K-8 Curriculum

In English Language Arts students develop foundational reading, listening, and writing skills through explorations of how to be good readers, writers, and listeners.  In Social Studies students explore their place in the community, their family, and the foundations of being a good citizen in the community.  In Science, the performance expectations in kindergarten help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What happens if you push or pull an object harder? Where do animals live and why do they live there? What is the weather like today and how is it different from yesterday?”  In Math, instructional time will focus on two critical areas: (1) representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; (2) describing shapes and space. More learning time in Kindergarten will be devoted to numbers than to other topics.

In English Language Arts, students build upon their reading, writing, and listening skills to develop good habits of both reading and writing and begin explorations into vocabulary, non-fiction studies, and begin character work around fiction.  In Social Studies, students learn about citizenship and their community, the interactions between home, school, and community, and how different communities require different resources. In Science, the performance expectations in first-grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What happens when materials vibrate? What happens when there is no light? What are some ways plants and animals meet their needs so that they can survive and grow? How are parents and their children similar and different? What objects are in the sky and how do they seem to move?”  In Math, instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing an understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; (2) developing an understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones; (3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and (4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.

In English Language Arts, explore the worlds of non-fiction and fiction literature with greater depth. Students dig deeper with vocabulary, character study, and using non-fiction works to inform writing techniques.  In Social Studies, students learn about the rights and responsibilities of citizens, how people and groups are remembered and begin the study of historical figures and time periods.  In Science, the performance expectations in second-grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “How does land change, and what are some things that cause it to change? What are the different kinds of land and bodies of water? How are materials similar and different from one another, and how do the properties of the materials relate to their use? What do plants need to grow? How many types of living things live in a place?” In Math, instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) extending understanding of base-ten notation; (2) building fluency with addition and subtraction; (3) using standard units of measure; and (4) describing and analyzing shapes.

In English Language Arts, students begin the year with building a reading life and crafting true stories. They continue learning about informational texts, reading for understanding, character study, and start working on the literary essay. In Social Studies, instruction is centered around geography and the economy, the history of colonial Connecticut and our Indigenous Peoples, following be a history of Government in Greenwich. In Science, the performance expectations in third-grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What is typical weather in different parts of the world and during different times of the year? How can the impact of weather-related hazards be reduced? How do organisms vary in their traits? How are plants, animals, and environments of the past similar or different from current plants, animals, and environments? What happens to organisms when their environment changes? How do equal and unequal forces on an object affect the object? How can magnets be used?” In Math, instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing an understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100; (2) developing an understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); (3) developing an understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.

In English Language Arts, students learn about character interpretation and perspective,  the arc of the story and begin the synthesis of literary texts into analytical essay writing. Students have an opportunity to read historical fiction in conjunction with units of study in Social Studies. In Social Studies, students build upon their knowledge of people in the community and expand their view of how the environment and climate alter the movement of people and their ideas. Finally students are introduced to social responsibility and how society is connected to groups and ideas. In Science the performance expectations in fourth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What are waves and what are some things they can do? How can water, ice, wind and vegetation change the land? What patterns of Earth’s features can be determined with the use of maps? How do internal and external structures support the survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction of plants and animals? What is energy and how is it related to motion? How is energy transferred? How can energy be used to solve a problem?” In Math, instructional time will focus on three critical areas: (1) developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; (2) developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; (3) understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.

In English Language Arts, student instruction is centered around the narrative craft and the complexity of both fiction and nonfiction texts. Book clubs, journalism, argument and advocacy, and the research based argument are all taught throughout the year with spiraling levels of rigor. In Social Studies, instruction begins with the early settlers, moves into the 13 Colonies and Europe, and ends with the American Revolution and American Colonialism. Tied to these units of study are corresponding writing units about argument and the analytical essay.  In Science the performance expectations in fifth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “When matter changes, does its weight change? How much water can be found in different places on Earth? Can new substances be created by combining other substances? How does matter cycle through ecosystems? Where does the energy in food come from and what is it used for? How do lengths and directions of shadows or relative lengths of day and night change from day to day, and how does the appearance of some stars change in different seasons?” In Math, instructional time will focus on three critical areas: (1) developing fluency with addition and subtraction of fractions, and developing understanding of the multiplication of fractions and of division of fractions in limited cases (unit fractions divided by whole numbers and whole numbers divided by unit fractions); (2) extending division to 2-digit divisors, integrating decimal fractions into the place value system and developing understanding of operations with decimals to hundredths, and developing fluency with whole number and decimal operations; and (3) developing understanding of volume.

In English Language Arts, instruction begins with revisiting the reader’s and writer’s workshop and a character analysis of the personal narrative. Moving forward, students learn about research for informational writing and tapping the power of nonfiction. The year ends with a study of the literary essay, book clubs, and a unit on comparing and contrasting characters across genres.

In Math, instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems; (2) completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers; (3) writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and (4) developing an understanding of statistical thinking.

In Science each year, students should be able to demonstrate greater capacity for connecting knowledge across, and between, the physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering design. During grades 6–8, your child will begin to form deeper connections between concepts previously learned in grades K–5, such as collecting evidence and drawing conclusions, understanding relationships between objects, and critical thinking that leads to designing effective solutions for problems.  

In Social Studies, students begin the study of regional history with an in-depth investigation of East Asia and Europe, and ends with a study of the Americas (Middle America, South America, and the Caribbean). 

In ESOL, students are organized into courses by their English proficiency level.  Levels 1, 2 and 3 are offered to beginners, intermediate and advanced multilingual learners respectively in order to help them acquire academic and communicative competency in English.  Students are given frequent opportunities to interact with the English language in the four language domains, including reading, writing, listening and speaking. 

In World Language, students build their skills in the four language domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to acquire oral and literacy proficiency in Spanish or French. World Language is its own academic course in middle school that prepares students to eventually fulfill high school graduation requirements in this subject area.

In Music, students continue to have the option between orchestra, band, choir and core music.  It is highly encouraged for students to continue on with their instrument from elementary school, but there are additional opportunities for new students to begin an instrument in middle school. Core music is an elective, and provided to students who are interested in having an all encompassing experience where skills are developed and applied to various instruments, including guitar, piano and ukulele. 

In Visual Arts, students continue their experience creating 3D and 2D artwork through various art forms and media.  Art is also an elective area that focuses on bringing student ideas and thoughts to various media landscapes to allow students to express themselves and their creativity uniquely. 

In English Language Arts, students begin the year with an investigation of character through an author study combined with a unit on writing realistic fiction through symbolism, syntax, and truth. They continue their instruction with an intense unit on essential skills necessary for research and investigative journalism.  Students also have an opportunity to study poetry through an investigation of contemporary and classical poets.

In Math, instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of and applying proportional relationships; (2) developing understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations; (3) solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and working with two- and three-dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and (4) drawing inferences about populations based on samples.

In Science each year, students should be able to demonstrate greater capacity for connecting knowledge across, and between, the physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering design. During grades 6–8, your child will begin to form deeper connections between concepts previously learned in grades K–5, such as collecting evidence and drawing conclusions, understanding relationships between objects, and critical thinking that leads to designing effective solutions for problems.  

In Social Studies, students begin the year with a study of subcontinental Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan). They continue their international investigation with units on the Middle East and North Africa. The years ends with a unit on Sub-Saharan Africa.

In ESOL, students are organized into courses by their English proficiency level.  Levels 1, 2 and 3 are offered to beginners, intermediate and advanced multilingual learners respectively in order to help them acquire academic and communicative competency in English.  Students are given frequent opportunities to interact with the English language in the four language domains, including reading, writing, listening and speaking. 

In World Language, students build their skills in the four language domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to acquire oral and literacy proficiency in Spanish or French. World Language is its own academic course in middle school that prepares students to eventually fulfill high school graduation requirements in this subject area.

In Music, students continue to have the option between orchestra, band, choir and core music.  It is highly encouraged for students to continue on with their instrument from elementary school, but there are additional opportunities for new students to begin an instrument in middle school. Core music is an elective, and provided to students who are interested in having an all encompassing experience where skills are developed and applied to various instruments, including guitar, piano and ukulele. 

In Visual Arts, students continue their experience creating 3D and 2D artwork through various art forms and media.  Art is also an elective area that focuses on bringing student ideas and thoughts to various media landscapes to allow students to express themselves and their creativity uniquely. 

In English Language Arts, students have the ability to choose genres for a more in-depth study. They work through memoirs, argumentative reading and writing, and critical nonfiction. They write position papers based on nonfiction research and work in book clubs around historical fiction and the literary essay. During the later units, students work on their Capstone project by using skills learned during the informational writing and research for journalism units. Finally, students end the year with a unit on dystopian literature and creative writing. 

In Math instructional time will focus on three critical areas: (1) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations; (2) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships; (3) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.

In Science each year, students should be able to demonstrate greater capacity for connecting knowledge across, and between, the physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering design. During grades 6–8, your child will begin to form deeper connections between concepts previously learned in grades K–5, such as collecting evidence and drawing conclusions, understanding relationships between objects, and critical thinking that leads to designing effective solutions for problems.

In Social Studies, students begin the year by revisiting Revolutionary America. They build upon the post-Revolutionary time period with a study of the United States Constitution, Expansion of the Early Republic, Slavery, Sectionalism, and the Civil War, and end the year studying Reconstruction.

In ESOL, students are organized into courses by their English proficiency level.  Levels 1, 2 and 3 are offered to beginners, intermediate and advanced multilingual learners respectively in order to help them acquire academic and communicative competency in English.  Students are given frequent opportunities to interact with the English language in the four language domains, including reading, writing, listening and speaking. 

In World Language, students build their skills in the four language domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to acquire oral and literacy proficiency in Spanish or French. World Language is its own academic course in middle school that prepares students to eventually fulfill high school graduation requirements in this subject area.

In Music, students continue to have the option between orchestra, band, choir and core music.  It is highly encouraged for students to continue on with their instrument from elementary school, but there are additional opportunities for new students to begin an instrument in middle school. Core music is an elective, and provided to students who are interested in having an all encompassing experience where skills are developed and applied to various instruments, including guitar, piano and ukulele. 

In Visual Arts, students continue their experience creating 3D and 2D artwork through various art forms and media.  Art is also an elective area that focuses on bringing student ideas and thoughts to various media landscapes to allow students to express themselves and their creativity uniquely.