ACADEMICS

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Kindergarten

  • Students in kindergarten focus on transitioning from a pre-school environment to an elementary school environment.  Much of the focus in kindergarten is to teach students to become independent learners while continuously building their social-emotional skills and fine tuning their gross and fine motor skills.  Kindergartners focus on all academic subject areas: Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies as well as participate in all co-curricular areas: Art, Creative Drama, Library, Music, Spanish, Physical Education and Technology.
  • Kindergartners always look forward to their first Shining Moment of their North Park Elementary School experience celebrating the completion of their first thematic unit of the year--the circus unit.  The students invite all of their friends and families to perform a real circus!
  • For Language Arts class, there is a strong emphasis on letter and number identification. As emergent reading and writing skills develop, students are taught reading and writing through the workshop approach. This is a student centered approach that ensures that all students learn at their individual pace. This approach begins in kindergarten and continues through eighth grade.   Students receive handwriting, phonics, spelling and word study instruction in Language Arts. 
  • Math study focuses on number identification, counting by 1s, 5s and 10s as well as beginning basic addition and subtraction.  By the end of the year, students are expected to be able to add and subtract numbers up to 18.  
  • One of the highlights of Science for kindergartners is the chick unit. Kindergartners raise live chickens in their classroom.  They complete this unit along with the fourth graders while both grades study life cycles in the spring.
  • The Social Studies focus is on what it means to live in America and identification of American symbols. 

 

1st Grade

  • Students in first grade begin more independent study, building on their kindergarten foundation.  Two significant thematic units of the year are Character Education and Patriotism.   The Shining Moment of first grade involves the Patriotic Play that is performed in February. Students sing, dance and perform a play all about the founding fathers of America.
  • First graders develop reading fluency, word recognition and decoding skills through the reading and writing workshop.  Writing units include an expository piece on school and a non-fiction piece on animal habitats to coincide with their science unit.  Students receive handwriting, phonics, spelling and word study instruction in Language Arts. 
  •  Math class focuses on more advanced adding and subtracting.  Students begin basic geometry, measurement, problem solving as well as data and chance; learning the foundation for building strong math skills.  First graders are expected to be proficient in addition and subtraction with 0, 1, doubles, sum equals to 10.
  • Science units are thrilling for first graders with stimulating topics including matter, paleontology, animal habitats and human body systems.
  • Social Studies focuses on Patriotism and emphasizing what it means to be an American, and why we have rules and laws.

2nd Grade

  • Students in second grade truly characterize what it means to be an independent learner by demonstrating success in all subject areas. The highlight of the year is when they celebrate learning all 50 states with a Shining Moment celebration of Hawaiian Day on the 50th day of school.
  • Through the reading and writing workshop, students continue their writing skills and write a state report in conjunction with Social Studies.  They end the year writing a research report about endangered animals – utilizing all that they learned about writing to write a paper integrating a unit from science class.  Students receive handwriting, phonics, spelling and word study instruction in Language Arts.  Students continue to build reading stamina and read lengthier and more complicated books independently.
  • By second grade Math, the students have progressed in their skills and focus on more advanced measurement, place value, geometry and beginning fractions. By the end of the year, students are expected to be proficient with all addition and subtraction facts through 20.
  • Science begins with learning about simple machines – where they discover how many simple machines assist us in our everyday lives.  Other units include the food pyramid and nutrition, and a unit on the water cycle.
  • Social Studies introduces all 50 states as the entered the union, as well as learning the geography, culture, economics, government and history of their community and for the United States.