Elementary Courses

Reader’s Workshop 1 follows a PA Core standards-based curriculum.
In this course, students will:

• Explore a variety of age appropriate fiction and non-fiction literature.
• Focus on comprehension strategies.
• Use leveled readers to support vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension skills.
• Apply letter sound knowledge to decode appropriately.
• Improve fluency through reading groups and repeated reading of stories.
• Develop comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading.
• Develop their vocabulary with age-appropriate words.
• Focus on reading accuracy and fluency.

Physical Education and Health Standards are incorporated into the first grade curriculum.
Physical/Digital Textbooks/Workbooks:

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 1 Student Set
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 1 Reader’s Notebook Set

Books/Novels:

• Goggles!, Ezra Jack Keats
• A Letter for Amy, Ezra Jack Keats
• Peter’s Chair, Ezra Jack Keats
• The Rainbow Fish, Marcus Pfister

Writer’s Workshop 1 follows a PA Core standards-based curriculum.
In this course, students will:

• Develop writing and grammatical skills.
• Build grade-appropriate fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing
• Be guided to use phonetics to sound out words, copy and use sight words in meaningful ways, create an awareness of punctuation, and refer to outside resources for spelling corrections.
• Enjoy the freedom of early independent writing, the power of their words to express thoughts, and the opportunity to describe experiences to classmates.

Manipulatives/Kits: Writing Journal Handwriting Paper

Math Explorations 1 follows a PA Core standards-based curriculum.
In this course, students will:

• Focus on math facts up to 12.
• Explore two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.
• Explore linear measurement.
• Learn how to tell time.
• Learn how to count, add, and subtract money.
• Organize data to solve problems.
• Learn the importance of place value.
• Develop an understanding of Geometry themes.
• Develop math vocabulary, math writing skills and problem solving skills.

Physical/Digital Textbook:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: My Math Grade 1
Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 1 Math Kit

Science & Social Studies Explorations 1 follows a PA Core standards-based curriculum.
In this course, students will:

• Alternate instruction between science and social studies topics.
• Observe habitats of animals including wetlands, grasslands, etc.
• Explore food chains and how these affect life.
• Learn about life cycles.
• Study earth science and weather.
• Explore space and technology.
• Learn about rules and laws and understand how these are applied in their communities.
• Build knowledge of how our country began.
• Interact with economic concepts.

Physical/Digital Textbooks:

• Pearson: Making Our Way
• Discovery Education: Grade 1 Science

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 1 Science Kit

In this course, students will:

• Develop basic health concepts that help the body develop.
• Introduce various exercises and warm up activities and develop an understanding of the importance of physical exercise along with healthy habits.
• Practice activities demonstrating spacial awareness and body awareness.
• Introduce and develop healthy behaviors and practices relating to personal safety and emotional well-being.

Reader’s Workshop 2 provides students the opportunity and skills to expand their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and interaction with the text. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 2nd Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly written responses and comprehension assessments, as well as through projects and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook to enhance their learning. Students will use other online tools in addition to their written responses to demonstrate their understanding.
In Reader’s Workshop, students will:

• Explore a variety of fiction and non-fiction literature, including news articles, biographies, research, narratives, plays, poems and fantasy.
• Reinforce phonics skills by connecting letters to sounds, working with word patterns and word building.
• Apply letter-sound knowledge to decode phonetically regular words in isolation and in context.
• Improve fluency with repeated readings of stories.
• Develop comprehension reading strategies before, during and after reading.
• Use graphic organizers to identify important parts of a story.
• Increase high-frequency word recognition by reading and reviewing words weekly.
• Develop tier-two words by building a robust vocabulary

Physical/Digital Textbook/Workbook:

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 2 Student Set
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 2 Reader’s Notebook Set

Books/Novels:

• A Birthday for Frances, Russell Hoban
• Truman’s Ant Farm, Jama Kim Rattigan
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst

Writer’s Workshop 2 follows the PA Core Standards for 2nd Grade. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, student workbook, and practice quizzes to enhance their learning, and will use Google Drive and other online tools in addition to their written responses to demonstrate their understanding.
In Writer’s Workshop, students will:

• Develop writing and grammar skills by writing letters, narratives, poetry and creative stories.
• Build fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
• Shift from using pictures as a fuel for their stories, as in kindergarten and first grade, to writing for the activity itself.
• Be motivated to create and complete works to read to classmates by selecting their own topic.
• Learn about story planning, peer conferencing, revision, teacher editing, and direct instruction.
• Develop expression, revision strategy and skill in writing.

Manipulatives/Kits:
Handwriting Paper

Math Explorations 2 follows the PA Core Standards for 2nd Grade and assesses students’ fact fluency, math concepts, and problem solving skills. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook to enhance their learning.
In this course, students will:

• Review greater numbers up to 1000.
• Practice adding and subtracting strategies with 2 and 3 digit numbers.
• Work with tables and graphs.
• Learn about Geometry with plane shapes, solid figures and patterns.
• Explore measurement and fractions with customary and metric measurements.
• Be introduced to multiplication and division.

Students will also participate in hands-on and interactive activities that reinforce math concepts and develop math vocabulary, math writing skills, and problem solving skills.
Physical/Digital Textbook:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: My Math Grade 2
Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 2 Math Kit

Science & Social Studies Explorations 2 follows the PA Core Standards for 2nd Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through written responses, as well as through projects and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook to enhance their learning.
In this course, students will:

• Alternate instruction between science and social studies topics.
• Learn about Life Science topics such as plants, animal characteristics, food chains/food webs and life cycles.
• Explore Earth Science topics such as the water cycle, Earth and Space, fossils and dinosaurs.
• Study Physical Science topics such as matter, energy, and sound.
• Identify and understand the characteristics of the water cycle.
• Observe and describe the growth and development of animals throughout their life cycles.
• Identify characteristics of various forms of energy.
• Examine and classify common physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
• Identify natural resources that we use and describe how we use them.
• Ask and answer scientific questions by participating in inquiry activities and experiments while making real-world connections.
• Develop science vocabulary.
• Develop an understanding of geography.
• Identify locations on a map using a map key.
• Learn about citizenship, communities and government.

Physical/Digital Textbooks:

• Pearson: We Do Our Part
• Discovery Education: Grade 2 Science

Books/Novels:

• Paul Revere’s Ride, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Fireflies, Julie Brinckloe
• The Bee Tree, Patricia Polacco
• The Keeping Quilt, Patricia Polacco

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 2 Science Kit

In this course, students will:

• Introduce and develop an understanding of the human body and the importance of caring for it through the daily physical activity and good choices.
• Be introduced to developmentally appropriate vocabulary to better understand the whole body, how it functions, and how to stay safe at home and in the community.

Reader’s Workshop 3 provides students the opportunity and skills to expand their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and interaction with texts in a variety of genres. Students will build skills relating to story structure, main idea and details, inferencing, and author’s purpose among others. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 3rd Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly comprehension assessments and word study activities to build vocabulary and phonics’ skills. Students will complete literature projects and unit tests to demonstrate their growth and mastery of skills. Students will interact with instructional videos and presentations, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook, to enhance their learning. Students will incorporate the use of Google Drive and other online tools to demonstrate their understanding and comprehension of stories and skills obtained in this course
In Reader’s Workshop, students will:

• Explore a variety of fiction and non-fiction literature, including news articles, biographies, research, narratives, plays, poems and fantasy.
• Apply phonics skills by identifying spelling patterns in order to decode longer words in a selection of text.
• Focus on comprehension and fluency during repeated readings of stories.
• Utilize skills and strategies that occur during reading.
• Practice and apply grammatical skills for use in writing.

Digital Textbook:

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 3 Student Set

Books/Novels:

• Stellaluna, Janell Cannon
• Boy, Were We Wrong about Dinosaurs!, Kathleen Kudlinski
• The Lighthouse Family: The Storm, Cynthia Rylant
• Amos and Boris, William Steig

Writer’s Workshop 3 provides students the opportunity and skills to develop proficiency in elements of writing such as voice, ideas, organization, word choice, and fluency. Students will strengthen grammar skills as they write in a variety of genres, including descriptive, personal narrative, expository, biographical and creative writing. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 3rd Grade. Students will interact with instructional videos and presentations, games, and graphic organizers, as they work through the writing process to publish and share completed works. Students will incorporate the use of Google Drive and other tools to demonstrate their development and mastery of the writing process and skills learned in the course.
In Writer’s Workshop, students will:

• Develop writing and grammar skills by writing persuasive letters, personal narratives, poetry, creative stories, research reports, biographies and autobiographies.
• Build fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
• Organize thoughts to create a story or write about a given topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus that present information to the reader.
• Use writing mechanics comfortably and shift their cognitive abilities to higher order thinking to allow them to develop a more sophisticated sense of what makes good writing.
• Learn about story planning, peer conferencing, revision, teacher editing, and direct instruction in the mechanics of grammar.
• Develop expression, revision strategy and skill in writing, and be encouraged to try new things during the revision process.
• Work on a large assigned task from another area of the curriculum.

Math Explorations 3 provides students the opportunity and skills to build upon and develop their mathematical proficiency, while being introduced to new concepts to further their advancement. The focus will be on place value, addition and subtraction fluency, multiplication and division fluency, and problem solving strategies among others. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 3rd Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through both formative and summative assessments. Students will interact with instructional videos and presentations, fluency and skill specific games, practice quizzes and an online textbook, to enhance their learning. Students will demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts through their ability to model their work, while explaining the process to solve problems.
In this course, students will:

• Learn to compare, order and round numbers up through 9,999.
• Add and subtract 2 and 3 digit whole numbers with and without regrouping.
• Compare and round money amounts, and make change for an amount up to $5.00.
• Identify, compare and classify shapes and their attributes.
• Represent and interpret data using tally charts, tables, pictographs, line plots and bar graphs.
• Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of temperature, liquid volume, mass, length, perimeter and area.
• Identify, compare, order and represent fractions as parts of a whole, parts of a group and whole numbers.
• Multiply and divide with multiples up to 10 with a focus on fluency.
• Participate in hands-on and interactive activities that reinforce grade-level math concepts.
• Refine writing in math skills.

Physical/Digital Textbook:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: My Math Grade 3

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 3 Math Kit

Science & Social Studies Explorations 3 follows the PA Core Standards for 3rd Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly written responses and comprehension assessments, as well as through projects, experiments, and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos & presentations, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook to enhance their learning.
In this course, students will:

• Alternate instruction between science and social studies topics.
• Learn about Life Science topics such as plants, animals and ecosystems.
• Explore Earth Science topics such as water, weather, natural resources, rocks and soil.
• Study Physical Science topics such as matter, forces and motion, energy and sound.
• Learn about constellations and other aspects of space.
• Participate in lab-based investigations and inquiries that link key unit concepts with real world connections.
• Explore life in the past through ancient civilizations.
• Examine and research historical figures.
• Expand their understanding of US History and Government.
• Develop the skills to become thoughtful and caring citizens.
• Participate in a research project for the 3rd Grade Living History museum.

Physical/Digital Textbooks:

• Pearson: We Are Connected
• Discovery Education: Grade 3 Science

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 3 Science Kit

In this course, students will:

• Reach proficiency in understanding various systems of the human body and the importance of caring for it through the daily physical activity and good choices.
• Master appropriate vocabulary to better understand the whole body, how it functions, and how to stay safe at home and in the community.

Reader’s Workshop 4 provides students the opportunity and skills to expand their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and interaction with the text. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 4th Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly written responses and comprehension assessments, as well as through projects and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook, to enhance their learning. Students will incorporate the use of Google Drive and other online tools in addition to their written responses to demonstrate their understanding and comprehension of the stories and skills obtained in this course.
In Reader’s Workshop, students will:

• Make connections with reading: connections between two texts, connections between the world and texts, and connections between the student and the texts directly.
• Use high-quality texts to do close reading.
• Dig deeper in the text, answering questions and engaging in classroom discussion.
• Master their foundational skills.
• Develop skills in comprehension using before reading, during reading, and after reading strategies.
• Focus on fluency.
• Identify various literary elements in fiction and non-fiction writing.
• Use leveled readers to individualize instruction for the student.

Digital Textbook:

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 4 Student Set

Books/Novels:

• Phineas L. MacGuire Gets Slimed!, Frances O’Roark Dowell
• Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, Mildred Walter

Writer’s Workshop 4 follows the PA Core Standards for 4th Grade. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, graphic organizers, as they embark on a journey through the writing process, to enhance their learning. Students will incorporate the use of Google Drive and other tools to demonstrate their development and mastery of the writing process and skills learned in the course.
In Writer’s Workshop, students will:

• Develop proficiency in elements of writing such as voice, ideas, organization, word choice, and fluency.
• Develop writing and grammar skills by writing persuasive letters, personal narratives, poetry, creative stories, research reports, biographies and autobiographies.
• Build fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
• Organize thoughts to create a story or write about a given topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus that present information to the reader.
• Use writing mechanics comfortably and shift their cognitive abilities to higher order thinking to allow them to develop a more sophisticated sense of what makes good writing.
• Learn about story planning, peer conferencing, revision, teacher editing, and direct instruction in the mechanics of grammar.
• Develop expression, revision strategy and skill in writing, and be encouraged to try new things during the revision process.
• Work on a large assigned task from another area of the curriculum.

Math Explorations 4 provides students the opportunity and skills to build upon and develop their mathematical proficiency, while being introduced to new concepts to further their advancement. This course follows the PA Core Standards for 4th Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through both formative and summative assessments. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook, to enhance their learning. Students will demonstrate their understanding of concepts through their ability to model their work, while explaining the process to solve problems.
In this course, students will:

• Build upon many previously learned skills and be introduced to new concepts that will help students develop mathematical proficiency.
• Reinforce and explore making math a habit of the mind.
• Engage in discovery learning and model their work.
• Be asked to think critically and make real world decisions that demonstrate cognitive growth.
• Focus on concepts such as multiplication and division, fractions and probability, algebra and geometry, measurement, and data analysis.

Physical/Digital Textbook:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: My Math Grade 4

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 4 Math Kit

Science & Social Studies Explorations 4 follows the PA Core Standards for 4th Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly written responses and comprehension assessments, as well as through projects, experiments, and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook, to enhance their learning.
In this course, students will:

• Alternate instruction between science and social studies topics.
• Expand their understanding of the key questions relating to Life and Physical Science in preparation for the content of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) fourth grade science test.
• Develop a foundational understanding of concepts relating to Earth Science and Space and Technology.
• Participate in experiments using the Scientific Method to develop skills in processing science and to test and illustrate scientific principles.
• Engage in scientific inquiry related to making real world connections to science content.
• Investigate Pennsylvania and its history.
• Develop a greater understanding of geography in the United States.

Physical/Digital Textbooks:

• Pearson: Regions of Our Country
• Discovery Education: Grade 4 Science

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 4 Science Kit

In this course, students will:

• Be introduced to the vital aspects of the human body and their importance in movement and healthy living.
• Reflect on course content that promotes higher order thinking skills and relate topics to their own experiences
• Be introduced to specific developmentally appropriate vocabulary to better understand the whole body, how it functions, and how to stay safe at home and in the community.
• Be introduced to and develop new activities which promote lifelong fitness and creativity through various movement concepts and principles.

Reader’s Workshop 5 provides students the opportunity and skills to expand their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and interaction with the text. This course follows the PA Common Core Standards for 5th Grade and assesses students’ proficiency and growth through weekly written responses and comprehension assessments, as well as through projects and unit tests. Students will interact with instructional videos, games, practice quizzes and an online textbook to enhance their learning, and will use Google Drive and other online tools in addition to their written responses to demonstrate their understanding.
In Reader’s Workshop, students will:

• Make connections, compare and contrast a variety of writing, both fiction and non-fiction.
• Reinforce skills and strategies that happen before, during, and after reading.
• Dig deep and engage in critical thinking, classroom discussion, and review of reading.
• Use leveled readers to individualize instruction for the student.

Digital Textbook:

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Journeys Grade 5 Student Set

Books/Novels:

• Frindle, Andrew Clements
• Hound Dog True, Linda Urban

Writer’s Workshop 5 follows the PA Common Core Standards for 5th Grade to introduce students to different styles and structures of writing and provides them tools and opportunities to strengthen their skills in each. Instruction of grammar and conventions will be incorporated throughout the school year. A variety of online tools including Padlet, Google Drive, Quizlet, interactive HTML5 content, and others will allow students to practice and present their progress in various formats.
In Writer’s Workshop, students will:

• Developing proficiency in elements of writing such as voice, ideas, organization, word choice, and fluency.
• Utilize the writing process to create descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive, and research paragraphs and essays.
• Explore writing poetry and other forms of creative writing.
• Build fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
• Use writing mechanics comfortably and shift their cognitive abilities to higher order thinking to allow them to develop a more sophisticated sense of what makes good writing.
• Learn about story planning, peer conferencing, revision, teacher editing, and direct instruction in the mechanics of grammar.
• Organize thoughts to create a story or write about a given topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus that present information to the reader.
• Develop expression, revision strategy and skill in writing, and be encouraged to try new things during the revision process.

Math Explorations 5 combines online tools, the student workbook (both printed and an interactive online version), and interactive online programs with live virtual lessons to equip students to problem solve in correlation with PA Common Core Standards for 5th Grade.
In this course, students will:

• Develop computational and critical thinking skills involving place value, measurement, and geometry.
• Solve problems in computation and estimation by multiplying and dividing integers, whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers.
• Choose the correct method to solve a given problem.
• Draw conclusions based on graphs, measurement and probability.
• Identify algebraic concepts and interpret number theory.

Physical/Digital Textbook:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: My Math Grade 5

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 5 Math Kit

Science and Social Studies Explorations 5 utilizes instructional videos, online texts, interactive online tools, and an array of other resources combine to present material in a variety of ways. Likewise, students are given opportunity to demonstrate their understanding through various means including, but not limited to, projects, quizzes, reports, Google Drive tools, and video creation.
In this course, students will:

• Alternate instruction between science and social studies topics.
• Identify how living things are classified.
• Determine what cells have to do with our lives.
• Explain how the systems in the human body keep us alive.
• Describe how plants stay alive and produce offspring.
• Recall how the parts of an ecosystem interact and demonstrate an understanding of how changes in habitats affect living things.
• Summarize how water moves through the environment.
• Explain why the weather changes.
• Identify the types of processes that change Earth’s surfaces.
• Discover the importance of conservation of Earth’s resources.
• Determine what makes up everything around us.
• Explore how chemistry forces and motion are used in our daily lives.
• Identify how many types of energy we use each day.
• Model an electric current and how it works.
• Explain how the study of stars has expanded our knowledge of the universe.
• Analyze how the motion of objects in space creates cycles.
• Discuss how technology affects our lives.
• Conduct directed and guided experiments to test and illustrate scientific principles that help create real world connections to the Science content.
• Continue to develop geography skills.
• Examine the Civil War.
• Discover how the United States became a world leader.

Physical/Digital Textbooks:

• Pearson: Building Our Country
• Discovery Education: Grade 5 Science

Manipulatives/Kits:
Grade 5 Science Kit

In this course, students will:

• Reach proficiency in the vital aspects of the human body and their importance in movement and healthy living.
• Master course content to promote higher order thinking skills and relate topics to their own experiences
• Master developmentally appropriate vocabulary to better understand the whole body, how it functions, and how to stay safe at home and in the community.
• Reach proficiency and master new activities which promote lifelong fitness and creativity through various movement concepts and principles.