Lower School Curriculum Guide 2015-2016
The BGA journey begins with our youngest learners. Their time in the Lower School builds a crucial foundation for increasingly complex academic and personal experiences. A holistic approach fosters each child’s development academically, socially, emotionally, morally, and physically. All of this takes place in an environment where children are known, loved, and valued. Our goal is to offer a program that cultivates a student’s curiosities, intellect, and character while nurturing a love of learning and social responsibility. We value learning through inquiry, and this philosophy is evidenced in our academic programs. Our comprehensive literacy curriculum incorporates research-based methods in literacy instruction, encouraging students to be reflective thinkers and expressive communicators as well as skilled readers and writers. Based on a proven Singapore math approach, our mathematics program crafts a coherent curriculum focused on important mathematics concepts taught for deep understanding that leads to application. The science program is inquiry based and hands on, with investigations in life, earth, and physical sciences, engineering and technology. The social studies curriculum prompts project-based learning through interactive stories and authentic experiences Art, guidance, library, music, Spanish, and wellness comprise our co-curricular offerings. Art develops each child’s unique creative expression, supported through age-appropriate projects that explore and experiment with various media. Guidance supports moral development while nurturing a caring heart in service to others. Music offers a child-centered, energetic, and engaging instrumental and vocal program combined with high expectations for student learning. The Spanish program offers students the opportunity to use the target language through listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The goal of the wellness program is to develop physical fitness, foster positive attitudes about physical activity and athletics, and build a foundation for a healthy lifestyle. We believe our co-curricular classes complement our core curriculum in a design that truly develops the whole child. BGA fosters a community of learners, instilling positive attitudes that encourage students to begin a lifelong journey of learning. We value not only the learning, but also the joy and wonder that accompany it.
BGA Lower School
•
150 Franklin Road
•
Franklin, TN 37064
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Phone (615) 567-2002
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www.BattleGroundAcademy.org
Lower School
2015-16 Curriculum
Kindergarten
First Grade
Foundational reading skills
Literacy
Fiction and nonfiction text strategies / appreciation of and response to literature / phonemic awareness /phonics / word study / reading fluency / vocabulary development / comprehension strategies / writing development / grammar conventions / sight word recognition and production / speaking and listening skills / manuscript handwriting Numeracy: numbers and operations / order, size and position / counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s / comparing sets / counting on and counting back / composing and decomposing numbers to 20 / ordinal numbers / addition and subtraction stories
Mathematics
Geometry: solid and flat shapes Calendar patterns / days of the week / months of the year Patterns: classifying and sorting Measurement: comparing weight using nonstandard units / comparing capacities / comparing events over time
Numeracy: numbers and operations to 100 / representation with number bonds / ordinal numbers and position / mental math Geometry: shapes and patterns Measurement: length and weight Data analysis: picture and bar graphs Calendar and time Money
Social Studies
Art
Music
Spanish
Me
Da
Ge pat
Mo
Tim
Alive / earth / magnets / literacy-based STEM / robotics and coding
Organisms / weather / air / literacy-based STEM / robotics and coding
Lif mo rob
School / family / community / famous Americans / wild west / civic and social responsibility
Communities / early U.S. history, culture, traditions (first Thanksgiving) / goods and services / marketplace / entrepreneurship
Ma com bus
Artistic processes in visual art using a variety of media: creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. Drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and art appreciation
Art prin
Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (Kindergarten – 60; 1st grade – 70) minutes of art instruction per rotation.
Cla
Singing, playing musical instruments (i.e. xylophones, percussion), reading music, creating music, exploring music in the context of history and culture, analyzing and describing music.
Sin hist
Special activities: Holiday Show, Grandparents Day Show, assembly performances, music field trips.
Spe fiel
Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (Kindergarten – 135; 1st grade – 150) minutes of music instruction per rotation.
Wellness
Nu pro to m ma
Fra
Money
Science
Fic dev spe
Cla
Foundation for lifelong healthy habits; fitness; locomotor skills; non-locomotor skills; body management, balance and flexibility; fundamental sports skills; good sportsmanship; nutrition and illness prevention
Fou com
Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (Kindergarten – 135; 1st grade – 150) minutes of wellness education per rotation.
Cla
Appreciation of and enthusiasm for Spanish language and culture, vocabulary as foundation for conversation, Hispanic Heritage month
App
Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (Kindergarten – 60; 1st grade – 70) minutes of Spanish instruction per rotation.
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Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fiction and nonfiction text strategies / appreciation of and response to literature / phonics / word study / reading fluency / vocabulary development / comprehension strategies / writing development / grammar conventions / sight word recognition and production / speaking and listening skills / cursive handwriting
Numbers and operations to 1,000 / problem solving with bar models / intro to multiplication and division / mental math and estimation
Numbers and operations to 10,000 / mental math and estimation / problem solving with bar models / multiplication and division
Measurement: length, mass, volume
Measurement: length, mass, volume / time and temperature
Data analysis: picture graphs Geometry: lines, surfaces, shapes and patterns Money Fractions Time
Numbers and operations to 100,000 / estimation and number theory / Data analysis: tables and line graphs Probability Fractions and mixed numbers
Data analysis: bar graphs/line plots
Decimals / operations with decimals
Geometry: angles and lines / twodimensional shapes / area and perimeter
Geometry: angles / perpendicular and parallel line segments / squares and rectangles / area and perimeter / symmetry / tessellations
Fractions Money
Life cycles / rocks, soil, fossils / forces, motion, machines / designing bridges / robotics and coding
Food chains and webs / space / energy and matter / robotics and coding
Land and water / animal habitats / transportation engineering / robotics and coding
Maps and globes / landforms / community / government / resources / businesses / people of the past
Maps, continents, and oceans / Franklin history / colonial America / fifty states / presidents
Five basic regions of U.S.: geographical features; natural resources; influence on history; customs and traditions / cultures / TN history / map interpretation
Artistic processes in visual art using a variety of media: creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. Drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and art appreciation Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (2nd – 70; 3rd/4th – 90) minutes of art instruction per rotation.
Singing, playing musical instruments (i.e. recorder, guitar, percussion), reading music, creating music, exploring music in the context of history and culture, analyzing and describing music. Special activities: Wildcat Choir (3rd/4th grades), Holiday Show, Talent Shows, Grandparents Day Show, assembly performances, music field trips. Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (2nd – 150; 3rd/4th – 90) minutes of music instruction per rotation. Foundation for lifelong healthy habits; fitness components: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition; sport-specific skills; rhythmic competency; social skills; good sportsmanship; nutrition and illness prevention Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (2nd – 150; 3rd/4th – 135) minutes of wellness education per rotation.
Appreciation of and enthusiasm for Spanish language and culture, vocabulary as foundation for conversation, Hispanic Heritage month Classes rotate on a six-day schedule, with students receiving (2nd grade – 70; 3rd/4th – 90) minutes of Spanish instruction per rotation.
Innovative Learning Center
The Innovative Learning Center is an academic resource for teachers, students, and parents. Services include academic coaching, support for differentiated instruction, coordination of academic services including speech and language, parent consultation, and enrichment clubs. Working collaboratively with teachers, parents, and other professionals as needed, our goal is to help each child thrive as a member of an engaged learning community. Academic intervention and enrichment are provided as indicated.
Guidance / Service Learning
Guidance classes embrace a wide range of life skills. The BGA Way promotes valued character traits that we strive to instill in Lower School students. The Wildcat Motto reminds students to think of others first while being kind and patient. Large and small groups lessons, individual and small group counseling, and parenting groups are core to the program. Community service is an integral part of the service-learning program, with community service opportunities offered regularly. All classes receive guidance instruction for 30-45 minutes per rotation.
Library
The library serves as the hub of the school and strives to instill in every child a life-long love of reading and appreciation of child’s literature. Basic research elements are introduced using a variety of print and digital sources. Destiny, our web-based, online catalog, allows students to access the library collection as well as online resources from school or home. Currently, the Lower School Library houses iPads as well as a floating cart of iPad minis. The library collection consists of over 13,000 volumes and is constantly growing. All grade levels receive 30-45 minutes of library instruction per rotation with open library times available for book browsing or class research. Third and fourth graders receive an additional 45 minutes for a library/ technology class.
Science, Technology, and Engineering
The Lower School boasts a dedicated space to ignite scientific inquiry and engineering design. Inquiry, inspiration, and innovation are cornerstones of the [i]3 lab. Students in grades K-1 exercise their imaginations with coding, robotics creations, and STEM challenges. Second, third, and fourth graders investigate science concepts and explore engineering design in the lab each quarter. Units include life, physical, and earth sciences augmented by engineering, robotics, and coding. While technology is abundant in our 1:1 model, it is used as a tool for learning, rather than the focus of learning. All classrooms are also equipped with Promethean boards and document cameras. The interactive whiteboard technology provides an unparalleled degree of interaction and collaboration between the teacher and students.
BGA Lower School
•
150 Franklin Road
•
Franklin, TN 37064
•
Phone (615) 567-2002
•
www.BattleGroundAcademy.org