Lower School Curriculum Guide

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Juda and Maria Diener Lower School Curriculum Guide Kindergarten - Grade 5



Mission From early childhood through Grade 12, Scheck Hillel Community School educates and inspires students to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity, values and a commitment to the State of Israel, through a college preparatory curriculum and meaningful co-curricular experiences guided by Orthodox teachings and set within a nurturing, diverse community.

Core Values These are the values by which we - faculty, students, parents and staff - live as a school community, showing our respect for Hashem, for self and others, and for the traditions of our school community. We are committed to educating students with care and dignity, instilling a sense of unity, a love of learning, and the values of Derech Eretz (acting with kindness) and appreciating each person as a unique individual, B’tzelem Elokim.

Educational Philosophy Scheck Hillel builds our Jewish future through your child’s success by tailoring education to the individual child for a personalized, rigorous college preparatory experience. Students develop identity, nurture talent, discover passion and find purpose as our rising generation of creators, innovators and leaders. Scheck Hillel sets the standard for educational excellence by inspiring students to ask, “Who do I want to be?” rather than, “What do I want to do?” This shift empowers students to become reflective global citizens with enduring Jewish identity and values, ready and eager to write the next chapter through their own definitions of success, happiness and fulfillment.

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Scheck Hillel Community School Juda and Maria Diener Lower School Curriculum Guide Kindergarten - Grade 5 Introduction Welcome to Scheck Hillel Community School’s Curriculum Guide for the Juda and Maria Diener Lower School. This booklet provides an outline of the skills, concepts, and knowledge typically acquired by students as they progress through Lower School, and the approaches to learning that guide Scheck Hillel’s curricular design and implementation. Learning activities are planned, sequenced, aligned and personalized to empower and enrich our students today with an eye on the future. Our educational program is continually evaluated to ensure students are learning and growing intellectually, spiritually and emotionally, and are acquiring tools and skills that stimulate creativity and innovation for a modern world.

Lower School Program Overview Kindergarten-Grade 5 General Studies The Kindergarten-Grade 5 program focuses on Language Arts (reading, writing, listening, speaking), Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language. Rounding out the curriculum are Media, Design/STEM, Art, Music and Physical Education. Lessons are aligned with and informed by the State of Florida Next Generation educational standards to create seamless understanding of central topics covered in all coursework. Additionally, teachers scaffold lessons throughout the entirety of the Lower School years, building content knowledge and skills in developmentally-appropriate stages, and in preparation for students’ next level of learning. Kindergarten-Grade 5 Judaic Studies & Hebrew Language Kindergarten Judaic and General Studies teachers work hand-in-hand to integrate their subjects and further enrich learning. Learning the Alef Bet is an important focus in Kindergarten. Children are exposed to Hebrew literature and explore various themes through hands-on activities and role-playing exercises. They practice the customs and learn the meaning of Shabbat and chagim. On a weekly basis they also learn the stories, values and lessons of each Parashah. Through the practice of daily Tefilah, children build a meaningful relationship with Hashem. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. Grades 1-5 Scheck Hillel implements the Judaic Studies and Hebrew language TaL-AM curriculum, which is based on the principles of language development and learning patterns. The entire structure of the program is based on the notion that the best learning environment for children is one in which knowledge is acquired through a variety of activities, using each of the five senses. In addition to studying from textbooks, students use music, games and visual aids to learn Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language and to develop a keen understanding of Jewish concepts and values. Students develop their Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language literacy in a gradual spiraled process, building new ideas and concepts upon an expanding foundation of knowledge. The program gradually helps foster Jewish identity, encouraging children to explore their Jewish roots and traditions in a fun and exciting manner.

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Kindergarten Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Name 26 letters of the alphabet and one sound for each • Blend letter sounds to decode (read) words • Segment letter-sound to encode (spell) words • Read 66 high-frequency sight words from Dolch word list • Read, write, and spell hundreds of short-vowel words • Use parts of speech, synonyms, antonyms, categorizing words • Gain comprehension and fluency skills for literary and informational texts • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text • Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson as well as describe characters, settings, and major event in a story Students learn through the following approaches: • Practice all reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach • Sight words home each week to commit to memory • Read grade-level literary and informational texts in Superkids® • Small group book clubs • Daily read-alouds based on student interests • Differentiated & project-based learning • Small group instruction for personalization of learning • Station rotation • Special activities to highlight learning benchmarks • Library time to integrate book study and discussion • Personalized book zip bags (as students are ready) Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Superkids Reading Program unit assessments • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Language development assessment WIDA test, as needed • MAP Reading Fluency • Star Reading Assessment (Early Literacy)

Writing

Students learn to: • Write all uppercase and lowercase letters • Form and write words • Form and write phrases • Write in a journal • Become familiar with writing mechanics, writing process, and types of writing - narrative, opinion, informative, explanatory Students learn through the following approaches: • Creative writing and experiential learning • Illustrations and descriptions • Sight word spelling • Inventive spelling

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Math

Students learn to: • Develop number sense • Know number names and the counting sequence • Count to tell the number of objects • Understand concepts of addition and subtraction • Begin to understand place value and advanced numeracy • Describe shapes and space • Explain that calendars represent days of the week and months of the year • Collect data and graphing Students learn through the following approaches: • Eureka Math program • Prescribed hands-on learning with manipulatives • Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice • Hands-on learning through play • Small-group instruction for personalization of learning • Station rotation Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Mid & end modular assessments • Exit tickets • Star Math

Science

Students learn to: • Plant & Animal Secrets: Identify things animals and plants need to survive • Weather Watching: Notice weather patterns and predict changes • Force Olympics: Understand the concept of “force” and how force is used to accomplish many things Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Questions, investigation and analysis revolving around Judaic themes, playground play, daily calendar and weather patterns • Discovering and building in the STEM playground • Nature walks and Generations garden care • Scholastic magazine “Science Spin”

Social Studies (Closely integrated with Judaic Studies)

Students learn to: • Recognize the importance of celebrations and national holidays as a way of remembering and honoring people, events, and our ethnic heritage • Listen to and retell stories about people in the past who have shown character ideals and principles including honesty, courage, and responsibility • Describe the relative location of people, places, and things by using positional words • Learn own phone number, street address, city or town and that Florida is the state in which the student lives • Describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools or equipment used • Identify the difference between basic needs and wants • Recognize that people work to earn money to buy things they need or want • Define and give examples of rules and laws, and why they are important • Explain the purpose and necessity of rules and laws at home, school, and community • Demonstrate the characteristics of being a good citizen

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Demonstrate that conflicts among friends can be resolved in ways that are consistent with being a good citizen Describe fair ways for groups to make decisions

Students learn through the following approaches: • Judaic Studies curriculum, holidays and weekly Parashah • Three Scheck Hillel integrated General and Judaic Studies units • Classroom environment where class roles, rules, routines and systems are practiced • Special activities and guest speakers • Project-Based Learning • Kosher Food Bank • Community service • Character education lessons involving storytelling, class discussion and role play to explain and practice social skills and conflict resolution • Scholastic magazine “Let’s Find Out”

Judaic Studies

Major Concepts: • Understand why we pray and Hashem’s involvement in our lives • Develop a connection to the Jewish state • Understand concepts of Shabbat • Understand concepts/history of the holidays • Familiar with holidays’ Hebrew vocabulary • Know why we say blessing before and after eating • Learn about chessed and helping others • Weekly Parashah experience-story/moral

Hebrew Language • • • • • •

Introduction to Hebrew words and phrases in a manner that relates to students’ daily life - Days of the week and weather: ‫ מזג האוויר‬,‫ימות השבוע‬ Can count from one to ten in Hebrew even to 20 Recognize all of the Alef-Bet and their sounds Start decoding – blend letter and vowels Pre-readings skills; understands literary elements, context clues, can make inferences, predictions and sequence of story events Write Hebrew name

Design/STEM

Students learn to: • Understand conceptually what coding is and how it is used in everyday life • Use broadcasting to share learning • Conduct research and share globally • Work in a maker-space for innovation and hands-on learning experiences • Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund • Develop awareness of digital citizenship rules Students learn through the following approaches: • Using the robots OZOBOT and Kibo to experience coding • Learning and playing with a greenscreen • Creating a storyboard for a topic with scripts and notes • Sharing a broadcast with the class • Working in teams to take notes from books and educational videos • Using the design thinking process to make an artifact that demonstrates learning: Dream up an idea, design and draw, create and test, rework and test again, then share • Digital citizenship and safety online principles discussed throughout the year Lower School Curriculum Guide

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Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within the student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Learn about self-advocacy, being an upstander and persistence in problem solving • Learn about character traits: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty/Trust, Fairness, Perseverance, SelfDiscipline, Courage, and Citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Through literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group, and one-on-one support • Through conversation and the practice of activities in mindfulness • Using role models and inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world • Class discussions about specific social situations and how to effectively manage them

Music

Students learn to: • Explore music through singing, listening, moving, and performing • Experience, improvise, perform and compose on various instruments including drums, xylophones, violins, and unpitched percussion • Respond to music from various sound sources to show awareness of steady beat • Identify singing, speaking, and whispering voices and their use at appropriate times

Art

Students learn to: • Use tools and materials effectively and safely • Experiment with different media and shapes to create multiple 2D and 3D projects (watercolor paint, tie-dye, clay modeling, weaving, paper scratching, pencil shading, oil pastel, acrylic, paints, Origami paper structures) • High Holiday art projects created throughout the school year • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

Physical Education

Students learn to demonstrate: • Body and spatial awareness • Respect for self, others, and equipment • The ability to follow directions • The ability to share and be cooperative with others • The correct form of three locomotor skills (walk, run, jump, hop, gallop) • Selected non-locomotor skills (push, pull, bend, twist, turn, stretch) • Manipulative skills in a stationary position (roll, throw, catch, kick) Kindergarten culminates with a graduation ceremony.

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Grade 1 Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text • Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension • Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson as well as describing characters, settings, and major event in a story • Identify words and phrases in stories and poems that appeal to feelings and senses and conect to the characters • Explain major differences between fiction and non-fiction stories and books • Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories • Read all 220 high-frequency Dolch words • Identify rhyming words and create rhymes Students learn through the following approaches: • Daily in-person observations • Read grade-level literary and informational texts in SuperKids • Small group instruction for personalization of learning • Station rotation • Practice all reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic • Project-Based Learning • Accelerated Reader Program • Library time to integrate book study and discussion • Personalized book baggies • Flat Stanley books Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Superkids unit assessments • MAP Reading Fluency • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Star Reading Assessment (Early Literacy)

Writing

Students learn to: • Write opinion pieces with an introduction (topic or title of book), opinion statement, reason for the opinion, and closing • Write informative/explanatory texts with a topic, facts, and provide a closing • Write narratives with two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use of temporal words to signal event order, and provide a closing • Identify parts of speech, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms • Spell all 220 high-frequency Dolch words Grammar & Conventions: • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking • Print all upper and lowercase letters • Use common, proper and possessive nouns • Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences • Use personal, possessive and indefinite pronouns • Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present and future • Use frequently occurring adjectives • Use frequently occurring conjunctions Lower School Curriculum Guide

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Students learn through the following approaches: • Book reports with opinions • Personal narratives • Narrative: Using a character web, create a character and setting, and write a problem/solution story • “How to Writing” in which student names a topic, generates details about the topic, uses transition words and provides a closing • Practice the writing process (brainstorm, planning, draft, edit, revise, publish) • Use writing prompts • 3-4 sentences with illustrations • Digital publishing in I Lab (e.g., sock puppet story)

Math

Students learn to: • Represent and solve word problems involving addition and subtraction • Understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction • Fluently add and subtract within 20 • Extend the counting sequence • Understand place value • Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract • Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units • Basic geometry • Collecting data and graphing • Time: hour and half hour • Measurement using standard and non standard units • Recognize fractions (½, ¼) Students learn through the following approaches: • Eureka Math program • Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice • Addition and subtraction math facts • Reflex Math to practice fact fluency • Sunshine Math homework (personalized learning for specific students) • Hands on learning with manipulatives and games • Graphs and data • Take surveys using tally marks to make graphs Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Mid & end modular assessments • Exit tickets • Star Math

Science

Students learn to: • Plant & Animal Superpowers: Understand how the different parts of an animal or plant support survival • Spinning Sky: Develop the idea that the sun, moon and stars change position in the sky • Lights & Sounds: Explore the properties of light and sound Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Design and create devices that use light or sound to solve problems of communicating over a distance • Use tools to mimic how plants and animals use their attributes for survival and growth • Build models to observe and analyze the patterns of the sun, Earth and moon

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Social Studies

Students learn to: • Identify key elements (compass rose, cardinal directions, title, key/legend with symbols) of maps and globes • Identify celebrations and national holidays as a way of remembering and honoring the heroism and achievements of the people, events and our nation’s multi-ethnic heritage • Explain the rights and responsibilities students have in the school community and describe the characteristics of responsible citizenship in the school community • Identify ways students can participate in the betterment of their school and community and show respect and kindness to people and animals Students learn through the following approaches: • Communities • Citizenship in school and class, neighborhood • Read aloud & discuss The Little House (Introduces the terms rural and suburban and how cities grow) • Read aloud & discuss How to Fill a Bucket (Teaches kindness and how to treat one another) • Geography • Read aloud & discuss Me on the Map • Learn own address relative to geographic and regional location on a map • Construct a basic map using key elements including cardinal directions and map symbols (key, compass rose) • Holidays • Patriotism -Learn the correct words to the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance -Read aloud books about: -Martin Luther King, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks -American Flag, Statue of Liberty, Earth Day, Veterans Day, Labor Day • Character development lessons, including storytelling, class discussions, role play and interactive activities students learn and practice the social skills required to be productive participants in class, school and larger community • Scholastic News • MyWorld Social Studies program • Kosher Food Bank • Community service At the end of the year, students write a narrative story about a fictional character and create a setting for the story implementing social studies geography skills.

Judaic Studies

Major concepts: • Awareness of Hebrew grammar • Begin learning conversational Hebrew • Identify weekly Parshiyot / Birkot (blessings) Hatorah • Connection to Hashem through Prayer - Receive Siddur • Focus on the observance of the holiday mitzvot in the classroom, at home and in the Synagogue • Learn all Scheck Hillel Core Values - Chessed, Emet, Kavod, Shalom, Ruach

Hebrew Language • • • • •

Learn simple sentence patterns Forms of Hebrew grammar- singular/plural, verb conjugation in present tense, prepositional letters, prepositions Spell basic words Follow instructions in Hebrew Form letters both in print and script Lower School Curriculum Guide 11


• Decode and read short stories Conversational Hebrew • In and around the classroom • Daily routines • School environment • Weather • Age-appropriate vocabulary

Design/STEM

Students learn: • Coding • Broadcasting • Research and share globally • Maker • Digital citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Review “What is a code?” and explore coding concepts in greater depth -Coding our classmates -Playing coding games online -Use Grade 1 robots Kibo and Cubetto -Use Cubetto with the social studies unit “Exploring our community” • Work in teams to take notes from books, educational videos, and websites • Students use design thinking to make an artifact that shows what they learned: Dream up an idea, design and draw, create and test, rework and test again, then share. For example, in studying living and non-living things, students conduct research and create an artifact that shows what they’ve learned. Students share projects through Twitter and Instagram • Digital citizenship and safety online are integrated throughout the year. Topics include safe use of devices, asking permission to use and download on our parents’ devices, safe sites for children • Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within the student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Learn about self-advocacy, being an upstander and persistence in problem solving • Learn about character traits: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty/Trust, Fairness, Perseverance, SelfDiscipline, Courage, and Citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group, and one-on-one support • Conversation and the practice of activities in mindfulness • Using role models and inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world • Class discussions about specific social situations and how to effectively manage them

Music

Students learn to: • Classify instruments into pitched and unpitched percussion families • Perform simple songs using a bordun accompaniment and explore ostinati (repeated rhythm) • Identify Level 1 and Level 2 rhythmic and harmonic sounds • Age appropriate repertoire and history

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Art

Students learn to: • Continue learning to use tools and materials effectively and safely • Experiment with different media and shapes to create multiple 2D and 3D pieces (watercolor paint, tiedye, clay modeling, weaving, paper scratching, pencil shading, oil pastel, acrylic paints, Origami paper structures) • High Holiday art projects created throughout the school year • Grade 1 Siddur projects • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

Physical Education

Students learn to: • Continue developing spatial awareness • Demonstrate basic locomotor and non-locomotor skills, rhythmic and cross-lateral movements • Demonstrate fundamental manipulative skills • Establish a beginning movement vocabulary • Identify the body’s normal reactions to moderate and vigorous physical activity • Work independently and with others to complete work • Follow the rules of an activity • Develop movement control for safe participation in games and sports

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Grade 2 Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Ask and answer such questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text: who, what, where, when, why, and how • Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral • Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges • Describe the overall structure of a story, including how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action • Compare and contrast two versions of the same story • Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words while reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension • Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text • Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently • Vocabulary building Students learn through the following approaches: • Read grade-level literary and informational texts in SuperKids • Weekly non-fiction magazine readings • Practice all reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic • Project-Based Learning • Accelerated Reader Program • Flocabulary - online vocabulary practice program • Reading logs with a nightly short written response and/or book reports targeting a specific skill assigned weekly • Book Clubs • Reading novels • Responding and reflecting • Skill-based worksheets • BoolTalk Journals • Read alouds (The Year of Billy Miller, Mr. Popper’s Penguins) Assessments: • Daily in-person observations • Superkids assessments • Reading Fluency Assessments • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Star Reading Assessment (Early Literacy and Reading) • MAP: Reading & Language

Writing

Students learn to: • Focus on a topic and strengthen writing by revising and editing • Write opinion pieces in which students introduce the topic (topic sentence) or book they are writing about -State opinion -Supply reasons that support the opinion -Use linking words to connect opinion and reasons -Provide a concluding statement or section

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Write informative/explanatory texts -Introduce a topic (topic sentence) -Use facts and definitions to develop points -Provide a concluding statement or section

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Write narratives -Recount an event or short sequence of events -Include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings -Use temporal words to signal event order (transition words) -Provide a concluding statement or section -Use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers Research -Begin to ask questions about a specific topic and develop strategies for finding answers

Grammar & Conventions • Continue practicing all previously learned skills • Use nouns, irregular plural nouns, reflexive pronouns, past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs, adjectives and adverbs, learning differences and rules for simple and compound sentences • Use capitalization, punctuation, and correct spelling when writing holidays, product names, and geographic names • Use commas in greetings and closings of letters • Use apostrophes to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives • Understand spelling patterns • Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spelling Students learn through the following approaches: • Personal, small moment, one-paragraph texts in which students introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section • Use prompts and opportunities to produce relevant and meaningful writing • Summarizing research materials, non-fiction texts, and short stories • Friendly letters • Know their address and correctly write a letter and envelope • Apply skills in longer, more complex writing products • Biography research unit and creation of their own Superkids Magazine as culminating activity • Write an opinion piece through a book review

Math

Students learn to: • Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction • Add and subtract within 20 with fluency • Understand money and its symbols • Understand and use place value with operations to add and subtract up to 1000 • Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication • Use mental math in base-ten to add or subtract 10 or 100 to a given number 100-900 • Understanding place value to 3 digits: hundreds, tens and ones • Compare two-three digit numbers using the symbols, <,> and = • Measure and estimate lengths in standard units • Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest 5 minutes using AM and PM • Draw a picture/bar graph to represent a data set with up to 4 categories • Describe and analyze shapes • Partition circles and rectangles into 3 equal shares relating to fraction terms Students learn through the following approaches: • Eureka Math program • Hands-on with manipulatives and games Lower School Curriculum Guide 15


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Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice Addition and subtraction math facts Reflex Math fact fluency mastery

Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Mid & end module assessments • Exit tickets • Reflex Math • Star Math • MAP Math

Science

Students learn to: • Animal Adventures: Develop an awareness and appreciation for biodiversity, including identifying and sorting animals into scientific groups • Plant Adventures: Identify plant needs and reason from evidence to understand how plants meet their needs • Work of Water: Realize the force of water and its role in creating a variety of landscapes • Material Magic: Understand the types and roles of materials in solving problems in our lives Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Designing and building models to explain scientific concepts

Social Studies

Students learn to: • Understand the differences between, and analyze primary and secondary sources • Utilize the classroom center, technology, or other information sources to locate information that provides answers to questions about a historical topic • Use different types of maps (political, physical, and thematic) to identify map elements • Using maps and globes, locate the student’s hometown, Florida, and North America, and locate the state capital and the national capital • Label on a map or globe the continents, oceans, equator, prime meridian, North and South Pole • Explain why people form governments • Explain the consequences of an absence of rules and laws • Identify what it means to be a United States citizen either by birth or by naturalization • Define and apply the characteristics of responsible citizenship • Explain why United States citizens have guaranteed rights and identify rights • Identify ways citizens can make a positive contribution in their community • Evaluate the contributions of various African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, veterans, and women Students learn through the following approaches: • MyWorld Social Studies program • Thrpugh character development lessons, including storytelling, class discussions, role play and interactive activities students learn and practice the social skills required to be productive participants in class, school and larger community • Scholastic magazine • Biography Research project • BrainPop learning and content creation tool • Creative media map construction • Superkids mock election • Kosher Food Bank & Community Service

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Judaic Studies

Major concepts: • Hebrew as our people’s language connects communication, identity and heritage language • Introduction to Chumash (Bible) - Receive their first Chumash • Parshiyot learned in depth: Bereishit, Noach and Lech Lecha • Learn the Biblical sources of the main mitzvot of Jewish Holidays • Learn the names of each holiday and its meaning • Learning Life Lessons/ Morals from the Torah • Shabbat - “‫( ”שבת שלי ושלנו‬My and our Shabbat) • Understanding and accepting responsibility for Tikkun Olam, contributing to the improvement of life on Earth • Awareness of and Trust in Hashem • The covenant (agreement) between Avraham/Jewish People and Hashem • Treating others the way we want to be treated: “‫( ”ואהבת לרעך כמוך‬Ve’Ahavta L’Reiachah Kamochah)

Hebrew Language • • • • • • • •

Grammar: present tense, conjugation in the past tense, question words, prepositions Concepts: nouns, time, male-female, adjectives Reading and reading comprehension Functional and creative writing Confidence through oral expression in Hebrew, listening to oneself and enhancing the sense of ability Familiarization with frequent instructions and activities in the classroom Life skills: organization, social interaction, self awareness, Hebrew Language Acquisition: Tov Bakita UvaBayit (Daily life in the classroom and at home, cleanliness, clothing, proper nutrition)

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within the student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Learn about self-advocacy, being an upstander and persistence in problem solving • Learn about character traits: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty/Trust, Fairness, Perseverance, SelfDiscipline, Courage, and Citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group, and one-on-one support • Conversation and the practice of activities in mindfulness • Using and discussing role models as inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world. • Class discussions about specific social situations and how to effectively manage them

Design/STEM

Students learn: • Coding • Broadcasting • Research and share projects globally • Maker • Digital citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Explore increasingly complex types of code • Use Beebot and Cubetto robots to study maps and work on directions to connect with social studies • Make movies with a greenscreen Lower School Curriculum Guide 17


• • • • •

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Create a storyboard for a topic using scripts and notes Students learn to speak clearly, loudly, and to pronounce their words carefully so the audience can hear them Share broadcasts with their class Work in teams to take notes from books, educational videos, and websites Use “design thinking” to make an artifact that shows what they learned: Dream up an idea, design and draw, create and test, rework and test again, then share. For example, in studying the water cycle, students conduct research and create an artifact that shows what they’ve learned. Students share projects through Twitter and Instagram. Digital citizenship and safety online are integrated throughout the year. Topics include safe use of devices, asking permission to use and download on our parents devices, safe sites for children. Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within the student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Learn about self-advocacy, being an upstander and persistence in problem solving • Learn about character traits: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty/Trust, Fairness, Perseverance, SelfDiscipline, Courage, and Citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group, and one-on-one support • Conversation and the practice of activities in mindfulness • Using and discussing role models as inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world. • Class discussions about specific social situations and how to effectively manage them

Music

Students learn to: • Classify instruments into pitched and unpitched percussion families • Classify instruments into metals, membranes, shakers, and wooden categories • Learn to play and perform on the instruments above • Musical concepts reviewed: minor/major, forte/piano, high/low, fast/slow

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Art

Students learn to: • Use a variety of tools and materials effectively and safely • Experiment with different media and shapes to create multiple 2D and 3D (watercolor paint, tie-dye, clay modeling, weaving, paper scratching, pencil shading, oil pastel, acrylic paints, Origami paper structures) • High Holidays art projects are created throughout the school year • Grade 2 Chumash presentation projects • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

Physical Education

Students learn to: • Demonstrate the elements of movement in combination with a variety of locomotor skills • Demonstrate control and balance in traveling and weight-bearing activities using a variety of body parts and tools • Use feedback to improve performance • Recognize the importance of participating in a variety of physical activities outside of class • Demonstrate positive and helpful behavior and words towards other students • Apply rules, procedures, and safe practices to create a safe school environment with little or no reinforcement

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Grade 3 Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Demonstrate literal and inferential understanding of a text and refer explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers • Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text • Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events • Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language • Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections • Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series) • Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate relevant information efficiently • Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic Students learn through the following approaches: • Reading Charlotte’s Web • Through the book Toba’s Passage, students explore their family’s journey • Practice all reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic • Project-based learning • Accelerated Reader Program • Choose and read a biography independently • Tall tales and fables • Flocabulary online practice Assessments: • Daily in-person observations • Reading Street unit assessment tool • Reading Fluency Assessments • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Star Reading Assessment • MAP: Reading & Language

Writing

Students learn to: • Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons -Introduce the topic, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons -Use linking words and phrases to connect opinion and reasons -Provide a concluding statement or section • Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly -Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aid comprehension -Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details -Use linking words and phrases to connect ideas within categories of information -Provide a concluding statement or section • Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences -Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally 20 Scheck Hillel Community School


• • •

Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order Provide a concluding statement or section

Grammar & Conventions • Continue practicing all previously learned skills • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking • Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences • Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns • Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood, friendship, courage) • Form and use regular and irregular verbs • Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement • Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified • Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions • Introduce complex sentences, continue developing simple and compound sentences and use with increasing variety • Demonstrate beginning cursive writing skills • Capitalize appropriate words in titles • Use commas in addresses • Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue • Form and use possessives • Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words • Continue to use spelling patterns and generalizations in written words • Continue to consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings Students learn through the following approaches: • Writing 3-5 paragraph pieces using the writing process: • Brainstorm • Pre-plan with graphic organizers • Draft • Edit/revise with peers • Final copy • Evidence-Based Writing (opinion): After reading two or more articles with opposing views, students choose a side and write an essay to grab the reader’s attention, produce a focus statement and support an opinion using evidence from the text • Prompts such as “Should children need to wear uniforms to school?” • Summaries • Taking dot and jot notes

Math

Students learn to: • Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division • Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division • Multiply and divide within 100 • Solve problems involving the four operations; identify and explain patterns in arithmetic • Develop understanding of fractions as numbers • Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects • Represent and interpret data Lower School Curriculum Guide 21


• •

Geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition Reason with shapes and their attributes

Students learn through the following approaches: • Eureka Math program • Hands-on manipulatives for inquiry • Creative approaches to instill math concepts • Multiplication and division fact fluency • Reflex Math to practice fact fluency • Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice • Khan Academy: online math practice Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Math fluency assessments • Mid and end module assessments • Exit tickets • Star Math • MAP Math

Science

Students learn to: • Animals Through Time: Appreciate how animals and their habitats are not constant and learn how fossils provide a window into habitats of the past • Power of Flowers: Identify steps in plant reproduction and the passing of traits, and how these connect to plant domestication • Stormy Skies: Observe clouds, wind and other weather clues around us to predict daily weather • Invisible Forces: Observe how invisible pushes and pulls operate in the world around them Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Observe, collect and describe data to provide evidence • Design and build models to explain scientific concepts

Social Studies

Students learn to: • Analyze primary and secondary sources • Map skills • Create the basic map elements on a map • Label the continents and oceans on a world map • Identify the purpose of maps (physical, political, elevation, population) • Identify the five regions of the United States • Label the states in each of the five regions of the United States • Describe the physical features, natural resources and identify natural and man-made landmarks in the United States and Israel. • Economics • Recognize that buyers and sellers interact to exchange goods and services through the use of trade or money • Government • Identify the levels of government (local, state, federal) • Describe how government is organized at the local level • Recognize that every state has a state constitution • Recognize that the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land • Identify the cultures that have settled the United States, and the contribution from various ethnic groups 22 Scheck Hillel Community School


Students learn through the following approaches: • MyWorld Social Studies program • Purpose and need for government • Regions projects • Reading Street stories that address trade -“Rows and Piles” -“Supermarket” • Project-Based Learning with M’Dor L’Dor as culminating activity • Students interview a family member, write an essay about the individual and create a visual display. Using technology, students document the entire process. • Kosher Food Bank & community service

Judaic Studies

Major concepts: • Develop skills that will enable students to become independent and enthusiastic Torah scholars, innovators, and creators • Incorporate select age-appropriate interpretations written by Rashi • Study Pshat-‫( פשט‬simple) and Drash-‫( דרש‬commentary) • Parshiyot learned in depth: Lech Lecha, Vayeira and Toldot • Reading from the Chumash • Familiarization with different commentators and periods on the timeline • Developing Jewish identity and creating a bond with Israel through Jewish history learned through story, song and prayer, and the practice of the holiday’s mitzvot and customs • “Shabbat Mevarchim” - Shabbat & Rosh Chodesh - ‫( שבת וראש חודש‬Shabbat & the beginning of a new month) • Laws and customs around the Jewish year • The significance of assessment - G-D also assessed his creation • Understanding of how Judaism instructs us to treat the environment • The Ten Commandments given at Mount Sinai, examined as tenets for the administration of a just and civilized society • Israel’s Declaration of Independence and the successful construction of a state, are linked to the rules for successful learning

Hebrew Language • • • • • • • •

Locating information through interrogative words Acquire the basic grammatical structures of Biblical Hebrew within the context of the narrative Verb roots and word family Learning with success -multiple intelligence, rules, memory and friendship The relationship between biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew Identifying and constructing metaphors Language patterns: interrogative, nominal, verbal and infinitive sentences Grammar: conjugation verbs in present tense, past tense, pronouns, hidden pronouns, formative letters- a family of words: ‫ש‬.‫ב‬.‫ל‬. (root of “to dress up”)

Design/STEM

Students learn: • Coding • Broadcasting • Research and sharing projects globally via Twitter and Instagram • Maker • Digital citizenship

Lower School Curriculum Guide 23


Students learn through the following approaches: • How do codes work in real life? • Explore careers in technology and coding • Introduction to the Lego EV3 robotics • Online and offline coding programs: CSFirst, Scratch, and Code.org • Use Dot and Dash robots to connect with our Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language and program the robots to teach others about holidays, traditions, and more • Create movies with greenscreen and animation • Create a storyboard for the topic with scripts and notes • Students learn to speak clearly, loudly, and to pronounce their words carefully so the audience can hear them • Make a broadcast, share for peer review • Share broadcasts with class • Students take notes from books, educational videos, a website, and by talking to experts • Introduce copyright, plagiarism, and citing sources • Students use design thinking to make an artifact that shows what they learned: Dream up an idea, design and draw, create and test, rework and test again, then share. For example, in studying living and non-living things, students conduct research and create an artifact that shows what they’ve learned. Students share projects through Twitter and Instagram. • Students focus on the safe use of computers, asking permission to download on own phones or iPads, sites that are safe for children, and how to respond when negative things happen online • Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within the student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Encourage students to discover who they are as individuals • Learn about self-advocacy, perseverance when situations are challenging, being an upstander and persistence in problem solving Students learn through the following approaches: • Through literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group and one-on-one support • Through conversation and the practice of activities in mindfulness • Using role models and inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world

24 Scheck Hillel Community School


Music

Students learn to: • Identify families of orchestra and band instruments • Sing, dance, read, and compose music • Become familiar with different genres and styles • Identify, using correct music vocabulary, the elements in a musical work • Perform in class using pieces practiced at home • Discuss how music in America has been influenced by people and events in history • Project-based learning collaboration for M’Dor L’Dor

Art

Students learn to: • Create connections among the arts and other disciplines • Experiment with different media to create multiple 2D and 3D projects • Use the work of famous artists as inspiration for creative pieces • Promote environmental awareness by using recycled materials • High Holiday art projects created throughout the school year • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

Physical Education

Students learn to: • Demonstrate a variety of motor patterns in simple combinations while participating in activities, games, and sports • Perform movements that engage the brain to facilitate learning • Identify the benefits of sustained physical activity that causes increased heart rate and heavy breathing • Understand that the body is composed of water, muscle, bones, organs, fat, and other tissues • Demonstrate positive social behaviors during class

Lower School Curriculum Guide 25


Grade 4 Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension • Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding • Determine and explain the main idea of a text • Summarize text • Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific text details • Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from text details • Draw inferences from the text • Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when speaking about a text • Compare and contrast the point of view • Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics Students learn through the following approaches: • Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (realistic fiction; introduction to Grade 4) • The Thing about Georgie (realistic fiction; acceptance and bullying) • Book clubs • Accelerated Reader Program • Flocabulary online vocabulary practice • Practice reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic Assessments: • Daily In-person observations • Unit assessment tool • Book Club assignments/projects • Accelerated Reader Program • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Star Reading Assessment • MAP: Reading & Language

Writing

Students learn to: • When writing about a text, explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) • Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information • Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s purpose • Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details • Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented • Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly • Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension • Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations (with proper grammar), or other information and examples related to the topic • Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases • Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation given • Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences 26 Scheck Hillel Community School


• • • • •

Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations (with proper grammar) Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely Provide a conclusion that flows from the narrated experiences or events

Grammar & Conventions • Continue practicing all previously learned skills • Demonstrate legible cursive writing skills • Use relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why) • Form and use the progressive (e.g., I was walking; I am walking; I will be walking) verb tenses • Use modal auxiliaries (e.g., can, may, must) to convey various conditions • Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional patterns • Form and use prepositional phrases • Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-ons • Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re) • Use correct capitalization • Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text • Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence • Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed Students learn through the following approaches: • Write a four-five-paragraph expository writing piece using the writing process: • Brainstorm • Pre-Plan with graphic organizers • Draft • Edit/revise with peers • Final copy • Evidence-Based Writing (Opinion): After reading 2 or more increasingly complex articles with opposing views, students choose a side and write an essay to grab the reader’s attention, produce a focus statement and support an opinion using evidence from the text • Write a narrative (character, setting and plot) with events using the acronym (ASCRIPT-Action, senses, comparisons, reactions, incidents, pictures, talk) • Daily language review • Reading response journal • Respond to reading through constructive responses

Math

Students learn to: • Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems • Gain familiarity with factors and multiples • Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers • Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic • Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering • Develop increasing fluency in computations with fractions • Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions • Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit • Represent and interpret data • Geometric measurement: understand concepts of angles and measure angles • Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles

Lower School Curriculum Guide 27


Students learn through the following approaches: • Daily in class observations • End-of-unit assessments • Eureka Math • Hands-on manipulatives for inquiry • Creative approaches to instill math concepts • Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice • Khan Academy: online math practice • Multiplication and division fluency of facts • Reflex Math to practice fact fluency Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Mid & end module assessments • Exit tickets • Reflex Math • Star Math • MAP Math

Science

Students learn to: • Human Machine: View the body as a unique machine, with parts used for different purposes; explore senses to consider how information is processed to help understand and react to the environment • The Birth of Rocks: Discover how rocks can tell stories about Earth’s surface; design ways to protect humans from their impact • Waves of Sound: Learn the concept of sound waves and make sense of how sound and music work • Energizing Everything: Explore the idea that energy makes things move and understand that objects store and release energy Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Observe, collect, graph and describe data to provide evidence • Design and build models to explain scientific concepts

Social Studies

Students learn to: • Use map skills • Learn Florida’s early history • Native Americans, Spanish, French, British, Mission Life • Use project-based learning to build knowledge through investigation • Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research Students learn through the following approaches: • MyWorld Social Studies program • School trip to St. Augustine • Project-based learning about the sights and attractions in Florida • Research (including a bibliography) • Map skills • Main ideas and details • Communication and collaboration • Five-paragraph essay • Project-based installation: students give parents a tour through a particular site in Florida they have researched and written about

28 Scheck Hillel Community School


Judaic Studies

Major concepts: • Preserving our Jewish identity – both in the present and the future • Link mitzvot and customs to the Oral Law as well as the Torah • The process of Teshuva, studied through Maimonides’ Hilchot Teshuva, • Torah edicts pertaining to the environment: Le’ochla, Le’ovda, and Le’shomra. “‫”לאכלה לעובדה ולשומרה‬ • Textual origin of the holidays (Torah/Megillah/Mishna/Gemara/Siddur) • Derech Eretz Kadmah L’Torah - Good behavior preceded the Torah • Proper behavior – not only during the High Holidays, but throughout the year • Chazara BeTshuva - repentance and the willingness to improve • Rabbi Akiva, and Ve-ahavta Lereyachah Kamochah - Love Thy Neighbor As Yourself – exemplify proper behavior facilitating the unity of the People of Israel • Respect for all people • Torah Portions learned in depth - Vayeitzei and Vayishlach • What’s bothering Rashi • Sfat ha’Torah usfat hakitah - ‫ שפת התורה ושפת הכיתה‬- the Torah language and the class/daily language • The special connection of Am Israel to Jerusalem and the centrality of Jerusalem to Am Israel and to the world • Parashat Hashavuah - ‫ אמרת השבוע‬- Imrat Hashavuah- phrase of the week: compare and review two commentators and ideas of the students about that phrase

Hebrew Language • • • • • • • • • • • •

HaKita HaMeuchedet: Daily life in class and at home Initiate conversation and develop communication proficiencies in Hebrew Proper usage of language connects people (words of courtesy) Identification of problems and the process of seeking counsel in order to arrive at a solution Skill of inference - Comparing what is explicitly written in the text with what can be inferred Changing entire sentences from singular to plural and vice versa Interview skills Writing short essays Conjugating verbs with a focus on future tense Opposites Concepts and Grammar: United - one, together - ‫יחד‬/‫ אחד‬- ‫ת‬/‫ מאוחד‬special/unique ‫ת‬/‫מיוחד‬, quality/trait ‫תכונה‬, Problem - ‫בעיה‬, Advice - ‫עצה‬, Solution - ‫פתרון‬, rules/principles- ‫ים‬/‫כלל‬ Current events in Hebrew

Design/STEM

Students learn: • Coding • Broadcasting • Research and share globally • Maker • Digital citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • How codes program robots • How to debug a problem in the code • Putting codes together to complete a task • Build and program Lego EV3 robots and participate/compete in the Miami Robotics Festival • Learn and play with greenscreen, animation, podcasting • Create a storyboard for a topic with scripts and notes • Students learn to speak clearly, loudly, and to pronounce their words carefully so the audience can hear them • Make a broadcast and share for peer review; for example, create a broadcast about the Native Americans of Florida Lower School Curriculum Guide 29


• • •

• •

Students take notes from books, educational videos, websites, and by talking to experts Review the terms copyright, plagiarism, and citing sources Students use design thinking to make an artifact that shows what they learned: Dream up an idea, design and draw, create and test, rework and test again, then share. • For example, in St. Augustine, students conduct research and create an artifact that shows what they’ve learned. Students share projects through Twitter and Instagram. Digital Citizenship: focus on the safe use of computers, asking permission to download on own phones or iPads, what sites are safe for children, how to respond when negative things happen online, and the positive ways social media can be used Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education

Students learn to: • Create an inclusive environment within our student body • Guide students in the art of mindfulness practices • Encourage students to discover who they are as individuals and explore their likes and dislikes • Coach students to further develop self advocacy, persevere in challenging circumstances, and persistence in problem solving Students learn through the following approaches: • Literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group and one-on-one support • Discussion, conversation and the practice of mindfulness • Using role models and inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world

Music

Students learn to: • Prepare to read music notation on recorder • Identify, aurally, selected instruments of the band and orchestra • Perform a specific piece using appropriate breath control, correct notation, good posture and tone • Begin to learn an instrument and piece of their choice • Learn about and begin using string instruments • Begin to experience what it’s like to be in orchestra or band

Art

Students learn to: • Demonstrate, through purposeful practice, that artists learn to manage, master, and refine simple, then complex skills and techniques • Begin to develop conceptual understanding and basic techniques of art and design with lines, geometrical shapes and other patterns • Explore stained-glass designs, oil pastels, shading, modeling clay, wax paper and crayon creations, 3D paper structures • High Holidays art projects created throughout the school year • Use the work of famous artists as inspiration for creative pieces • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

30 Scheck Hillel Community School


Physical Education

Students learn to: • Identify the major characteristics of mature locomotor, non-locomotor, manipulative, and rhythmic skills • Provide and receive feedback to and from peers using the major characteristics of mature locomotor and manipulative skills • Explain how the health-related components of fitness affect performance when participating in physical activity • Recognize the relationship between healthy nutrition and exercise • Recognize the benefits derived from regular, moderate, and vigorous physical activity • Identify and describe the benefits, risks, and safety factors associated with regular participation in physical activity

Lower School Curriculum Guide 31


Grade 5 Benchmarks Reading

Students learn to: • Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension • Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in and out of context • Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings • Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors • Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs • Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words • Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies • Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase • Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word • Consult reference materials, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. • Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the texts • Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text • Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent • Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s) • Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text • Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text as well as comparing and contrasting stories in the same genre • Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described • Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to speak about the subject knowledgeably Students learn through the following approaches: • Who Was biography unit: Students engage in a project-based learning unit to choose their own biography at their reading level • Number the Stars, Historical fiction unit • Wonder, Realistic fiction unit • Differentiated small-group reading clubs • Practice all reading and language arts skills through integrated, multimodal approach: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic • Accelerated Reader Program • Flocabulary online vocabulary practice • Newsela adaptive nonfiction reading program Assessments: • Daily in-person observations • Unit assessment tool • Book Club assignments/projects • Accelerated Reader Program • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Star Reading Assessment • MAP Reading & Language • SSAT assessment • Middle School placement test 32 Scheck Hillel Community School


Writing

Students learn to: • Employ the writing process in all writing situations • Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably • Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences • Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally • Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations • Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events • Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely • Provide a conclusion that flows from the narrated experiences or events Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information • Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose • Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details • Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented • Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly • Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension • Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic • Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases and clauses • Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented Grammar & Conventions • Continue practicing all previously learned skills • Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences • Form and use the perfect verb tenses and verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions • Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense • Use correlative conjunctions • Use punctuation to separate items in a series • Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence, the words yes and no, to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence, and to indicate direct address • Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works • Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed • Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text Students learn through the following approaches: • Participation in the Spelling Bee • Write 4-5 paragraph writing pieces using the writing process: • Brainstorm • Pre-plan with graphic organizers • Draft • Edit/revise with peers • Final copy • Evidence-Based Writing (opinion): After reading two or more increasingly complex articles with opposing views, students choose a side and write an essay to grab the reader’s attention, produce a focus statement and support an opinion using evidence from increasingly complex texts Lower School Curriculum Guide 33


• • • •

Write narratives (character, setting and plot) with events using the acronym (ASCRIPT-Action, senses, comparisons, reactions, incidents, pictures, talk) Daily language review Reading response journal Membean personalized vocabulary learning tool

Math

Students learn to: • Write and interpret numerical expressions • Analyze patterns and relationships through ordered pairs and graphing • Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths • Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place • Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths • Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10 • Explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. • Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions • Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions • Solve real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers • Apply and extend previous understandings of division to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions • Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system • Represent and interpret data using line plots to display data of measurements in fractions of a unit • Geometric measurement: understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition • Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems Students learn through the following approaches: • Eureka Math • Hands-on manipulatives for inquiry • Multiplication and division fluency of facts • Creative approaches to instill math concepts • Dreambox: personalized, adaptive math learning and practice • Khan Academy: online math practice • Reflex Math to practice fact fluency Assessments: • Daily in-class observations • Mid & end module assessments • Exit tickets • Reflex Math • Star Math • MAP Math

Science

Students learn to: • Web of Life: Develop the idea that plants, animals and fungi form a system of interdependent parts, with each part dependent on the others for its material nourishment • Watery Planet: Develop an understanding that water is a profoundly important natural resource which requires ingenuity to find and maintain • Spaceship Earth: Develop a perspective on their world including evidence that the Earth is actually moving through space, both spinning on its axis and traveling in a great orbit around the Sun, along with the moon and planets • Chemical Magic: Understand the concepts of “substances” and “chemical reactions” to enable the creation of new materials by transforming existing ones 34 Scheck Hillel Community School


Students learn through the following approaches: • Mystery Science program • Observe, collect, graph and describe data to provide evidence • Design and build models to explain scientific concepts

Social Studies

Students learn about: • Exploration and settlement of North America • Colonization of North America • Creation of the government and Declaration of Independence • Define the Constitution and Bill of Rights • Evaluate the importance of civic responsibilities in American democracy as well as civic and political participation • Identify ways good citizens go beyond basic civic and political responsibilities to improve government and society • Branches of government/separation of powers • Geography • Identify and locate the original thirteen colonies on a map of North America • Locate and identify states, capitals, and United States Territories on a map • Latitude/longitude, physical features • Construct maps, charts, and graphs to display geographic information Students learn through the following approaches: • Informational text comprehension skills • Writing opinion and informational essays based on Social Studies content • MyWorld Social Studies program • Newsela • Flocabulary • BrainPop • Project-Based Learning • Study skills • Dot and jot notes, highlighting, study guides, index cards • Readworks • CNN10

Judaic Studies

Major concepts: • Establishing goals - Who I want to become- My individual internal qualities and goals • Study Shemot with a in-depth view of the Exodus • Biblical text will be taught along with midrashim and interpretations taught by Chazal • Torah Portions learned in depth - Vayeishev, Mikeitz and Yitro (Matan Torah) • Create a clear distinction between the Torah She’Be’Chtav and Torah She’Be’al Peh • Learn the 6 stages necessary to independently create a D’var Torah • Examine interpretations offered by various commentators • The significance of Israel as a unifying force • Achdut/Camaraderie - ‫הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד‬ • Acts of kindness and giving • The importance of acting against hatred • Avdut and Cherut (Slavery and Freedom) gufanit, ruchanit and leumit - (Physical, spiritual and national) • Correlation between the slavery of the Jews in Egypt and contemporary stories of slavery • Analyze Megillat Esther, re: the protagonists of the Megillah and their feelings, as well as the significant objects, places and actions therein • Sof Maaseh Bemachshavah tchilah - thinking before acting • “Historical Tour” along the TaL AM timeline of historical events which took place during Sefirat HaOmer and their implications on our lives today Lower School Curriculum Guide 35


• •

Introduce - Talmud Ta’anit - Choni HaMe’agel - the importance of Kium HaOlam – the preservation of the world Project-based learning about people and events throughout Israel’s 70 years

Hebrew Language • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Summarizing - identifying main idea Conjugating verbs in the past, present and future tenses Introducing Binyanim (‫ )בניינים‬and verb conjugation according to the Binyanim (structure) Shem Poal ‫שם פועל‬, infinitive sentences Distinguishing between passive and active voice Extended verbal sentence Identifying roots and creating word families Words of structure and function that link the words of the content: prepositions and link words Classifying words according to the word categories: active words, topical words, words of patterning (structure), cross-languages words, higher register words Explore the meaning of Jewish names through poetry Characteristics of man and animals - writing a parable Daily news in Hebrew: at home, in class and worldwide Writing a personal journal Deepening the students’ familiarity with literary genres: Fable, Poem, Story Reading and writing limericks and poems in Hebrew Review and culminate concepts related to Israel through Escape Room Sorting and classifying: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and more Comparison - like - ‫ כ‬,‫כמו‬ Creative writing - write stories/essays; writing ads and advertising

Design/STEM:

Students learn: • Coding • Broadcasting • Research and share globally • Maker • Digital citizenship Students learn through the following approaches: • Careers in technology • Online and offline coding programs: CSFirst, Scratch, and Code.org, Code for Life • Writing evaluations of coding games and programs • Use Sphero, Ollie, Dot and Dash, Kibo, Ozobot, Beebot, Cue robots and others • Research and evaluate the different robots • Work with Judaic Studies teacher to plan a lesson • Use robots to teach a judaic lesson • Create a storyboard for the topic with scripts and notes • • •

Students learn to speak clearly, loudly, and to pronounce their words carefully so the audience can hear them Digital citizenship and safety online are reinforced throughout the year. Focus on the safe use of computers, asking permission to download on phones or iPads, what sites are safe for children, how to respond when negative things happen online, and the positive ways social media can be used. Create a business plan to make and sell items to benefit the Kulanu Scholarship Fund

Social Emotional Learning and Character Education • • •

Students learn to: Create an inclusive environment within our student body Engage in the art of mindfulness practices

36 Scheck Hillel Community School


• •

Explore areas of specific and personal interest Coach students to further develop self advocacy, perseverance in challenging circumstances, and persistence in problem solving

Students learn through the following approaches: • Through literature, role play, active discussion, technology, small group and one-on-one support, practice and master the goals of inclusion • Through conversation and mindfulness practice • Using role models and inspirational people who have overcome obstacles while making a difference in the world

Music

Students learn to: • Prepare to read music notation on recorder • Identify, aurally, selected instruments of the band and orchestra • Perform a specific piece using appropriate breath control, correct notation, good posture and tone • Play an instrument and a musical piece of their choice • Use string instruments • Experience what it’s like to be in orchestra or band

Art

Students learn to: • Understand the creation of focal points and the importance of the selection of colors, shapes and patterns to create an impact on the viewer • Continue developing understanding of basic graphic design criteria by identifying key characteristics on art pieces or graphic images • Continue using and exploring with various media • Create holiday projects throughout the school year • Use the work of famous artists as inspiration for creative pieces • Show increasing specificity and detail as they progress

Physical Education

Students learn to: • Demonstrate mature form for all basic locomotor, non-locomotor, manipulative, and rhythmic skills • Demonstrate understanding of how to combine and apply movement concepts and principles to learn and develop motor skills • Understand and apply basic principles of training to improving physical fitness • Demonstrate understanding of skill-related components of fitness and how they affect physical performance • Connect the health-related fitness components to the body systems • Assess and take responsibility for personal behavior and stress management • Choose to participate cooperatively and productively in group and individual physical activities • Identify personal activity interests and abilities • Understand and utilize safe and appropriate warm-up, pacing, and cool-down techniques for injury prevention and safe participation

Lower School Curriculum Guide 37


Curriculum Overview by Subject Area Language Arts

Kindergarten-Grade 2 Language arts development comprises reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. Basic decoding and skills of phonemic awareness introduced in PK4 are solidified in Kindergarten, continuously becoming more sophisticated through Grade 2. Kindergarten students learn sight words and are taught decoding skills to encourage fluidity in reading. As reading fluency improves, teachers begin to focus on the purpose of written text by providing instruction and practice in the area of reading comprehension. Likewise, writing skills are initially taught through letter formation and inventive spelling, with the goal to gradually build skills so children can share their thoughts and ideas in wellstructured sentences and simple paragraphs by the end of Grade 2. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. Grades 3-5 Through developmentally appropriate instruction, students become more proficient in reading and use their comprehension skills to extract information from written text to answer questions, formulate predictions or analyze characters and conflicts. Students explore various literary genres, including novels, short stories and poems. Student writing begins to incorporate sophisticated vocabulary, well-prepared essays and appropriate syntax. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate.

Mathematics

Kindergarten-Grade 5 Students in Kindergarten work all year to develop number sense. Once students truly comprehend what a number represents, they become able to compare, measure and manipulate numerical symbols. Comprehension and memorization of basic math facts and families are the areas of focus through Grade 2, specifically concentrating on number order, factorization, addition and subtraction as well as working with numbers to develop critical thinking, describe situations and begin to understand patterns. To uphold the respect for individual strengths and weaknesses, math groups become homogeneous in Kindergarten within the classroom and in separate classes by Grade 3 and as needed in Grade 2. Math instruction at each level is implemented with the intention of building mathematical competence which requires proficiency in specific concepts and skills in order to progress. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. In Grades 3-5, mathematics becomes more complex. Students begin to work on multi-step problems, learn multiplication, division and fractions. Students manipulate numbers to solve equations that involve shapes, missing variables and superfluous information. Students in these older Lower School grades are expected to build upon basic mathematical skills and apply prior knowledge to creatively and logically find solutions to mathematical problems. Often, children write about their mathematical thinking process to explain their answers. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate.

Science

Kindergarten-Grade 5 The discovery continues as students explore the world through new disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, nutrition, electricity and earth science as part of the overall Design/STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum. The processes of observing, comparing, measuring, communicating, classifying, ordering, recognizing relationships, predicting, inferring, formulating and using models, interpreting data, hypothesizing, identifying and controlling variables, and conducting experiments. Science expands into the lab designed for Lower School instruction where units of study emphasize the scientific method. Hands-on learning is paired with textbook reading, discussion and classroom research. The curriculum fosters critical thinking skills and collaborative learning that lead to inquiry and problem solving. Students develop a respect for the views of others and gain an understanding of their world and themselves. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. 38 Scheck Hillel Community School


Social Studies

Kindergarten-Grade 5 Social studies education in Kindergarten through Grade 2 begins to slowly move away from the child as the center of the world to build a sense of global citizenship. Students explore a variety of professions in their own community, consistently extending learning to finding parallels in other settings. The curriculum moves outward to lessons about maps, cities, states, countries and the greater world, and these lessons are held in the I Lab. Social studies lessons are often intertwined with age-appropriate discussions about current events, Judaic Studies content and personal experience. Field trips are a significant component of social studies instruction, particularly in Grade 4 when students travel to St. Augustine during their study of Florida.

Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language

Kindergarten Judaic and General Studies teachers work hand-in-hand to integrate their subjects and further enrich learning. Learning the Alef Bet is an important focus in Kindergarten. Children are exposed to Hebrew literature and explore various themes through hands-on activities and role-playing exercises. Shabbat and chagim celebrations continue. Children practice and enjoy songs and traditions, and learn the meaning and customs associated with each, developing greater connection and deeper conceptual understanding. On a weekly basis they also learn the stories, values and lessons of each Parshah. Through the practice of daily Tefilah, children build a meaningful relationship with Hashem. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. Grades 1-5 Scheck Hillel implements the Judaic Studies and Hebrew language TaL-AM curriculum, which is based on the principles of language development and learning patterns. The entire structure of the program is based on the notion that the best learning environment for children is one in which knowledge is acquired through a variety of activities, using each of the five senses. In addition to studying from textbooks, students use music, games and visual aids to learn Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language and to develop a keen understanding of Jewish concepts and values. Students develop their Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language literacy in a gradual spiraled process, building new ideas and concepts upon an expanding foundation of knowledge. The program gradually helps foster Jewish identity, encouraging children to explore their Jewish roots and traditions in a fun and exciting manner. Appreciating that students learn at their own levels, instruction is personalized providing additional practice and advancement as appropriate. Parshat Hashavua (Weekly Torah Portion) In Kindergarten through Grade 5, Parshat Hashavua instruction provides an opportunity for students to relive the experiences of and connect with our ancestors. Through hands-on activities and practical applications of themes and stories, students receive the richness and depth of the weekly Torah portion. Shabbat and Chagim (Holidays) The program covers core areas about Shabbat including its customs and mitzvot. The curriculum provides students with a rich learning experience that fosters within each of them a deep love and commitment to the beauty and majesty of Shabbat. The Talmud relates that it is a mitzvah to study the laws of each Jewish holiday 30 days before the festival. Scheck Hillel prepares students for festivals by communicating and analyzing their meanings and observances. Informal education programs serve to solidify what is studied in the classroom, and also bring the ruach (spirit) of the holidays to campus. Israel/Zionism Scheck Hillel teaches Israel Throughout the Year, a curriculum for Grades 1-5 focused on the roots of Zionism which identifies the key personalities that have shaped the history of the State of Israel. In-class and experiential activities integrated with student life and supported Lower School Curriculum Guide 39


by the B’not Sherut program, Israeli teachers, and visits from IDF soldiers, are a few examples of how Scheck Hillel brings Israel to our campus. Tefilah (Prayer) Tefilah conveys the importance of avodah shebalev (service of the heart), through biur Tefilah (Tefilah explanations) and by example. Additionally, middot tovot (good character traits) lessons are a component of every grade level curriculum. Tefilah focuses on exposing students to the traditional Tefilot and songs and creates a warm and positive environment where students are given the opportunity to explore concepts and meanings from the Siddur. Chumash (Bible) Grades 1-5 Students explore the stories, values and concepts of Sefer Bereishit (Book of Genesis) and Sefer Shemot (Book of Exodus). They apply their knowledge of the Alef Bet to begin reading directly from their Chumashim. Instruction increasingly emphasizes reading accuracy, fluency and proficiency. Stories from the Midrash are introduced. Students then focus on Rashi, whose unique methodologies and way of thinking are an essential companion to the study of Chumash.

Co-Curricular Programs Arts

The Lower School art curriculum provides students with opportunities for expression and discovery through the Jordan Alexander Ressler Arts Program. It aims to stimulate students to experience the world of art through many types of media including drawing, painting, graphic techniques, printmaking, 3-D projects and weaving. The focus of arts classes is primarily on the process not on the final product. Additionally, art appreciation is incorporated by familiarizing students with selected artists and topics in art history. Art is integrated across disciplines, including Judaic Studies & Hebrew Language as part of Scheck Hillel’s interdisciplinary learning program. Music includes singing, playing instruments, moving and creating music. Students learn about rhythm and instruments, are introduced to classical musical pieces, study composers and learn songs, both in English and in Hebrew, that are integrated with other curricula. In Kindergarten-Grade 5, the dedicated music room is a space to experiment with larger instruments.

Design/STEM

Design/STEM is an area of study focusing on Design Thinking (the iterative learning process developed by Stanford University) & STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) concepts. I Lab is a dedicated space for inspiration and innovation, designed to extend classroom learning in an environment that promotes collaboration and experimentation.

Library

Lower School’s Library curriculum provides students opportunities for literacy enrichment. Students enjoy listening to stories of various genres and collaborate on group activities or discussions relevant to the literature at hand. Novels and stories are selected in an age-appropriate manner so students can make meaningful connections to characters, setting, and plot. The library is also available to students and teachers to borrow books for research or pleasure. School and community members have a wide selection of books to pick from, classified by topic, genre, and reading level.

Physical Education

Physical Education (PE) is an integral part of the learning experience in Lower School. The objectives instill the motivation and desire to keep physically fit, to encourage a love of sports and to develop a positive, competitive spirit with focus on good sportsmanship. Activities and skills presented during each physical education class are repeated and perfected throughout the years. Skills taught in the early years include balance, body and space awareness, running (chasing, fleeing), skipping, cooperative learning, swimming, jumping and landing, kicking and punting, rhythm, throwing and catching and following directions. 40 Scheck Hillel Community School


Student Life and Leadership

Throughout the course of the school year, Scheck Hillel offers experiences that enhance the educational program, instilling school spirit and cultivating a love of Judaism and service. Budding leaders take advantage of opportunities to make a difference through a variety of Student Life programs, including field trips, Shabbatonim, assemblies and programs such as the Shuk (student-run school store), Cub Call, and Safety Patrol.

School Counseling and Social Emotional Learning Programs

Scheck Hillel focuses on the health and safety of students from the moment they step onto campus. Students participate in character building activities that include mindfulness and self-awareness. Scheck Hillel teaches about being upstanders in the community and instilling a sense of commitment to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). School counselors are available for all students (& parents) to work individually, in small groups and as full classes. Additionally, counselors run parent education workshops and book clubs to reinforce the familyschool partnership. As students get older, they become leaders in the school community. Students in Grades 1-5 complete community service hours on campus. Additionally, these students run various fundraisers for Scheck Hillel’s Kulanu Scholarship Fund, and other community and global causes. Students in these grades may also join after-school clubs and programs of their choice, ultimately finding areas through which to shine and build confidence on the school campus.

Lower School Curriculum Guide 41


Assessment Assessment (Kindergarten-Grade 5) In addition to a set curriculum, national and state standards, informal observations, and work samples, Scheck Hillel uses standardized points of data to monitor progress and drive instruction. No single assessment tool is used on its own; rather, information is triangulated to frame a clear picture of current and future teaching and learning. Data is used to drive decisions for students, teachers, and administrators. The following assessment tools are used as indicated throughout this guide: Accelerated Reader Program (AR) • Computer-based and adaptive Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) • Administered in Kindergarten-Grade 5 • Measures fluency and comprehension Star (Renaissance Learning) • Reading and Math Assessments • Administered in Grades 1-5 • Kindergarten takes Early Literacy reading assessment • Administered a minimum of three times per year and as needed • Between August and September • January • April • Computer-based and adaptive Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) • Math, Reading & Language • Administered in Grades 2-5 • Administered two times per year • Between late October and early November • May • Computer-based and adaptive MAP Reading Fluency, Kindergarten-Grade 3 • Tests reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension • Administered two-three times a year • Computer based and adaptive which records students’ reading • SSAT assessment at the end of the year

42 Scheck Hillel Community School


Fall 2019


Juda and Maria Diener Lower School Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School Ben Lipson Upper School

From early childhood through Grade 12, Scheck Hillel Community School educates and inspires students to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity, values and a commitment to the State of Israel, through a college preparatory curriculum and meaningful co-curricular experiences, guided by Orthodox teachings and set within a nurturing, diverse community. Scheck Hillel is one of the world’s largest Jewish community day schools and a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. 19000 NE 25 Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL 33180 eHillel.org


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