Lower School
Please review the document below for a listing of the curriculum used in our Lower School (K-6).
Overview – A Few Major Subject Areas We Teach
Language Arts at Eukarya is composed of a balanced literacy approach. There are 4 major components that we believe will produce literate students.
– Reading
- Guided Reading groups are used for students who are learning to read.
- Phonics lessons are taught using The Phonics Museum by Veritas Press and Explode the Code within their reading class.
- Literature Groups are used for students who have cracked the reading code and are ready for comprehension development. Classic literature books are selected, read, and discussed daily through literature circles. Books are selected based on each student’s instructional-guided reading level. Students will read approximately 6-8 chapter books per year.
- All reading teachers plan lessons according to the objectives and goals for their students guided reading levels. These goals and objectives are listed in The Continuum of Literacy Learning by G. Pinnell and I. Fountas.
- Students are assessed at least quarterly using the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System.
– Spelling
- For emergent spellers, working with words through activities such as making words, word sorts, word family explorations are used for instruction.
- For our students who are ready for spelling lists, assessments are done and they are given developmentally appropriate lists. The Grammar of Spelling word lists will be assigned and tested weekly.
– Grammar
- Students in Kindergarten through 1st grade will use First Language Lessons to learn and memorize poetry, parts of speech, punctuation, and capitalization rules.
- Students in 2nd – 6th grade will use Shurley Grammar, to memorize the parts of speech, learn proper punctuation and capitalization rules, as well as reference skills.
– Writing
- Emergent readers will learn to write through lessons in copy work, journal responses during reading, and dictation exercises using First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise Bauer.
- A Reason For Handwriting is used to teach proper letter formation of both manuscript and cursive.
- Institute for the Excellence in Writing is used to teach writing both with structure and style.
– Books
Books, books, more books, and imagination are the final key ingredients that will complete the literacy instruction for our students. Reading books aloud and providing great books as well as the time to enjoy them will promote literacy for all of our students.
Some Major Topics Covered:
- Mammals
- Earth, Sea, Sky
- Vertebrates
- Engines
Goals include:
- Mastery
- Not just filling in worksheets
- Working at the student’s pace using a hands-on method
For more information on the lower school program, email: Joan Hughes, Principal