Math

The math curriculum we’re using in room 13 this year is called “Real Math.”  It provides the students with a solid foundation of calculation and computation strategies while also giving them ample opportunities to put their skills to work in solving word problems and story problems.  The curriculum provides wonderful online resources such as visual presentations of each lesson and daily mental math practice that can be projected on our classroom’s digital projector.  Real Math is also very strong in assessment, which allows the teacher to provide very specific, structured feedback to students when they demonstrate they have yet to master a concept being taught.

Reading

We’ve been using a reading curriculum called Jr. Great Books this year.  It emphasizes the skill of asking “interpretive questions” about a text.  These are questions that help the students dig beneath the surface of a text and look at some of the more intricate, deeper meanings.  An interpretive question has no right answer, but instead encourages the students to look at all the multi-faceted reasons that an event might have happened or a character acted as they did.

History

We will be studying five main eras of American history this year.  The first will teach us about the ancient civilizations that existed on this continent before Europeans arrived.  The second will teach us about the exploration of the continent by Europeans.  The third will teach us about the colonies and colonial life.  The fourth will teach us about westward expansion.  The last will teach us about the Civil War and reconstruction.  In each, we will integrate plenty of reading and writing so as to create a multi-curricular unit that will approach the topic from many approaches.