ES Curriculum Overview

The Early Years Program (EYP) at the American Community School is a one year program in which our students gradually learn the skills they will need to succeed in Kindergarten and the grades following. Students must be 4 years old before our cut-off date of September 1 to enroll in EYP. 

We believe that children are capable, competent, life-long learners who grow and develop at their own rate in enriching, safe, and dynamic inquiry-based learning environments. We believe in developmentally appropriate practice and promote constructive, purposeful play with a focus on individual strengths, needs, and interests.

We believe that interaction with the natural world is essential to free-range play, so our children have outdoor play spaces and gardens where they can create, explore, be imaginative, and be physically expressive. We believe in focusing on the whole child and fostering ongoing family partnerships. We strive for children to develop a love for learning, to realize their potential, and to become independent members of our diverse and rich community.

Literacy Readiness

Early Years literacy activities prepare students to be successful in formal reading, writing, and speaking activities in Kindergarten. Students participate in whole-group activities, responding to stories read by the teacher and investigating books independently. Students participate in discussions of literature and informational texts read by the teacher, investigate rhyming and patterned texts, and read a big book in unison with the teacher and the group. They begin to learn letter-sound correspondence and recognize some letters in the alphabet. Students learn to write their own names and dictate stories to be written by an adult.

Mathematics Readiness

Students count by rote to 10 and develop an understanding of one-to-one correspondence for 1-10 objects. They recognize numerals up to 10. Students develop basic concepts of time (this morning, yesterday, evening) and measurement (big, small, heavy). Objects are sorted by shape and color. Students understand the concepts of "more" and "less", and know that quantities can be added to or made smaller. They learn to recognize and reproduce simple patterns.

Integrated Units for Science, Social Studies, and Social Skills

The Early Years curricula address social skills, motor skills, and content skills through integrated units in which students learn about the world. Children learn to follow daily routines and interact with others in a wide range of group situations. They develop responsibilities for their own materials and hygiene.

Standards

ACS Early Years program follows the Creative Curriculum framework. This inquiry-based, comprehensive curriculum allows the teachers flexibility in combining basic literary and numeracy with students' areas of interest for exploration and discovery. The program is developmentally appropriate for developing critical thinking skills while also being responsive and supportive of individual students' needs. 

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Kindergarten student expectations are:

• With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

• Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

• With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

• Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.

Writing

Some of our expectations for Kindergartners are:

• Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

• Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

• Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They are expected to explain their thinking in pictures, numbers, and words.

Sample math skills for Kindergarten students are:

• Know number names and the count sequence. 

• Use concrete objects to model simple joining and separating situations (addition and subtraction) of whole numbers related to sums of 10 or less and write corresponding number sentences.

• Create grade-appropriate story pictures and story problems and solve them using a variety of strategies; present and justify results.

• Identify and describe measurable attributes, such as length, weight, and capacity, and use these attributes to make direct comparisons.

Social Studies

Students study topics concerning:

• It’s About Place: locations in the classroom and in familiar places; places students identify with (home, country, school)

• What’s Fair: reasons for rules; responsibility at home and at school

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Push and Pull

• Ecosystems - Animals and Plants 

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model for literacy. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Grade One student expectations are:

• Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

• Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

• Identify the main topic and retell key details of an informational text.

• Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

• Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings

Writing

Some of our expectations for Grade One are:

• Write narratives and explanatory texts in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

• Print all upper- and lowercase letters.

• Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They are expected to explain their thinking in pictures, numbers, and words.

Sample math skills for first graders are:

• Identify, read aloud, and write numbers up to 100.

• Using a number line or chart, locate, compare, and order whole numbers less than 100 and identify the numbers coming before/after a given number and between 2 given numbers.

• Using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number.

• Solve and create a story problem that matches an addition or subtraction expression or equation using physical objects, pictures, or words.

Social Studies

Students study topics concerning:

• Geography

• Culture

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Patterns in the Sky

• Animals - Structure and Function

• Sound and Light Waves

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model for literacy. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Grade Two student expectations are:

• Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate an understanding of key details in a text.

• Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

• Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Writing

Some of our expectations for Grade Two are:

• Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

• With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

• Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They are expected to explain their thinking in pictures, numbers, and words.

Sample math skills for second graders are:

• Compare and order numbers from 0 to at least 1,000 using the words equal to, greater than, less than, greatest, or least.

• Demonstrate efficient procedures for adding and subtracting 2 and 3 digit whole numbers and explain why the procedures work on the basis of place value and number properties.

• Round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100 and identify situations in which rounding is appropriate.

• Represent mathematical situations using numbers, symbols, and words and complete number sentences with the appropriate words and symbols (+, -, =).

Social Studies

Students in Grade Two focus on the community in the following unit of study concerning:

• Building Community in Our Classroom

• Innovation

• Economics

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

• Structures and Properties of Matter

• Earth’s System: Processes that shape the Earth

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model for literacy. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Grade Three student expectations are:

• Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details.

• Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).

• Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

• Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Writing

Some of our expectations for Grade Three are:

• Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

• With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They explain their thinking in pictures, numbers, and words.

Sample math skills for third graders are:

• Use concrete models and pictorial representations to demonstrate the meaning of fractions as parts of a whole, parts of a set, and division by whole numbers through twelfths.

• Apply models of multiplication (e.g., equal-sized groups, arrays, area models, equal “jumps” on number lines and hundreds of charts) and division (e.g., repeated subtraction, partitioning, and sharing) to solve problems.

• Add or subtract with numbers less than 100 using mental arithmetic.

Social Studies

Students in Grade Three learn and apply social studies skills in the following units of study concerning:

• Migration

• Civics

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Ecosystem Change and Traits: Make claims about animals and their environments, evaluate evidence, rethink claims, and use reasoning to construct an argument connecting the evidence.

• Forces and Motion: Investigate balanced and unbalanced forces; make observations and measurements of an object's motion; and determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions.

• Weather and Climate: Represent weather data; combine information to describe climates; make a claim about the merit of design solutions.

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model for literacy. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Grade Four student expectations are:

• Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

• Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

• Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

• Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

• Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.

• Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Writing

Sample Grade 4 student expectations are:

• Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience.

• With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. 

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They explain their thinking using diagrams, numbers, and words.
Sample math skills for fourth graders are:

• Compare and order positive fractions (including positive mixed numbers) on the number line, in number sentences, and in lists.

• Identify and interpret the place value for each digit in numbers through 99,999.

• Represent multiplication of up to four-digit by one-digit numbers and describe how that representation connects to the related number sentence.

Social Studies

Students in Grade Four learn and apply social studies skills in the following units of study. Research skills, writing, and presentation skills are integrated into these social studies units concerning:

• Economics

• History

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Energy

• Earth Science

For reading, writing, and mathematics, our standards are based on the Common Core state standards utilizing the Teachers' College workshop model for literacy. For Science, students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Social Studies standards are based on the C3 Domains.

Reading

Sample Grade Five student expectations are:

• Determine a theme of a story from details in the text, including how characters in a story respond to challenges; summarize the text.

• Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts.

• Synthesize information across multiple texts using main ideas and supporting details. Determining the claim or thesis of an argumentative text. 

Writing

Some of our expectations for Grade Five are:

• Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.

• Develop a topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.

• With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Mathematics

Children develop a strong foundation in mathematics concepts and communication through the use of manipulatives and models. They explain their thinking using diagrams, numbers, and words.
Sample math skills for fifth graders are:

• Read, write, compare, and order all whole numbers, fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals using multiple strategies (e.g. symbols, manipulatives, and place value concepts).

• Add, subtract, and multiply decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value.

• Determine the volume of a 3D rectangular prism using various strategies. 

Social Studies

Our units involve interdisciplinary applications and integration of language arts, sciences, and humanities. The focus of our social studies units is on a deep and enduring understanding of concepts, and skills that will prepare students to be informed decision-makers. Example of Units:

• Civics and Culture

• Technology and History

Science

Students study topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students study topics concerning:

• Matter and Its Interactions

• The Earth’s Sphere and Interactions