Stillman Elementary School

In order to create a balanced reading program, there are four major blocks of Language Arts time:

 
Reading TO Students: 
Read alouds are an integral part of the Language Arts program. Read alouds include:                           
        1. Longer chapter books                                                   
        2. Modeling of comprehension skills                                          
            * Enhance vocabulary, listening and comprehension
              skills                                                         
            * Social Studies and Science are often integrated                                                             

·Reading BY Students:                                                              
       1. Children are taught to select appropriate texts              
       2. Application and practice of skills                                     
       3.  Evidence of progress is visible to students                     

·Reading WITH Students:                                          
       1. Big books, poems, class share books                                   
       2.Small guided reading groups                                                     
             * teacher selected texts                                                   
             * guided practice of specific  
             * constant reinforcement and evaluation 
                           

·Working with Words: (Phonics First Program)                                               
      1. Sight words                                                      
      2. Phonics                                                       
      3. Spelling   
                                                        

Writing: (Schoolwide Series)

· Writing Process                                                           
       1. Generating and organizing ideas                                 
       2. Revising and editing                                                       
       3. Publishing and sharing                                                         

·Model Writing:                                                       
       1. Teacher models writing through literature and real  life experiences                                                            

·Skills:                                                                   
       1. Outlining                                                      
       2. Paragraphing                                                                               
           * Topic sentences                                              
           * Conclusion sentences                                                      
           * Sentences and fragments                                               
       3. Sentence forms

 

 

Math: (Everyday Math Program)

This program offers a creative problem solving approach to real-life mathematics through hands on student activities. Math lessons include small and large group instruction, independent practice in student journals and reinforcement skills through homework. Students work together to ask questions, solve problems and build their own mathematical understandings.

 

Student materials in the classroom include the daily use of manipulatives and tools such as pattern blocks, rulers, calculators and more.Some of the topics covered include the following:
 

Numeration and Order: Counting, reading and writing numbers, place value, fractions and decimals.

 

Operations: Exploring fact families, adding and subtracting with tens and hundreds, beginning multiplication and division and exchanging money amounts.

 

Data and Chance: Collecting, organizing and interpreting data using tables, charts and graphs.

 

Geometry: Exploring 2 and 3 dimensional shapes, classifying polygons.

 

Measurement: Using tools to measure length, capacity, weight and volume

 

                                       

Our Social Studies units include map skills  and a focus on communities. The topics will be integrated throughout the curriculum Field trips will be used to reinforce concepts we have learned.  During a yearlong study of Communities, we want to provide students with the tools, resources and experiences that will lead them to understanding that:

·        the earth is one interrelated, interdependent community    

·        communities are shaped by their location in space and time

·        change in one community influences other communities

·        living things in all communities have need for food, water, air, shelter and  space

·        humans have the ability to alter their community in a way that impacts others 

 

                                                         

Our science units include matter, earth's landscape, and living organisms and habitiats. Once again, these units will be integrated throughout the curriculum. Multimedia will be used throughout the Science and Social Studies units. Some examples are videos, computer software, and internet research.