St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School is a child-centered Armenian Institution committed to academic excellence. At the Elementary level, the core curriculum subjects are taught in English. The Armenian language and history are taught in Armenian, with an emphasis on creating awareness and instilling an appreciation of Armenian culture and traditions.
The curriculum of St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School is comprised of literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education and the fine arts. The Learning Goals under each core area represent the school’s end of the year expectations for students in grade one. The first grade curriculum will include but not be limited to, these topics. The developmental level of students as well as their varying abilities and interests will be taken into account when designing and implementing instruction.
The purpose of the written progress reports is to inform families of students’ individual progress in the achievement of these Learning Goals. Progress Reports are supplemented by Fall, Winter and Spring parent/teacher conferences. We believe that a child’s success in school is enhanced by meaningful home/school communication.
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School uses the Armenian language series entitled “Mer Lezoun”. This is a publication of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.
Reading
Read fluently with proper pronunciation paying attention to punctuation marks.
Comprehension and Vocabulary:
Learn the vocabulary words
Retell the story read aloud
Answer the questions
Spelling:
Prepared spelling test (5 lines from the text)
Unprepared spelling test
Spelling rules
Grammar:
Phonics (Review consonants and vowels
?Diphthong
Dictionary and alphabetical order
Letters used as numbers
Syllables
Word Composition
Root words
Compound words
Vocabulary
Synonym
Antonyms
Sentence Structure
Capitalization
Punctuation
Noun or subject
Proper and common names
Plural/singular
Declension
Articles
Pronouns
Adjectives
Verbs
Groups of verbs ending with el, il, al
Tense (present, past, future)
Auxiliary verb “to be”
Writing:
Writing as a process approach
Making sure to have an introduction, main idea and conclusion
Recitation:
Recite with understanding and expression selected poems
READING
Decoding of the print-sound code should become automatic across the whole span of language
Independently read aloud unfamiliar level (at least) 38 nonfiction books with 95% accuracy or better
Easily read word with irregularly spelled suffixes
Use the cues of punctuation to guide themselves in getting meaning and fluently reading aloud from the increasingly complex texts they read
Use pacing and intonation to convey the meaning of the clauses and phrases of the sentences they read
Monitor their own reading, noticing when sentences or paragraphs are incomplete or when texts do not make sense
Use their ear for syntax to help figure out the meaning of new words
Infer the meaning of words from roots, prefixes and suffixes, as well as from the overall contextual meaning of what they are reading
Analyze the relations among different parts of a text
Raise questions about what the author was trying to say and use the text to help answer the questions
Capture meaning from figurative language and explain the meaning
Cite important details from a text
Compare one text to another they have read or heard
Discuss why an author might have chosen particular words
Say how a story relates to something in real-life experience
Explain the motives of characters
Discuss plot and setting
Use structure of informational text to retrieve information
Analyze the causes, motivations, sequences and results of events
Understand the concepts and relationships described in the story
Use reasoning and information from within and outside the text to examine arguments
Describe in their own words what new information they gained from a nonfiction text and how it relates to their prior knowledge
Follow instructions or directions they encounter in the more complicated functional texts they are now reading around 30 books a year, independently or with assistance, and regularly participate in discussions of their reading with another student, a group or an adult
Read and hear texts read aloud from a variety of genres
Read multiple books by the same author and be able to identify differences and similarities among them
Reread some favorite books or parts of longer books, gaining deeper comprehension and knowledge of author’s craft
Read own writing and the writing of their classmates
Read functional and instructional messages
Listen to and discuss at least one chapter read to them every day
Voluntarily read to each other, signaling their sense of themselves as readers
Read good children’s literature every day
Have worthwhile literature read to them to model the language and craft of good writing
Discuss underlying themes or messages when interpreting fiction
Read and respond to poems, stories, memoirs and plays written by peers
Identify and discuss recurring themes across works
Evaluate literary merit and participate informatively in peer talk about selecting books to read
Examine the reasons for a character’s actions, accounting for situation and motive
Recognize genre features and compare works by different authors in the same genre
Note and talk about author’s craft
- Demonstrate the skills we look for in the comprehension component of content
READING STANDARD 2: Getting the Meaning
Note and talk about author’s craft: word choice, beginnings and endings, plot, and character development
Use comparisons and analogies to explain ideas
Refer to knowledge built during discussion
Use information that is accurate, accessible and relevant
Restate own ideas with greater clarity when a listener indicates non-comprehension
Ask other students questions requiring them to support their claims or arguments
Indicate when their own or others’ ideas need further support or explanation
Learn new words every day from their reading
Recognize when they don’t know what a word means and use a variety of strategies for figuring it out (for example, ask others, look at the context, find the word in use elsewhere and look for clues there)
Know meanings of roots, prefixes and suffixes
Talk about the meaning of most of the new words encountered in independent and assisted reading
Notice and show interest in understanding unfamiliar words in texts that are read to them
Know how to talk about what nouns mean in terms of function for example, (“water is for drinking”), features (“water is wet,”) and category (“water is a liquid”)
Know how to talk about verbs as “action words”
- Talk about words as they relate to other words, synonyms, antonyms or which word is more precise
WRITING WORKSHOP:
Write daily
Generate their own topics and spend the necessary amount of time to revisit and refine their writing
Extend and rework pieces of writing (for example, turning a paragraph from a memoir into a fully developed piece)
Routinely rework, revise, edit and proofread their work
Over the course of the year, polish 10 or 12 pieces for an audience in and beyond the classroom
Write for specific purposes of their own (for example, writing a birthday card for a parent or friend)
Consciously study appropriate specific elements of a favorite author’s work to refine the quality of their own work
Apply criteria (both public and personal) to their writing
Orient or engage the reader to (set the time, indicate the location where the story takes place, introduce the character, or enter immediately into the story line)
Build and present a believable world through the precise choice of detail
Create a sequence of events which unfolds naturally
Provide pacing
Develop a character, often by providing motivation for action and having the character solve the problem
Add reflective comments (especially in an autobiographical narrative)
Provide some kind of conclusion
Engage the reader by establishing a context for the piece
Identify the topic
Provide a guide to find action in the story
Show the steps in an action in considerable detail
Include relevant information
Use language that is straightforward and clear
- May use illustrations detailing steps in the process
Producing Literature
Write stories, songs, poetry and plays –conforming to appropriate expectations of each form
Produce a piece that incorporates elements appropriate to the genre after engaging in a genre study
- Build on a thread of a story by extending or changing the story line
Responding to Literature
Support an interpretation by making specific reference to the text
Provide enough detail from the text so the reader can understand the interpretation
Go beyond retelling
Compare two works by an author
Discuss several works that have a common idea or theme
Make connections between the text and their own ideas and lives
Introduce the topic, sometimes providing a context or clue
Have an organizational structure that is useful to the reader
Communicate the ideas, insights or theories that have been elaborated on or illustrated through facts, details, quotations, statistics and information
Use diagrams, charts or illustrations as appropriate to the text
Have a concluding sentence or section
Employ a straightforward tone of voice
Incorporate transitional words and phrases appropriate to thinking
Embed phrases and modifiers that make their writing lively and graphic
Use varying sentence patterns and lengths to slow reading down, speed it up, create mood
Embed literary language where appropriate
Reproduce sentence structures found in various genres they are reading
Notice when words do not look correct and use strategies to correct the spelling (for example, experiment with alternative spellings, look the word up in the dictionary or word list)
Correctly spell all familiar high frequency words
Correctly spell words with short vowels and common endings
Correctly spell most inflectional endings, including plurals and verb tenses
Use correct spelling patterns and rules such as consonant doubling, dropping e and changing y to i
Correctly spell most derivational words (for example, -tion, -ment, -ly)
Use words from their speaking vocabulary in their writing, including words they have learned from reading and class discussion
Make word choices that reveal they have a large enough vocabulary to exercise options in word choice (for example, more precise and vivid words)
Extend their writing vocabulary by using specialized words related to their topic or setting of their writing (i.e., the names of the breeds of dogs if they are writing about dogs)
Use capital letters at the beginnings of sentences
Use periods and other end punctuation correctly, nearly all the time
Approximate the use of quotation marks
Use question marks
Use capital and lowercase letters
- Use contractions
- Number and Operations in Base Ten
- Place Value
- Add and Subtract Whole Numbers
- Understand Multiplication and Division
- Multiply One Digit Numbers
- Multiply with Two Digit Numbers
- Divide By One-Digit Numbers
- Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Patterns and Sequences
- Number and Operations-Fractions
- Fractions
- Operations and fractions
- Fractions and Decimals
- Measurement and Data
- Customary Measurement
- Metric Measurement
- Perimeter and Area
- Geometry
- Geometry
KNOWATOM: Fourth Grade Science System
The Know Atom Fourth Grade Science system guides students toward mastery of the Scientific Method and Engineering Design Process. Students receive laboratory notebooks to record their scientific reasoning from question to conclusion. The 14-unit curriculum includes experiment-based labs in each unit such as analyzing soil and measuring differences in electrical current. The curriculum covers all of the elementary-level standards though topics like fossils, the frog life cycle, sound waves and simple machines. Teachers receive original student readers to reinforce the units’ topics and quizzes to assess student understanding.
Unit Topics
- Unit 1: Becoming a Scientist
- Unit 2: Measuring Matter
- Unit 3: Sedimentary Rock
- Unit 4: Digging Into Soil
- Unit 5: Local Climates
- Unit 6: Plant and Animal Life Cycles
- Unit 7: Heredity
- Unit 8: Adapting to Change
- Unit 9: Energy Transfers
- Unit 10: Types of Electricity
- Unit 11: Magnetic Fields
- Unit 12: Sound Waves
- Unit 13: Light Waves
- Unit 14: Simple Machines
North American Geography with Optional Standards for One Early Civilization
In grade 4, students study the geography and people of the United States today. Students learn geography by addressing standards that emphasize political and physical geography and embed five major concepts: location, place, human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions. In addition, they learn about the geography and people of contemporary Mexico and Canada. Teachers may choose to teach the standards on the geography and social characteristics of the nations in Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Teachers may also choose to have students study in the first half of the school year one early civilization. We recommend China because it is not studied in grade 7 and can be easily connected to the English language arts curriculum through its myths, legends, and folktales.
CONCEPTS & SKILLS
Students should be able to: Apply concepts and skills learned in previous grades.
History and Geography
- Use map and globe skills to determine absolute locations (latitude and longitude) of places studied.
- Interpret a map using information from its title, compass rose, scale, and legend.
- Observe and describe national historic sites and describe their function and significance. Civics and Government
- Give examples of the major rights that immigrants have acquired as citizens of the United States (e.g., the right to vote, and freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and petition).
- Give examples of the different ways immigrants can become citizens of the United States. Economics
- Define and give examples of natural resources in the United States.
- Give examples of limited and unlimited resources and explain how scarcity compels people and communities to make choices about goods and services, giving up some things to get other things.
- Give examples of how the interaction of buyers and sellers influences the prices of goods and services in markets.
LEARNING STANDARDS
Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to:
Ancient China, c. 3000-200 BC/BCE
- On a map of Asia, locate China, the Huang He (Yellow) River and Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers, and the Himalayan Mountains.
- Describe the topography and climate of eastern Asia, including the importance of mountain ranges and deserts, and explain how geography influenced the growth of Chinese civilization.
- Describe the ideographic writing system used by the Chinese (characters, which are symbols for concepts/ideas) and how it differs from an alphabetic writing system.
- Describe important technologies of China such as bronze casting, silk manufacture, and gunpowder.
- Identify who Confucius was and describe his writings on good government, codes of proper conduct, and relationships between parent and child, friend and friend, husband and wife, and subject and ruler.
- Describe how the First Emperor unified China by subduing warring factions, seizing land, centralizing government, imposing strict rules, and creating with the use of slave labor large state building projects for irrigation, transportation, and defense (e.g., the Great Wall).
- After visiting a museum, listening to a museum educator in school, or conducting research in the library, describe an animal, person, building, or design depicted in an ancient Chinese work of art.
North America
Anguilla (U.K.), Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba (Neth.), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda (U.K.), British Virgin Islands (U.K.), Canada, Cayman Islands (U.K.), Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Greenland (Den.), Grenada, Guadeloupe (Fr.), Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique (Fr.), Mexico, Montserrat (U.K.), Netherlands Antilles (Neth.), Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico (U.S.), St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St.-Pierre and Miquelon (Fr.), St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (U.K.), United States, Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to:
Regions of the United States
- On a map of the world, locate North America. On a map of North America, locate the United States, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi and Rio Grande Rivers, the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Rocky and Appalachian Mountain ranges.
- On a map of North America, locate the current boundaries of the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii). Locate the New England, Middle Atlantic, Atlantic Coast/Appalachian, Southeast/Gulf, South Central, Great Lakes, Plains, Southwest Desert, and Pacific states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Appendix H for a listing of states in each region.
- Identify the states, state capitals, and major cities in each region.
- Describe the climate, major physical features, and major natural resources in each region.
- Identify and describe unique features of the United States (e.g., the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, the Redwood Forest, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park).
- Identify major monuments and historical sites in and around Washington, D.C. (e.g., the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Smithsonian Museums, the Library of Congress, the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and Mount Vernon).
- Identify the five different European countries (France, Spain, England, Russia, and the Netherlands) that influenced different regions of the present United States at the time the New World was being explored and describe how their influence can be traced to place names, architectural features, and language.
- Describe the diverse nature of the American people by identifying the distinctive contributions to American culture of:
- Several indigenous peoples in different areas of the country (e.g., Navajo, Seminoles, Sioux, Hawaiians, and Inuits)
- African Americans, including an explanation of their early concentration in the South because of slavery and the Great Migration to northern cities in the 20th century, and recent African immigrant groups (e.g., Ethiopian) and where they tended to settle in large numbers
- Major European immigrant groups who have come to America, locating their countries of origin and where they tended to settle in large numbers (e.g., English, Germans, Italians, Scots, Irish, Jews, Poles, and Scandinavians), major Spanish-speaking (e.g., Cubans, Mexicans) and Asian (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese) immigrant groups who have come to America in the 19th and 20th centuries, locating their countries of origin and where they tended to settle in large numbers
- Identify major immigrant groups that live in Massachusetts and where they now live in large numbers (e.g., English, Irish, Italians, French Canadians, Armenians, Greeks, Portuguese, Haitians, and Vietnamese).
Canada
- On a map of North America, locate Canada, its provinces, and major cities.
- Describe the climate, major physical characteristics, and major natural resources of Canada and explain their relationship to settlement, trade, and the Canadian economy.
- Describe the major ethnic and religious groups of modern Canada.
- Identify when Canada became an independent nation and explain how independence was achieved.
- Identify the location of at least two Native American tribes in Canada (e.g., Kwakiutl and Micmac) and the Inuit nation and describe their major social features.
- Identify the major language groups in Canada, their geographic location, and the relations among them.
Mexico
- On a map of North America, locate Mexico and its major cities.
- Describe the climate, major physical characteristics, and major natural resources of Mexico and explain their relationship to the Mexican economy.
- Identify the language, major religion, and peoples of Mexico.
- Identify when Mexico became an independent nation and describe how independence was achieved.
*Note-The SSAES Curriculum Guidelines for Social Studies is directly derived from the Massachusetts History & Social Science Curriculum Framework.
- Learn songs by rote; echo singing; matching tones in appropriate range
- Identify musical aspects of sound (1ong/short, up/down, high/low, soft/loud, fast/slow)
- Create body movement to music and rhythm; dances; additional verses to songs; dramatizations of songs, moods, stories
- Perform music alone and with others.
- Improvise and create music.
- Use the vocabulary and notation of music.
- Respond to music with aesthetic judgments.
- Continue the music learning experience independently.
- Perform and/or respond to music of ever-widening variety.
- Continue musical participation out of school as both a performer and a consumer.
- Use variety of media to create 2-D and 3-D artwork
- Use and understand the elements of design
- Expand knowledge of color through study of color wheel
- Explore complexities of form and space by using found objects and mixed media
- Work cooperatively in groups
- Learn and use appropriate vocabulary related to methods, materials, and techniques
Technology Mission Statement
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School provides for the educational needs of all students through integrating technology-rich curriculum in the areas of basic skills and decision making and encourages a desire for learning, positive social interaction, and mutual respect. This mission is essential if our students are to become productive members of society with its ever-changing technology.
Computer Classroom Vision
St. Stephen’s students will use technology as a tool and resource to facilitate the development of lifelong learners who are equipped for the present and future world of higher education, work and personal pursuits. All students will have access to a technology-rich learning environment that supports and extends the school’s curriculum standards.
Goals and Objectives
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School actively supports the use of technology to enhance learning and to prepare students for productive lives in the Twenty-first century. Through technology, students will have rich learning experiences as they strengthen skills and critical thinking to acquire, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from multiple sources. They will also gain proficiency in communicating and conducting research electronically, enabling them to function effectively and productively in the Information Age.
The objectives are appropriate for each elementary grade level’s development readiness. They should be met by the end of the academic year. However, any of these objectives may be introduced earlier than the specified grade level, depending on students’ readiness. Formal keyboarding instruction will begin in Grade 3 with the use of a keyboarding curriculum and will be continued in succeeding grade levels to increase speed and accuracy. With this proficiency, students will use technology more efficiently and possess a vital skill for further education and future employment.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
LEVEL 2 GRADES 3, 4, 5
By the completion of grade 5 all students should be able to perform the following tasks:
Tasks
- To use the numeric key pad, shift key and symbol keys.
- To apply proper usage of fingers on the keyboard.
- To develop and improve touch typing-keyboarding skills.
- To effectively participate in teacher directed key boarding instruction.
- To change the view of a window using the mouse.
- To create a folder and place files in it.
- To name or rename a file.
- To backup files from the HD by saving to a floppy disk.
- To open two programs simultaneously and switch between programs.
- To master the basic skills of management such as creating new documents, renaming, saving, closing and exiting files.
- To advance word processing skills.
- To customize documents by using alignment, margins and simple tabs.
- To understand word wrap, headers and footers and page breaks.
- To use editing features such as copy, cut, paste, and find/replace.
- To use a spell check.
- To use Word Art to customize documents.
- To use a desktop publishing program effectively.
- To understand the differences between portrait and landscape view in a document.
By the completion of grade 5 all students should be able to perform the following tasks as well as all indicators listed for level 1:
- To develop and plan a slide presentation.
- To create a slide show using a multimedia program.
- To create a slide show using information gathered for a research project.
- To edit text in slides in a slide show presentation.
- To format slides in a slide show presentation using good layout and design concepts.
- To organize slides in a meaningful order to convey an idea.
- To insert a graphic from a file into a slide.
- To import graphics from the Internet into a slide.
- To re-size a graphic in a slide.
- To use transitions.
- To be aware of giving credit to sources and to create a citation slide.
- To learn to critique a presentation using a teacher-created evaluation sheet.
- To use a drawing program.
- To apply special effects (size, re-size, flip, rotate) to a graphic.
- To use line, pointer and text tool in a draw or graphics program.
- To understand the basic principals of page layout and design.
- To understand database terminology such as record, field, category, sort/arrange, search/query, etc.
- To search, sort and print out information from a database.
- To understand what a spreadsheet is and how it is used.
- To create an original spreadsheet.
- To effectively use a spreadsheet application to chart and create a graph to represent survey data.
- To use different types of graphs to represent the same data.
- To edit individual cells in a spreadsheet.
- To save and retrieve a spreadsheet.
- To display or remove grid lines on a spreadsheet.
- To change the design of a spreadsheet. (Column width, font size)
- To add a graphic to a spreadsheet.
- To use computer aided software to strengthen skills in curriculum areas.
- To understand what a LAN is.
- To log off and on a network.
- To open a web browser.
- To use a search engine.
- To demonstrate competency in using information and communication networks.
- To use the internet as a research tool and educational resource.
- To create electronic bookmarks/favorites.
- To enhance projects using online resources.
- To work cooperatively on a project based webquest.
- To understand Internet terminology.
- To use teacher-guided search engines for research purposes.
- To use a flash drive to move electronic files from one computer to another computer.
- To delete files from the hard drive.
- To understand and follow the rules posted in the computer lab.
- To understand and follow rules contained in the school’s Acceptable Use Policy that is signed by both students and parents.
- To understand the consequences of not complying with the school’s Acceptable Use Policy.
- To understand and respect copyright information.
- To understand how technology is used in daily life.
- To work in a group setting to create a presentation in conjunction with the classroom teacher.
- To analyze and evaluate websites with regard to their purpose.
- To understand that websites are sponsored and may have commercial links.
- To understand that computers have handicap accessibility available where needed.
- To understand the dangers associated with using the Internet.
- To understand what controls are in use on the school’s network to keep students as safe as possible on the Internet.
- To learn Internet safety rules.
- To alert parents to Internet Safety websites.
- To learn proper E-mail ettiquette.
- To understand the meaning of cyber-bullying and its consequences.
- To learn the importance of proper ergonomics for sitting at a computer station.
- To use the Internet to effectively gather research data regarding a specific topic.
- To record the sources of Internet research facts.
- To cite sources in student work.
- To organize facts garnered from Internet research.
- To learn about the meaning and importance of key words when conducting a search.
- To be able to analyze and evaluate the usefulness and reliability of a particular website.
- To communicate with the classroom teacher by way of a classroom blog.
- To Introduce computer programming.
- To become familiar with the Armenian keyboard.
- To create documents and slide shows typed in Armenian in conjunction with the Armenian teacher.
- To search websites written in Armenian.
The Physical Education curriculum includes a balance of skills, concepts, game activities, rhythms and dance experiences designed to enhance the cognitive, motor, affective and physical fitness development of every child. Learning experiences encourage children to question, integrate, analyze, communicate and apply cognitive concepts. Activities that are taught in the curriculum allow children the opportunity to work together to improve their emerging social and cooperation skills. These activities also help children develop a positive self-concept. Ongoing fitness activities are part of the continual process of helping children understand, enjoy, improve and/or maintain their physical health and well-being. Grade decisions are based on ongoing individual assessments of children’s skill acquisition as they participate in physical education class activities and/or their effort to do their best while displaying cooperation and positive sportsmanship. The class is designed so that ALL children are involved in activities that allow them to remain active, successful and having fun.
- Demonstrate mature form in basic manipulative skills (overhand throw, underhand throw, kicking a moving ball, catching a ball thrown overhand)
- Demonstrate basic offensive and defensive strategies in invasion (soccer/basketball),striking/fielding (baseball/wiffle ball) and target (bowling) activities
- Perform simple dances
- Use critical elements to improve personal performance
- Participate in establishment of rules, procedures and standards of etiquette that are safe and effective for specific activity situations
- Work cooperatively and productively in a small group to accomplish a set goal
- Recognize the influence of individual differences on participation in physical activities
- Recognize the positive attributes individuals with varying gender, age, ability, race, culture and skill level bring to physical activity