Throughout the social studies curriculum children engage in meaningful dialog about their own lives and the lives of others. Children learn about and make comparisons between different ways of life and the impact on the environment. Students investigate past, present, and current human relationships and cultures. Social Studies is used as a way to explore and discuss our responsibilities as community members. We discuss rights and responsibilities, the importance of expressing your ideas as well as understanding multiple perspectives, democracy, and history and cultural studies. It is our goal that students in the Elementary program learn positive attitudes and investigate the meanings of social justice, human rights and responsibilities, and develop a better understanding of similarities and differences between diverse groups.

What you might see:

• Children discussing what it means to be hearing impaired, after a reading a book that includes a child who is deaf. As the children discuss this topic they also talk about other disabilities and human rights. The children become interested in exploring this area; the teacher brings in additional resources about the visually and hearing impaired. This leads to the children exploring and learning sign language, Braille, and the various ways that individuals can communicate.
• A child interviewing a staff member about a school-wide project to include in an article they are writing for their classroom newspaper. Children sitting around a small work table discussing ideas for articles for the newspaper with their teacher.
• Children dressed up in Colonial attire writing lessons on slate boards to compare how learning occurred in different periods of American history.
• Children critically analyzing a book on the founding of the United States, discussing this period of history from different view points.

The Elementary I program seeks to instill a love of literature. Children progressively build upon their skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students are involved in many different reading and writing activities throughout the day. They also explore various ways to communicate with others. Children participate in Readers Workshop daily, Writing Workshops, journaling, and interdisciplinary activities that integrate language and literacy. As children develop their classroom community, they work towards a greater awareness of themselves and how to communicate and listen effectively. Classroom and school-wide meetings provide many opportunities for students to develop these skills.

Reading skills from earlier grades are reinforced and emphasis is placed on developing comprehension and fluency, as well as increasing a child’s confidence with the printed page. Children understand the mechanics of decoding and reading for meaning. Teachers continue to read aloud to students in order to stimulate a love of literature and poetry, and to model appropriate reading habits. Children learn to gain an initial understanding of what is read and make connections between reading and other experiences in and out of school. As children hear and share stories, poems, and original pieces of their own work they come to view themselves as competent readers, authors, and communicators. As they hone their skills they learn to connect literature to life, discussing stories and making predictions about what might happen next or why a character is making a certain choice.

Students begin to explore the writing process through making a draft, simple revisions, and editing during Writers Workshops with teachers and peers. Children learn about the use of capital letters, punctuation, and develop a beginning understanding of simple sentence structure and paragraph development. When writing, children learn the differences between descriptive and informational writing and use both methods to craft pieces for varying purposes. Research and organizational skills are developed as students work on Personal Interest Projects and learn to differentiate between fact and fiction.

What you might see:

• The class working collaboratively to craft a poem in which each student has provided a line. After editing, the poem is posted in the writing area of the room for classroom visitors and the classroom community to continue to enjoy and discuss.
• Students working independently researching information for their Personal Interest Project. One student might be editing a draft on the computer, another might be researching information in an encyclopedia, and one might be working with a teacher to discuss an article they have written for the classroom newspaper on their personal interest topic.

The Elementary I class uses the TERC Investigations in Numbers, Data and Space curriculum for Math Workshops and other classroom math activities. Mathematics is taught as a way of making sense of the world and developing mathematical thinking rather than a series of formulas or tables to be memorized. Students are encouraged to construct meaning and apply concepts they are learning to real life applications and problems. Children learn through this approach that math is an integral part of their daily lives. Children discover original approaches to solving math problems and explain their work using pictures, words, and numbers. The curriculum is tailored to support the developmental readiness of each child by using a variety of hands-on materials. Students are challenged to work in-depth on problems using mathematical tools, manipulatives; gaining their own understanding of math concepts as they actively solve a variety of problems. Worksheets, games, puzzles, and writing assignments allow students to apply math concepts. Some mathematical threads studied include: computational fluency, problem solving, addition, subtraction, multiplication, place value, geometry, measurement and estimation.

What you might see:

• Children solving a math problem using manipulatives and pencil and paper to practice double digit addition and regrouping. After they have worked independently, they share their strategy for solving the problem and ask each other questions about the process.
• Children creating a diagram for planting trees and shrubs for our Schoolyard Wetland Habitat project. After children meet with a guest speaker from US Fish and Wildlife, who tells them how much space trees, shrubs, and herbs need to grow, children calculate measurements and map the information onto graph paper to create a diagram to use as a plan for planting on Green-Up day.
• A child creating a symmetrical pattern using pattern blocks as he/she solves a Math Challenge during Explore Time. The child creates a 10-inch symmetrical pattern.

Children explore and inquire about the natural world. Through active participation, blended with thoughtful observation and reflection, Elementary I students begin to view science as a way of thinking and questioning to make sense of the world around them. In developmentally appropriate ways children use the scientific method to describe, investigate, raise questions, develop and test hypotheses. Children create short and long-term experiments recording and drawing conclusions.

What you might see:

• Children working in a pair experimenting with batteries, wires, and light bulbs to create an electrical circuit. After completing this circuit, the children use the same materials to attempt to power larger objects with more complex circuits.
• In the Schoolyard Wetlands Habitat Project, children study various types of plants and animals. They use this information to plot out an area of wetland to be restored, paying close attention to the biological needs of each plant. Over time, the group will make regular observations and document the restoration of a designated area of the wetland.

The development of self is an on-going process, reflected upon daily during classroom and school-wide interactions with others. Members of the Elementary I class are encouraged to express themselves in a safe classroom environment. The students use respectful communication skills to resolve conflict, engage others in play and participate in meetings.

What you might see:

• A child assisting in resolving a conflict. While participating in the school-wide Buddy Program, Elementary I students become role models for younger students, often helping children to resolve conflicts, discuss interests and engage in various activities in small groups.
• Elementary I students keeping journals and deciding what topics to write about. This activity becomes a way for children to process thoughts and feelings in writing and often children return to these journal entries at a later time.

Opportunities for artistic expression help to develop creative thought, self-discovery and aesthetic awareness. As the art curriculum emphasizes the process rather than the product, children engage with a variety of materials in limitless ways. Whether participating in free drawing, the Suzuki violin program, block building, or dramatic play, Elementary I students learn to use various intelligences.

What you might see:

• A cartoonist visiting the class, modeling his technique for the students, after the class expressed interest in the art of illustrating. The children then taking time to create characters for their own drawings. These characters are later used in stories and are adapted to various settings.
• Children creating a collaborative painting while they listen to Bach Suites, experiencing how the music influences the art they are inspired to create.
• Children writing and developing a puppet show about one of the Irish Folktales they had read together during Read Aloud.

Service learning creates an understanding of community responsibility in students. At this age, students not only participate in projects but also discuss the impact of these projects on the greater community. Beginning as classroom jobs, children engage in service to others. This extends quickly to recycling, wetlands restoration, school-wide food drives and fundraising for advocacy groups.

What you might see:

• Children in the Elementary I class sponsoring a week-long food drive. Students inquire what types of food are currently needed at the local food shelf. The students create awareness about the event by creating signs with words and pictures of what is needed. After collecting the food, children estimate the weight, calculate the actual pounds and go to the Chittenden County Emergency Food Shelf to deliver the goods.
• The class participating in a green-up event and discussing the impact of litter on neighboring businesses and a near-by family of geese, after visiting a local wetland area and noticing litter around the area. Afterwards, the class informs the school community of the problem in a newspaper article and return at a later date to clean once more.

Movement and health are integral in every student's growth. Whether it is running around during an outside game, dancing together, yoga, stretching, learning about food and its impact on our bodies, balance practice, the students are actively engaged throughout the day. In fact, much research has shown that physical movement during parts of the day is essential for optimal learning in all areas.

What you might see:

• Students involved in a cooperative game in which they have to discover certain plants or trees in the on-site wetland in a certain amount of time. Once they find the tree they are looking for, they have to run back to a certain area, and then proceed to find the next organism.
• Students stretching in yoga poses while learning about their bodies, building core strength, and finding their centeredness.
• Students having a dialogue about food. In particular, they are discussing where it comes from, whether it is local or not, whether it is organic or conventional, whole food or processed, and the impact that has on our bodies and the environment.