement, fractions, geometry, probability, and often multiplication involving 1,2 and 5.  Problem Solving in all areas is emphasized.

Science:
The first nine weeks include Scientific Process, the STC kit Life Cycles of Butterflies, and Journey North.  The second nine weeks include geosphere and weather and the STC kit Soils.  The third nine weeks include Patterns in the Sky (moon journals) and the STC kit Balancing and Weighing.  The fourth nine weeks include Matter and Energy and the STC kit Changes. Science studies also includes units on heat, light, sound, magnets, energy, chemical changes, and animals.

Social Studies:
Units include: famous people in history and their contributions, holidays, directions and map skills, current events, pioneers and explorers, communities, our nation, and famous Americans.

Physical Education, Art, Music, Guidance, Library, are also included in second grade.

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Language Arts:
Spelling: Weekly word lists are used from the county adopted spelling series. They emphasize phonics such as vowel pairs and spelling patterns and rules. In addition, students use "Word Walls" with frequently used words that are expected to be spelled correctly in all of the student's writing.
  
English: Correct punctuation and capitalization is taught and practiced in journal writing and homework. This includes sentences, proper nouns, dates, book titles, plurals and possessives, and letter parts. Also, students are taught to identify subjects and predicates.

Writing: Students write daily in shared journals and in their homework as they summarize their reading. Emphasis is on good sentence structure and descriptive and narrative paragraphs with strong beginning and concluding sentences.

Reading: This is one of our main focuses in third grade. Using the basal reading text and novels, students are taught comprehension skills such as main idea, predicting outcomes cause and effect, drawing conclusions, fact and opinion, and summarizing.   Phonics and vocabulary work are
also taught, emphasizing the use of context clues and word parts such as prefixes and suffixes.  Finally, the Reading Renaissance program gives meaningful practice with reading by using Accelerated Reader books and quizzes and setting individual student goals. 

Math:
By the end of third grade, students should be competent in addition, subtraction, one digit multiplication, one digit division, and in solving word problems using these computation skills. Other areas covered are geometry, fractions, decimals, time, money, measurement, graphing and probability.

Science:
Using the STC kits on plant growth and development, sound, chemical tests, and rocks and minerals, students are taught inquiry-based learning.

Social Studies:
Using such materials as the Weekly Reader, the Social Studies text, and historical novels, students learn about communities, the early history of our country, our government and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and how to read and use graphic aids such as maps, graphs,
tables, charts and time lines.   

Physical Education, Art, Music, Guidance, and Library are also included in third grade.

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Language Arts:
Spelling: Integrated Spelling that includes vocabulary from the reading basal, words taken from everyday usage in all curriculum areas, words from Rebecca Sitton's list of high frequency words, and other high frequency vocabulary lists.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary is taken from Frank Shaeffer's Vocabulary Development  and Reading for Meaning books, a spelling series, writing, novels, Wordly Wise, and other curriculum areas.

Grammar:  Silver Burdett and Ginn's English series, Daily Language Reviews, Harcourt's Language Handbook and our  Harcourt Brace reading series.
     
Writing: Students write in a variety of writing styles including persuasive, informative, research reports, poetry and more. Writer's Workshop, journals, prompts, and Writing to Learn are used.

Reading:  Accelerated Reader independent reading is incorporated with a variety of other sources including novel studies, thematic trade books, our Harcourt Brace reading series, and read aloud activities.
    
Math:
The Silver Burdett Ginn series is used along with hands on activities, Math websites, and computer Math games and activities.

Science:
STC kits are used to study electricity, animals, land and water, and food chemistry. The solar system and plants are also a major focus.

Social Studies:
The United States and its regions are studied, along with a focus on various map skills. The government and a general knowledge of its function are also covered. The history of the country and its people along with Tennessee history and present day Tennessee are also studied.

Physical Education, Guidance, Library, Music, Art, and Spanish are attended by all fourth graders.

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Language Arts:
Spelling:  Integrated spelling that includes spelling words from Williamson County's adapted fifth grade spelling list, words taken from Cook and  Esposito's Spelling For Word Mastery, and words from other curriculum areas are used. Spelling For Word Mastery is also used for word building skills, as well as Milliken's Vocabulary Enrichment.

Grammar:  Silver Burdett and Ginn's English series World of Language and Harcourt and Brace Treasury of Literature's Practice Book is used.

Writing:  Students write in a variety of writing styles which include persuasive, informative, research papers, and reports. Students also write timed writings on a variety of given topics. Fifth graders compose various forms of poetry, such as Haiku, descriptive prose, self image poems, comparison poems, Pantoums (a Malaysian form of poetry), personifications, and abstract poetry. Writing workshop materials and journal writing is also part of the fifth grade writing curriculum.

Reading:  Treasury of Literature is used with the practice book. To supplement reading skills, McMillan's Landscapes workbook and skills practice book are used. Accelerated Reader is incorporated with a variety of trade books. A collection from Classic Achievement Series is used such as Treasure Island, Moby Kick, Hamlet, etc., in addition to Reading About Our World by Educational Insights, which is used in the reading center. Reading board games, as well as Hooked on Phonics is also used in the reading center. Improving Reading Comprehension by Steck and Vaughn is also used to supplement the fifth grade reading program.

Math:
Silver Burdett and Ginn Mathematics is used in addition to McMillan's Mathematics Today. Milliken and McGraw Hill's activity books are also used in addition to hands on activities and computer math games. Mathematics Applications and Connections by Glencoe and McGraw Hill are also used.

Science:
STC kits are used to study microworlds, floating and sinking, ecosystems, and motion and design. Scott Foresman Discover Science and Silver Burdett and Ginn Discovery Works series is used to study the solar system, light and sound, the solid earth, and populations and ecosystems.

Social Studies:
McMillan's The United States and Its Neighbors as well as Silver Burdett and Ginn's Our United States are used in fifth grade. The branches of the government, our Constitution, and a knowledge of our government's function is also studied. Geography skills and map and graph reading skills are also part of the fifth grade curriculum.

Physical Education, Art, Music, Guidance, Library, and Spanish are also included in fifth grade.

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Language Arts:    
Spelling: Spelling words emphasize the skill that is being taught. Various games such as Hangman, Square Off, Baseball, Jailhouse, Graph It, Bingo, and Spelling Bees are used. Words are practiced using shaving cream, salt, letter cards, or using computer games.

Writing: Using sentences strips, children write one sentences at a time about the topic. Each sentence strip is edited before going on to the next sentence.  After writing about 5 sentences, students arrange the sentence strips in proper sequence and number them. Then, sentences are copied into paragraph form.

Reading: Wilson Reader is used in teaching phonics. Reading Mastery, Rainbow Edition, and MacMillan Reading Express are used for comprehension. Comprehension and phonics skills are reinforced with many computer games, board games, Reading Safari, and  file folder games.

Math: 
Lots of manipulatives as well as computer games, Math Safari, board games, and file folder games are used to reinforce the general curriculum skills.

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Listening Comprehension: Students will be able to understand the spoken target language in the classroom setting when high-frequency vocabulary is used. They will also actively respond to teacher prompts and comprehend memorized dialogues between the teacher and peers.

Oral Production: Students will be able to use expressions to convey personal needs and safety, use basic vocabulary, and participate in memorized dialogues with the teacher and peers in order to relate personal information.

Culture: Students will be able to recognize lifestyles and traditions of the target culture and identify cross-cultural similarities and differences. Students will also demonstrate an understanding of other cultures.

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Reading Recovery is a program which is sponsored by Title 1. It is an individualized program which is offered to first graders to teach students to become independent readers and writers.

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