CAPCS Elementary Program

1st – 5th Grades

The CAPCS academic program for the elementary grades builds upon the foundation laid in the early childhood years, further developing the skills and focusing primarily on core academic subjects including English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The elementary grades are critical in establishing a firm and fundamental understanding of these subjects. The goal is to provide students with a 21st century education that allows them to succeed both academically and socially as they move into the upper grades. Teachers employ a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of all students. We meet children where they are and take them where they need to be. Instruction is data-driven as teachers tailor their teaching to address the weaknesses and build on the strengths revealed in a structured testing and assessment program, both as a class and as individual students. Additional enrichment or remedial work is provided where indicated. Consistent with 21st century learning, the instructional program is infused with technology, such as interactive smart boards, that gives teachers fresh and innovative resources with which to engage students.

Following is a description of the instructional approach in each of the core subject areas.

English Language Arts

Ideally, a 21st Century student will be able to communicate using a range of critical, creative, and self-regulated media and methods. Our students should be able to think, read, write, listen, and speak in a way that expresses both who they are and how they are connected to their world. Because of teachers' use of engaging and interactive instructional practices, students will perceive reading and writing as avenues for pleasure, connection, and meaningful self-expression.

The CAPCS elementary reading/language arts program reflects the integrated nature of a balanced literacy program. The elementary reading program provides instruction in reading and word study, including phonics, and engagement in independent reading. The elementary language arts program encompasses writing instruction, which includes the teaching of the writing process, writer’s craft, conventions of language, including spelling, grammar, and independent writing. The processes of listening and speaking are integrated into all of the components of a comprehensive, balanced literacy program.

Literacy Instructional Values

• Students need to talk and write to construct meaning, justify thinking, and reflect on texts from a variety of genres and formats.
• Students select texts at an appropriate level and from a variety of genres and formats to allow them to learn about themselves and the world around them.
• Students use literacy building blocks (phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and comprehension strategies) within their reading and writing.
• Instruction will include opportunities for meta-cognition (think aloud) that supports students’ understanding of how readers and writers work.
• Instruction will be explicit, based on a developmental continuum of reading and writing and related content standards.
• Students will think and talk as a means for constructing and sharing ideas and understanding.
• Instruction will be tailored to meet students where they are, individually and as a group, as informed by evidence of student progress.
• Students learn by, with, and through each other and classroom structures should respond to this need to be collaborative.

Mathematics

The goal of the CAPCS elementary mathematics program is for all students to achieve mathematical proficiency by developing both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. The end result is the ability to think and reason mathematically and use mathematics to solve problems in authentic contexts.

Mathematics is a tool we use to understand and interpret our world. In our increasingly technological economy, those who can understand and apply mathematics have significantly enhanced opportunities to achieve success in continuing education and in life. The key to opening the door to these opportunities is a deep understanding of important mathematical concepts and procedures.

Mathematics Instructional Values

• Students need to talk and write around mathematics to construct meaning and justify thinking.
• Students need to engage in active, meaningful experiences to construct conceptual understanding.
• Students must represent mathematical thinking physically, pictorially, symbolically, orally, and in writing.
• Students need regular opportunities to explore concepts in a variety of ways and applications (e.g., games, centers) over time.
• Instruction must move students toward mastery of benchmark concepts and skills.
• Instruction must be tailored to meet students where they are, individually and as a group, as informed by multiple forms of assessment.
• Instruction must connect math to the real world by engaging students in authentic problem solving.
• Students learn by, with, and through each other, and classroom structures should respond to this need.

Science

An effective 21st Century science curriculum promotes students' development of scientific habits of mind, including the capacity for careful observation, hypothesis generation and testing, critical and creative thinking, and self-regulated thinking. Perhaps most significantly, students’ involvement in an effective science curriculum ensures that they internalize the big ideas of science, including the universal concepts of science (i.e., understanding how everything fits together within and across scientific disciplines such as earth and space science, life science, and physical science).

The primary goal of the CAPCS science curriculum is to teach students how to investigate and understand scientific phenomena through independent research. An annual Science Fair provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate the techniques taught. By emphasizing these techniques, our teaching does not limit the student to one observable behavior such as “describe” or “explain”. To do so would narrow the interpretation of what is intended to be rich, highly rigorous, and inclusive content standards. The concepts of “investigate” and “understand,” however, employ the use of scientific methodology and suggest that inquiry skills were present during the learning process. Participating in the science fair is voluntary and is a fun way for students to learn.

Inquiry-based science kits and materials (F.O.S.S. science kits) are available in grades K-8. These materials emphasize concepts that help students to understand the scientific principals instead of memorizing isolated facts. At the elementary grades, the goal is to have at least one inquiry-based program at each grade level K-5. Currently, all elementary grades have at least one physical science kit with Earth Science kits in the process of being selected and implemented for the upper elementary levels.

Social Studies

Every student is a citizen of this country. History and social science are keys to the development of a well rounded citizen who understands the past and the issues of the present. He or she has a problem-solving capacity to contribute to the identification of emerging social, economic, political, and cultural problems — and to the solutions of those problems.

A 21st Century social studies curriculum will help all students develop critical thinking competencies, including the ability to build on and learn from the past. History, civics, economics, and geography are intertwined in such a curriculum — with all learners understanding the links and connections among these areas. Our CAPCS students will become true ethical citizens capable of contributing to positive social growth and change in the 21st Century.

Currently, studies in history and social sciences are fully integrated with the reading curriculum at the elementary level.