Grades Kindergarten - Second Grades

Kathy Davis
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
770-394-2880 ext. 420

At St. Jude the Apostle School, student learning is based on Catholic Doctrine and guided by the educational mission of the Church which embraces three interrelated dimensions: message, service, and community. Our students are valued individuals and our commitment to continuous improvement is imperative in enabling students to become confident, self-directed, culturally aware, lifelong learners.

Writing (Grades Kindergarten- 8th ):
The Collins Education Associates writing program titled Developing Writing and Thinking Skills Across the Curriculum is taught in all grades. This program presents a model for a writing-across-the-curriculum/writing-to-learn by defining five types of writing assignments and the outcomes expected for each. The Collins’ program employs challenging and demanding techniques that require the student to be the intellectual worker in the room. Using frequent writing assignments to increase students’ involvement in lessons, check on their understanding of concepts, and promote their thinking about content all help establish writing efficiency. The program helps students grow as thinkers and writers because it states explicitly what students must do to be successful. St. Jude’s ITBS language scores have increased since our implementation of the Collins’ writing program.

Service Projects (Grades Kindergarten -8th):
Each child participates in a grade related service project that supports St. Jude’s faith journey of helping and supporting others in and around our community.

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade

Kindergarten:
St. Jude Kindergarten is a full-day academic-based program with a focus on developing appropriate social skills and interaction with peers. The child is nurtured in their individual emotional, social, spiritual, physical, and intellectual growth.

In Religion students learn traditional prayers and the practices of our Catholic faith, attend Mass and Adoration, and learn to pray the Rosary. The Christ Our Life religion series by Loyola Press stresses Catholic traditions, scripture, signs and celebrations of the Catholic Church, Christian morality, and their application to daily life.

Reading is taught using McGraw Hill’s Beginning to Read, Write, and Listen. The series teaches vocabulary building/picture identification and interpretation, following oral directions, auditory discrimination and recognition of sounds, visual recognition of letters, blending phonemes to read and write words. The development of spelling concepts, awareness of action words, the development of singular/plural concepts and reading comprehension skills, retelling of a story in sequence, and dictating personal experiences for written work are also taught.

Handwriting is presented using the Zaner Bloser program. The focus of the series is the development of correct letter and number formation using acceptable space in relation to written letters and words, and correct pencil grip.

Everyday Mathematics, published by the Wright Company, develops higher order math thinking skills. Fundamental math concepts and problem solving skills are introduced and practiced daily. Areas of concentration are sorting and classifying, place value, geometry, patterns, numbers, graphs, fractions, addition, subtraction, money, time, measurement, estimations, and math games.

In Science experimentation and hands on activities are used to develop an understanding of nature and the function of living things, the principals of physics and chemistry in living/non-living things, the scientific method, and the characteristics and interactions between the Earth and space.

Social Studies in kindergarten introduces the children to citizenship, current events, economics in terms of wants and needs, and the importance of rules in family, school, and community environments. Primary Social Studies Skills published by Nystrom teaches map reading/creating and basic geography skills.

First Grade:
In first grade, our children enter a more structured environment. The curriculum offers children a broad, rich, and balanced experience that emphasizes content, skills, and concepts with opportunities for independent thinking.

Religion:
The Blest Are We series introduces first graders to our church community and their Sunday worship, our loving God as presented in the Gospels, Baptism and the Holy Spirit, the gift of Eucharist, prayers, saints, feasts, and church seasons. Students attend weekly Mass, Adoration, praying of the Rosary, and Stations of the Cross.

Language Arts:
The first grade Reading experience progresses the children from emergent to independent readers thriving in whole and small group instruction. Phonemic awareness, auditory processing, comprehension strategies, and exposure to all genres of literature, developing listening and speaking skills are all components of the program.

The Spelling program introduces challenging as well as high frequency words for mastery. Students apply decoding skills and phonics in daily work, and in their writing, and on their spelling and spelling application tests.

Employing the Collins Writing approach, students use their grammar and spelling skills in their narrative, persuasive, descriptive, creative, and poetry writing.

Zaner Bloser Handwriting teaches proper pencil grip, spacing, slant, legibility, and proper posture.

Math:
Everyday Mathematics, published by the Wright Company, stresses numeration and number sense, operations and computation, data and chance, measurement and reference, geometry, patterns, functions, and algebra. The children expand their knowledge of these concepts through hands-on learning and math games.

Science:
The first grade students are engaged in learning about their bodies focusing on the skeletal and circulatory system, their senses, and the food pyramid. The physical science areas presented are gravity, magnets, states of matter, the water cycle, and static electricity. Learning about simple machines, weather/seasons, volcanoes, earthquakes, friction, and preserving the environment are taught. All areas are explored through hands-on activities and experimentation.

Social Studies:
Children learn about multiple themes such as citizenship, current events, economics, geography, government, history of the Unites States, and world cultures. The appreciation of our heritage and the differences in the world is emphasized.

Second Grade:
Special importance is placed on the preparation and celebration of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in second grade. Students experience and begin to understand God’s forgiveness through repentance and God’s eternal love.

Religion:
The Blest Are We series is used to guide the children in their most essential experiences of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. They begin to understand the nature of sin and God’s readiness to forgive them. Affirming their belief that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and learning the steps involved in receiving Jesus brings them closer to our God.

Language Arts:
Second grade is the introduction of the McGraw Hill Reading series. A focus on various genres, comprehension skills, fluency in reading, trade books, and study skills strengthens basic reading skills.

McGraw Hill Language introduces and expands syntax and punctuation, parts of speech and sentence structure. Employing the Collins Writing approach, students use their grammar and spelling skills in their narrative, persuasive, descriptive, creative, and poetry writing.

The Spelling program introduces challenging as well as high frequency words for mastery. Students apply decoding skills and phonics in daily work, and in their writing, and on their spelling and spelling application tests.

Zaner Bloser Handwriting reviews and refines manuscript skills and introduces cursive handwriting.

Math:
Everyday Mathematics provides a balanced curriculum that stresses operations and computation, geometry, algebra, measurement, fractions, money, time, data and chance graphing, patterns, and problem solving strategies.

Science:
Features of the earth, planets and solar system, matter and energy, dinosaurs and fossils, magnets and electricity, respiratory and digestive systems, and animal classifications are thematic units studied through observation and experimentation.

Social Studies:
Thematic units in Social Studies include: communities, American celebrations and family celebrations, economics, government rules, laws and community jobs in the Untied States, and history and communities of the past. Integrating these themes with People and Places by Scott Foresman and Maps and Globes by Steck Vaughn exposes the children to a balanced growth in social studies.

Grades Third - Fifth
Grades Sixth - Eighth