Course Catalogue

In Grade 3 Language Arts, students continue building upon the foundations laid in earlier grades. Students will select letter patterns and know how to translate them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication, and word parts. They will employ comprehension strategies when reading grade-level-appropriate narrative and expository text, such as classic and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, and online information. Students will distinguish between the structural features of the text and literary terms and elements. Students will write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences; this writing will demonstrate a command of standard American English, as well as drafting, research, and organizational strategies.

In Grade 3 Math, students will develop an understanding of the meanings of multiplication and division of whole numbers through activities and problems involving equal-sized groups, arrays, and area models; develop an understanding of fractions, beginning with unit fraction; recognize and calculate area as an attribute of two-dimensional regions; measure and interpret liquid volume and mass; and describe, analyze, and compare properties of two-dimensional shapes through examining sides and angles.

Students in grade three learn more about our connections to the past and the ways in which particularly local, but also regional and national, government and traditions have developed and left their marks on current society, providing common memories. Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of the United States, including the study of American Indians, the subsequent arrival of immigrants, and the impact they have had in forming the character of our contemporary society.

In Grade 3 Science, students learn that energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another; light has a source and travels in a direction; adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival; and objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. Students also repeat observations to improve accuracy, differentiate evidence from opinion, and collect and analyze data to develop a logical conclusion.

In Grade 4 Language Arts, students will select letter patterns and know how to translate them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication, and word parts. They will employ comprehension strategies when reading grade-level-appropriate narrative and expository text, such as classic and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, and online information. Students will distinguish between the structural features of the text and literary terms and elements. Students will write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences; this writing will demonstrate a command of standard American English, as well as drafting, research, and organizational strategies. Additionally, students will deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement.

Grade 4 math focuses on three critical areas: (1) developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; (2) developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; and (3) understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.

Students learn American history in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many waves of immigration beginning with preColumbian societies, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth. Students examine the state in the context of the rest of the nation, with an emphasis on the U.S. Constitution and the relationship between state and federal government.

Computer Science Fundamentals I is adapted from code.org CS Fundamentals Level E course. The course begins with an introduction to the Sprite Lab programming tool. Students will learn to make fun, interactive projects that reinforce what they will learn about online safety. Following these lessons, students will engage in more complex coding. Students will learn about nested loops, functions, and conditionals. By the end of the course, students will combine these concepts to solve challenging puzzles. The course ends with an open-ended project where students create a game or drawing.

In Grade 5 ELA, students use their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words. Reading will have special focus on informational texts, and students will describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text structure, organization, and purpose. As they expand on their comprehension abilities, students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature, and will clarify ideas and make connections between literary works. Students will write clear, coherent, and focused essays that contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Additionally, students will write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500 to 700 words in each genre, and deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies.

In Grade 5 Math, students will apply their understanding of fractions and fraction models to represent the addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators as equivalent calculations with like denominators; develop understanding of why division procedures work based on the meaning of base-ten numerals and properties of operations and finalize fluency with multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; and recognize and measure volume as an attribute of three-dimensional space.

Students in grade five study the development of the nation up to 1850, with an emphasis on the people who were already here, when and from where others arrived, and why they came. Students learn about the colonial government founded on Judeo Christian principles, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the English traditions of self government. They recognize that ours is a nation that has a constitution that derives its power from the people, that has gone through a revolution, that once sanctioned slavery, that experienced conflict over land with the original inhabitants, and that experienced a westward movement that took its people across the continent. Studying the cause, course, and consequences of the early explorations through the War for Independence and western expansion is central to students’ fundamental understanding of how the principles of the American republic form the basis of a pluralistic society in which individual rights are secured.

In Grade 5 Science, students understand that elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world; plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials; water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation; energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in changing weather patterns; and the solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predictable paths. Students continue to practice scientific inquiry by developing testable questions, planning and conducting simple investigations, identifying variables, recording data, drawing conclusions from scientific evidence, and writing investigative reports.