Elementary School Curriculum Highlights

Chapel School’s elementary pedagogical approach places the student at the center of learning. In every classroom, students work collaboratively, researching, sharing, comparing, and analyzing information as they build foundational academic and social skills. Students are encouraged to form their own conclusions, and teachers facilitate students’ abilities to make personal connections to their learning. Classes are designed to develop students’ sense of responsibility for their own learning, promote the sharing of ideas, and the development of critical thinking skills. Students in the elementary school are encouraged to practice self-assessment and set and monitor their individual learning goals. These goals link to the learning objectives and are specific in meeting each child’s needs.

Students’ daily schedules vary to accommodate core content and specialists classes. Throughout the week students will participate in literacy, math, social studies, science, music, arts, physical education, and religion classes. The curriculum in elementary school provides our learners with the opportunity to develop academically in both English and Portuguese as well as to develop socialemotional skills. Technology is also considered core curriculum and is systematically integrated into daily instruction.

Chapel School is committed to providing a rich learning environment as well as differentiated support for our students. Only by looking at each child as unique, can we ensure that individual learning paces are respected and that all children are given opportunities to truly consolidate understandings about the world around them.

Being A Writer

Establishing a strong foundation of literacy in our Elementary students is a key goal of the curricula. By the end of the 6th Grade, Chapel’s Elementary School students achieve academic fluency in both English and in Portuguese. To achieve these results, the Elementary School has approached literacy in a manner that applies best practices to learning to read and write in both languages.

The Being a Writer Program aims to transform writing instruction by helping to create collaborative classrooms, in which students develop both academically and socially as they build their knowledge of and appreciation for the craft of writing. The elements of this process are daily writing – from model texts, sharing ideas between the group, and Author’s Chair, when students have the opportunity to share their published texts.

Additionally, Elementary students engage in small group instruction for Guided Reading too. Students interact with texts in their ZPD (zone of proximal development) with the support of their classroom and/or reading/writing support teacher. The adoption of common practices and strategies in both English and in Portuguese speaks to our Mission and Vision in that we serve an international student body; one that will need strong literacy skills in more than one language.

Everyday Math

Everyday Mathematics, adopted in Pre I through 6th grade, is a spiraling curriculum and enables students to build conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and real world problem solving

skills. Everyday Mathematics focuses on first developing student’s understanding of concepts through real world examples and concrete objects, pictorial representations, and requires students to explain their thinking.

Next Generation Science

Science education in Elementary follows the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which guide students to understand core scientific concepts, the scientific process of developing and testing ideas, and to have a greater ability to evaluate scientific evidence. The Next Generation Standards are written as performance expectations in Core Content, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices.

Religion

Religion at Chapel is discussion-based and focuses on Christian values. Classes are planned to include moments of self-reflection and self and character development. Students of all religions and faiths are embraced and together they share their experiences and learn about world religions. Students also learn about the stories from of the Bible and how to find passages.

In third grade students are prepared for their First Communion, which is an optional program. All students are required to attend Religion classes, Prayer Services (for 1st-3rd grade students), and Masses (for 4th-6th grade students). These take place throughout the school year and in celebration of religious holidays and saints. As stated in our school’s Mission “Through Christian values, students learn to make informed decisions, to own responsibility for personal actions and community needs, and to respect life and cultural diversity.”

The Arts

In our Music Program at Chapel, students have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities by exploring different instruments and movement. From this exploration, the students learn to play, improvise, and compose music. Students learn to play the recorder and various types of xylophones and percussion instruments.

Visual Arts education is based on art elements, such as line, color, shape, texture, value, and space. During classes, students are exposed to different techniques and materials that provide opportunities to create their visual projects in various mediums (painting, sculpture, drawing, and collage). In addition, the Chapel art collection is used to further enrich the classes, serving as an object of appreciation and study.

Physical Education

In Chapel's Elementary Physical Education Program, students experience a variety of physical activities in which they develop their fine and gross motor skills, as well as their social-emotional, and cognitive skills through cooperative and complex games. The combination of physical, cognitive and social-emotional skills contributes to the achievement of developing a well rounded student understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle. During Remote Learning students are assessed in the following standards: Participation and Social Behavior, Physical Activity Knowledge, and Self-Expression / Enjoyment.