Saint Joseph School Primary

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Primary

Textbook used: Journeys
Whole group instruction to model fluent reading
Small group opportunities
Individual practice and application of reading skills
Focus on spelling-sound phonics skills, reading strategies, and improving each student’s independent reading skills
Opportunities to read out loud to the teacher throughout the week, using on level and grade level texts
Use of Accelerated Reader in grades 2nd and 3rd to increase student confidence in reading and grow in their independent reading skills
Students will work with a teacher 1-2 times per week in a small group or one-on-one setting to focus on comprehension skills, phonics skills, basic reading skills, fluency practice, and vocabulary practice while working with the grade level weekly story or with books on the student’s individual reading level
Primary grades are provided with opportunities to participate in reading activities related to classroom novels

Textbook used: Progress in Mathematics
Whole group instruction
Small group opportunities to reinforce, reteach, or enrich math skills
Focused skills include, but are not limited to, math facts, time, money, geometry, measurement, ordinal numbers, fractions, place value, graphing, rounding, and word problems
Use of iPads, Chromebook, and manipulatives to enhance math instruction

Textbook Used: Saavas (1st and 3rd grade)
CAPIT online phonics curriculum (2nd grade only)
Instruction focused on, but not limited to, spelling-sound phonics skills, word families, blends, digraphs, syllables, alphabetical order, compound words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, homophones and homonyms

Textbook Used: Voyages
Instruction focused on, but not limited to, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, plurals, capitalization, punctuation, contractions, and sentence structure
Writing units may include: personal narratives, creative writing, informative writing, persuasive writing, friendly letter, how-to explanations

First Grade focuses on praying the Rosary, learning the mysteries of the Rosary, Old and New Testament stories
Second Grade prepares students to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. We have a Project Day where the children bake bread, make plates, wear aprons they designed, and join together with their families in a prayer service in preparation for First Holy Communion
Third Grade focuses on parts of the Mass, the Sacraments, along with learning about our relationship with God , the life of Christ
Primary grades focus on students reciting and learning the meaning of the following prayers: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, St. Michael the Archangel, Act of Contrition, Guardian Angel

First grade focuses on parts of a plant, animal groups, the solar system, habitats, migration, hibernation, effects of the seasons on plants and animals
Second grade explores the life cycle of a butterfly (raising a caterpillar to butterfly for real life experience), environment, states of matter, and our changing earth
Third grade units of study include the scientific model, exploring forces and motion, engineering design process, plant and animal life cycles, coding/ circuitry
Each grade has child-centered projects in science lessons. As well as access to the Wet Lab, microscopes, and snap circuits

Textbooks Used: Saavas
First grade focuses on community workers, American symbols, oceans/continents, Famous Americans
Second grade focuses on early American history, geography, cultures, communities. Students also completed a biography project on someone who has had an impact on our world
Third grade focuses on Missouri, including the history, geographic regions, symbols, government, and famous Missourians

Textbook Used: Zaner-Bloser
First grade focuses on mastering manuscript of the alphabet letters
Second grade reviews elements of manuscript techniques for the alphabet and introduces elements for cursive writing
Third grade focuses on mastering cursive writing

Each primary grade takes 1 to 2 field trips each school year that connects to an academic unit of study
Each primary classroom houses a tub of Chromebooks for daily access in the classroom, as well as access to iPads throughout the school day (for designated activities or given tasks)
Each primary grade also participates in Academic Theme Days throughout the school year
Each primary grade has the following specials classes throughout the week: PE, Music, Computer, Art