Our Curriculum

Our Curriculum

Through the use of the workshop model in literacy and mathematics we provide a comprehensive systematic approach to reading, writing and mathematics.

Balanced Literacy provides all students with meaningful literacy activities that engages them in reading, and writing experiences; thus promoting the four skills in their development of literacy in a systematic and strategic manner. Children receive:

Ø 90 minutes of reading and writing each day in Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Ø Systematic phonics, including repetitive text.

Ø Daily writing assignments

The Investigations Math (TERC) program develops critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. It teaches our students about the broad ideas associated with math, including problem solving, communicating mathematically, reasoning, and number sense.

We want all students to realize that math is more than adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. We want children to be able to connect math to their everyday lives. TERC enables us to accomplish this goal.

Our Science, Social Studies, Technology, Physical Education, Art, Music and Dance programs are based on the New York State Standards. Teachers follow the scope and sequence for each grade.

All teachers use the workshop model, thematic planning and project based instruction to enhance students’ understanding.

P.S. 94 Yearlong Mathematics Curriculum 2010-2011

 

Kindergarten

Grade1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Sept.

Unit 1: Routines

Who is in School Today?

Mourning Routines & Games

Unit 1: How Many of Each?

Unit 1: Counting Coins and Combinations

Unit 1- Trading Stickers, Combining Coins/ Addition Fact Power Challenge

 

Supporting CFL Unit

T-Shirt Factory

TERC Unit 5:  Landmarks and Large Numbers

Investigations 1, 2, 4

Array Exploration – 3 days

Unit 1:  Number Puzzles and Multiple Towers

Multiplication and Division

Oct.

Unit 2: Counting and Comparing

Unit 2: Making Shapes and Designing Quilts

Unit 2: Shapes, Blocks and Symmetry

Unit 3- Addition/ Subtracting

TERC Unit 1:  Factor, Multiples and Arrays

CFL:  Muffles Truffles

 Unit 3:  Thousands of miles, thousands of seats

Nov.

Unit 3: What Comes Next?

Unit 3: Solving Story Problems

Unit 3 & 9: Measuring Length and Time

 

Unit 5- Equal Groups

 

Supporting CFL Unit

Groceries, Stamps and Measuring Strips and The Big Dinner

 

 

CFL:   The Teacher’s Lounge

Unit 4: What’s the Portion?

Dec.

Unit 3: What Comes Next?

 

Unit 5: Make a Shape, Build a Block

 

Unit 6: Number Games and Crayons Puzzles

 

CFL Unit: Double Decker Bus

 

Unit 4: Stickers, Strings, and Story Problems

Unit 8- How Many Hundreds? How Many Miles?

Unit 5:  Measuring Polygons

Jan.

Unit 5: Make a Shape, Build a Block

Unit 6: Number Games and Crayons Puzzles

 

CFL Unit: Double Decker Bus

 

Unit 4: Stickers, Strings, and Story Problems

Unit 2- Surveys and Line Plots

CFL:  Field Trips

TERC Unit 6:  Fraction Cards and Decimal Squares    Investigation 3

Unit 6: Decimals on Grids and Number Lines

Feb.

Unit 4: Measuring and Counting

CFL Unit: Bunk Beds and Apple Boxes

 

 

Unit 4: What Would You Rather Be?

Unit 5 & 4:Pockets, Teeth and Things

Unit 7- Finding Fair Shares

Graphing, Pictographs and Bar Graphs

Unit 7:  How Many People?  How Many Teams?

Mar.

Unit 6 : How Many Do You Have?

Unit 7: Color Shapes and Number Problems

Unit 6: How Many Tens? How Many Ones?

Unit 4-Perimeter, Angles, and Area

TERC Unit 6:  How Many Packages?

How Many Groups?

Unit 8: Growth Patterns – Patterns, Functions and Change

April

Unit 7: How Many Do You Have?

Unit 8: Two’s, Five’s and Ten’s

 

CFL Unit: Beads and Shoes and Making Twos

Unit 7 & 5: How Many Floors? How Many Rooms?

Test readiness

Test Prep for days 2 and 3

Test Sophistication

May

Unit 8: Sorting and Survey

Unit 5: Fish Lengths and Animal Jumps

Unit 8: Partners, Teams, and Paper Clips

Revisiting Multiplication/ Division/ Fractions

TERC Unit 8:  Penny Jars and Plant Growth

 Unit 2:  Prisms and Pyramids

June

Differentiation of Games

Getting Ready for Second Grade Time-Money-Games

Unit 9: Parts of a Whole, Parts of a Group

 

Review of Grade 2 Skills

Games

CFL:  Fund Raisers

Unit 9:  How long can you stand on one foot?  Data Analysis and Probability



P.S. 94 Yearlong Social Studies Curriculum 2010-2011

 

Kindergarten

Grade1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Sept.

School and School Community

 

Essential Question: What is a school and what does it mean to

be a good citizen of a school community?

Families Are Important

 

 

Essential Question: Why are families important and how do they influence who we are?

Our Community’s Geography

 

Essential Question: How does geography influence where people choose to live and why?

Introduction to World Geography and World Communities

 

Essential Question: What are the important features of communities throughout the world?

Native Americans: First Inhabitants of New York State

 

Essential Question:

How did Native

Americans influence

the development of New York

Geography and Early Peoples of the Western

Hemisphere

 

Essential Question: How did geography influence the development of the

Western Hemisphere?

Oct.

 

 

New York City Over Time

 

Essential Question: How and why did New York City change over time?

Three Worlds Meet

 

 

Essential Question:

How did three diverse

cultures interact and

affect each other?

Nov.

Self and Others

 

Essential Question: How are people unique?

 

Families Now and Long Ago

 

Essential Question: How do

families grow and change

over time?

 

 

Case Studies of a Community in  Africa, Asia, South America, The Caribbean,

Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia, or Australia

 

Essential Question: How do culture, history, geography, people, and government shape the development

of a community?

The United States

 

Essential Question: How do geography,

economics, people, and

key events connect to

shape a nation?



P.S. 94 Yearlong Reading Curriculum 2010-2011

 

Kindergarten

Grade1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Sept.

Readers Build Good Habits

Readers Build Good Habits

Readers Make Good Decisions and Build Good Habits

Building Stamina, meaning, and Word solving strategies

Stamina, Meaning and Word Solving

Reading with Stamina, Comprehension, and Tricky Words

Oct.

Readers Read, think and Talk About Emergent Story Books & Invent Fun Things to Do With Them

Patterns and Print Strategies

Tricky Words /Hard Parts

Grow Ideas About characters

Ideas About Characters

Readers Have Ideas About Characters

Nov.

Readers Use All Our Power to Read Everything We Can

 

Comprehension

Readers Think and Talk About Characters

Nonfiction Reading with a focus on building comprehension skills and strategies

Social Issues/Book Clubs

Non-Fiction Reading/Focus on Biographies

Dec.

Readers Use All We Know to Read: Songs, Poems & Other Texts

Non-Fiction (How To)

Story Elements

Talking and writing about texts to infer and interpret

Non-Fiction Reading (Content Area)

Social Issues/Book Clubs

Jan.

Readers Learn Information About the World Through Our Books in Theme-Based Reading Clubs

 

Readers Work to Understand What We Are Reading by Using All We Know to Figure Out Words and Clear Up Confusion

Non-Fiction Reading

To Become Experts and Share Passions

Folktales

Poetry

Content Area Reading Social Studies/Science

Feb.

Readers Have Lots of Strategies to Figure Out Words & We Are Eager to Take On New Challenges

Readers Study Characters

Author Study

Social Issues: book club/ series

Historical Fiction

Mid-Year Reflection Poetry (Black History)



P.S. 94 Yearlong Writing Curriculum 2010-2011

 

Kindergarten

Grade1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Sept.

Launching Writing Workshop

Launching Writing Workshop: Small Moments

Launching with small moments

Quick Publish

Launch Notebooks

Personal Narrative

Quick Publish, personal narrative

Quick Publish Personal Narrative/Edge of Your Seat Writing

Oct.

Building Personal Narratives

Can you read this?

Focus on conventions of writing.

Can you read this? Conventions

Realistic Fiction

Realistic fiction

Realistic Fiction

Nov.

Approximating Small Moments

Writing About Reading

Realistic Fiction

Nonfiction – Use features, strategies and skills learned in RW to make writing stronger

Personal Essay

Autobiography

Dec.

Small moments

How to

Fairy Tales

HW preparation

Non fiction writing research based projects and reports (content area writing)

Literary Essay

Jan.

Writing for Readers (Class Topic)

Revision-Revisit an old piece.

Focus on Elaboration and Conventions.

Non-Fiction

Folktales

Historical

Fiction 

Investigative Journalism

Feb.

Looking Closely: Observing, Labeling and Listing Like Scientists

Authors as Mentors

Authors as Mentors

Critical Review writing

Test Readiness

Mid-Year Reflection Poetry Writing

Mar.

How-to Books

Realistic Fiction

 

Write Gripping Stories with Meaning and Significance

 

Journalism

Play writing (revise a published piece into a play)

Folktales, Fairytales, Fables, and Legend Writing

April

All About Books(Independent Topic) 3 weeks

 

Poetry 2 weeks

Poetry

Poetry

Independent Writing Projects

Quick Publish, personal narrative

Test Writing

May

Letter Writing

All About…-

Persuasive Writing

Mystery short stories

 

Realistic fiction

Fantasy Writing

June

Getting Ready for First Grade: Independent Writing Projects 

*Re-Cap

Fairy Tales/Fantasy

Revision & Assessment

Content Area Writing

(research project with reading workshop)

 

Personal Essay

Independent Writing Projects