ART
Standards:
The emphasis in the elementary
school is on the process of art making. Students
will become familiar and comfortable with a wide variety of art materials, art
processes, elements of design, disciplines of art and art applications.
In addition, students will have informal and formal exposure to art
history, criticism and aesthetics. All
learning is developmentally appropriate, layered and sequential from year to
year. The approach is one of
problem solving and application of divergent thinking skills.
There are four ways to introduce
lessons: through elements of design
(line, shape, color, form, and texture); through an art discipline (painting,
drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, mixed media); through a material of
art (pencil, crayon, clay, paper, paper, watercolor, etc.); or through
art or cultural idea (mask-making, the human form, landscape, etc.)
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
Recognize basic geometric forms, forms from nature and
amorphous shapes. They will be able
to cut out at least four geometric shapes and two others and can arrange them
according to color and size.
·
Create and name a variety of lines:
straight, zigzag, wiggly, thick, thin, curvy, etc.
·
Name and identify colors in the natural environment.
·
Identify and describe different objects and surfaces
through tactile experiences.
·
Demonstrate an understanding that artists have a special
vocabulary to talk about their works of art.
Major Units of Study:
Elements of design
How to manipulate scissors and
glue, handle paintbrushes and pencils, understand the properties of various art
materials
A study of Claude Monet
Two projects that are
integrated with classroom studies.
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LANGUAGE
ARTS
Standards:
The goal of the Language Arts
program is for the student to understand, communicate, appreciate, and respond
to written and oral language.
Anticipated Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
Acquire reading readiness skills; for example, recognize
the relationship between letters and sounds, listen to and retell a story
·
Write using pictures, letters, and/or words as a way for
them to communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others
·
Be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas
through oral language
Materials Used:
Stories
Poems
Writing tools
Plays
Big Books
Songs
Technology
Assessment:
Student writing samples
Teacher observation
Student responses
DRA Reading
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Foreign Language: Spanish
Standards: students will be able to use a
language other than English for communication and to develop cross-cultural
skills and understandings.
By June of this year, students should be able to:
Begin to communicate orally using utterances
Use Spanish in appropriate content-related areas at
a beginning level.
Begin to demonstrate comprehension of oral
language.
Begin to identify and appreciate diverse cultural
practices and products, emphasizing similarities and differences.
Major Units of Study:
Family members
Clothing/colors
Parts of the Body
Animals
Foods/Fruits
Materials used:
Big Books, Songs, Games, Visual
Aids, Chants.
Assessment:
Teacher observation, Student
participation, Portfolios
MATHEMATICS
Standards:
Students will understand
mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning
mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving
problems through interdisciplinary study.
Anticipated Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
count by memory from 0 to 20
·
understand the concept of numbers from 0-20
·
write the numerals 0 – 10 independently and from
dictation
·
identify and recognize one-to-one correspondence 0 - 20
·
understand the mathematical concepts related to all major
units of study
Major Units of Study:
Numeration
Geometry
Measurement
Patterning
Sorting
Graphing
Fractions
Set theory
Spatial relationships
Problem Solving
Materials Used:
manipulative materials such as:
pattern blocks, unifix cubes, computers, clocks, calendars, money, counters
Assessment:
teacher
observations, student performance, student observation
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SCIENCE
Standards:
Students will use scientific inquiry as appropriate to
pose questions, seek answers, develop solutions.
Anticipated
Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
appreciate scientific exploration
·
organize and analyze data
·
measure and record observations
·
make hypotheses and generalizations
·
work with non-standard measurement
·
develop a scientific vocabulary
·
respect and care for living things
·
describe or illustrate the interdependence of living
things
Major Units of Study:
Plants (Germination)
Water Exploration
Embryology
Dinosaurs
Animals, farms, woodlands, sea life, etc
Apples
Sample
Activities:
Field trips, materials available for individual
explorations, literature, special guests
Materials
Used:
Seeds, animals, books, videos, guest speakers, nature
guides, incubators, thermometers, scales, dinosaur skeletons, magnifying glass,
non-standard measurement tools, water, glycerin, bubble wands
Assessment:
Teacher observations, student logs, student participation
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SOCIAL
STUDIES
Standards:
The kindergarten social studies program emphasizes the
child and his/her place in the family, the school, and the community
Anticipated
Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
recite their own name and know
they reside in the village of Hastings
·
show respect for selves, classmates, school mates,
extended community, adults, property, environment, and animals
·
tell facts about various holidays, and special occasions
·
child develops an awareness of cultures and communities
Major
Units of Study:
All About Me
Holidays
Materials
Used:
Kinderbear, literature, hands-on projects, technology,
guest speakers, field trips, songs, foods, costumes
Assessment:
Teacher observations, student participation
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MUSIC
Standards:
In the elementary general music
program we stress active hands-on learning.
We aim to motivate and stimulate the children through stories, games,
dances, songs, playing of classroom instruments, creative movement, and dramas.
These activities, while inherently valuable and appealing, also serve to
reinforce musical skills and concepts, and to develop the child’s creativity,
self-expression, and curiosity about music of various styles and cultural
origins.
Anticipated Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
Follow and perform a steady beat
·
Sing in tune
·
Demonstrate pitch recognition
·
Perform and recite rhythms
·
Demonstrate recognition of rhythms
·
Demonstrate body awareness
·
Demonstrate expressiveness in music and movement/dance
·
Keep a steady beat -- with body percussion, simple
movements, and on classroom instruments
·
Sing simple melodies (diatonic, limited range) in tune
·
Participate in simple dramas, dances and movement
activities
·
Echo simple quarter- and two-eighth rhythms using body
percussion and instruments
Major Units of Study:
·
Steady Beat/Tempo (fast,
slow, medium) and Measuring Musical
Time
·
Rhythm (combinations
of long and short notes)
·
The “Musical Staircase”
Scale/Melodic Direction
·
Timbre (quality of sound)/ Instrument Families
Materials Used:
piano, guitar, audio equipment,
CD’s, tapes, LP’s, classroom instruments (i.e., recorders, xylophones, hand
drums, cymbals, triangles, etc.), various collections of multi-cultural games,
songs, dances, and stories, computer CDs (in particular, Microsoft’s Musical
Instruments ), hand puppets, various visual aides
Assessment:
Authentic, performance-based
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PHYSICAL
EDUCATION
Standards:
All students in Hillside School
participate in physical education weekly. Kindergarten
has one 30 minute period per week.
The Physical Education
Department gives students the opportunity to work together to improve emerging
social and cooperative skills necessary for building positive attitudes and good
sportsmanship. Students will have
the opportunity to develop a positive self concept and experience success in
physical education.
The Physical Education Program
teaches the importance of daily and ongoing physical activity and general
fitness. All students, grades 1-4,
participate in the Presidential Fitness testing program which involves
specific fitness components of cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance,
strength, and flexibility.
Through physical education,
students will acquire knowledge of safety skills and habits, and develop an
awareness of safety with respect to themselves and others.
The Physical Education Program will provide frequent and meaningful
opportunities that enable students to have a functional understanding of
movement concepts, and build competence and confidence in their ability to
perform a variety of motor skills.
Anticipated Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
Define and utilize personal space when interacting in
large groups
·
Begin to perform basic locomotor, ball, and balance skills
·
Begin to participate in games of low organization
·
Demonstrate basic skills in tumbling and gymnastics, i.e.
forward roll, and log roll
·
Move creatively in response to music as well as follow
specific patterns of dance
Assessment:
Teacher Observations
Class Participation
Skill Testing, where appropriate
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LIBRARY
Standards:
By the end of Grade Four,
students are expected to have become accustomed to using the library for
recreational reading as well as for personal and assigned research projects.
They will learn what resources are available in the library and how to
use these resources: library books, reference books, computer materials, the
Internet, all of which will enable them to use any library in their lifetime
quest for learning.
Anticipated Student Outcomes:
By June of this year, students should be able to:
·
Demonstrate appropriate library behavior
·
Know where picture books are located
·
Know how to borrow and return library materials
·
Remember to return library materials on time
·
Know how to spend the library period after a book is
borrowed
Major Units of Study:
Dinosaurs
Egg Hatching
Apple Growing
Materials Used:
Books and videos
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Social
and Emotional Learning
Standards:
Using the Social Decision Making and
Problem solving Curriculum guides developed by Dr. Maurice Elias of Rutgers
University, students will learn skills necessary to solve social problems and
make responsible social decisions. At Hillside, we call the approach TOPS, for
Tools for Problem Solving.
By June of this year, students should be
able to:
