English Language Arts

Goldwood Primary is committed to a structured literacy model grounded in the Science of Reading. Our language arts program is direct, explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic. The five key concepts of reading include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These components will be delivered via the following curricula:

• Heggerty 

• Fundations

• Wit and Wisdom

• Geodes

Diagnostics are administered universally 3 times per year as well as formative and summative assessments completed in the classroom. These standards-based measures evaluate student knowledge which guide and tailor our instruction to best fit all students’ needs. 

Heggerty - Designed to supplement your existing literacy curriculum, the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Kindergarten lessons easily integrate into half-day or full-day kindergarten programs. When lessons are taught consistently each day teachers see improvement in students’ reading, spelling, and writing, as the students learn to hear the sounds in words. 

Fundations -  Fundations® utilizes a structured literacy approach grounded in the science of reading to make learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for lifelong literacy. The program’s research-based approach and extensive materials allow K–3 teachers to confidently present a carefully structured reading, spelling, and handwriting curriculum using engaging, multisensory techniques. Fundations is aligned with the science of reading and guides teachers to provide effective instructional practices. 

• Fundations Orientation During the Fundations Orientation lessons, students will be working with their classroom teacher to establish various routines and new concepts that will guide their learning as they work with Fundations for the entire year. 

• K Fundations Unit 1-- Unit 1 contains many new concepts for our kindergarten readers. Each week introduces 2 or 3 letters. New concepts covered in Unit 1 include: Letter-Keyword-Sound for consonants and short vowels, letter formation for lowercase letters a-z, sound recognition for consonants and short vowels, print and word awareness, rhyming, phonemic awareness for initial and final sounds, story retelling, beginning composition skills, and fluency and phrasing with echo and choral reading. 

• K Fundations Unit 2-- Unit 2 is 4 weeks long, and new concepts include:

  • Phonemic awareness skills such as blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds.

  • Blending and reading three-sound short vowel words. For example: map, mad, and rat.

  • Story prediction 

  • Alphabetical Order 

  • Upper-case letter formation

  • This unit will focus on tapping to blend and segment words correctly. We've learned 2 main strategies to help us hear all the sounds in words. You may see your students start using these strategies at home! Here is what “tapping out” a word should look and sound like if you were using your thumb and fingers to tap out the word "map". On one hand, touch your index finger to your thumb and say the /m/ sound. Then, have your middle finger touch your thumb and say the /a/ sound. Next, have your ring finger touch your thumb and say the /p/ sound. Blend the sounds together to say "map" and have all three fingers close on the thumb. 

  • Another tapping out strategy that may be a little easier is using our arms and hands. The student stretches one arm straight out in front of them and places their other hand on their shoulder. If we were using the word "map," the first sound /m/ would be when they tap their shoulder, The /a/ sound would be when they tap their elbow, and the /p/ sound would be when they tap their wrist. Then they blend it together by moving or making a smoothing motion from their shoulder to their wrist saying the whole word quickly like "map!" 

• K Fundations Unit 3-- Kindergarten Fundations Unit 3 focuses on tapping, tapping, tapping! This unit's concepts continue to build students' foundation of phonemic awareness skills such as blending, segmenting, and manipulating the sounds in words. Nonsense words are also introduced in the CVC word pattern. Examples of nonsense words include "bez" and "sut" We will also start to work on distinguishing between long and short vowels sounds. Trick words covered include: the, a, and, are, to, is, his as, has, and was. 

• K Fundations Unit 4-- Digraphs are the major concept learned in K Fundations Unit 4. The digraphs we focus on include wh, ch, sh, th, and ck. Students will start decoding three-sound words containing these digraphs such as bath, chop, and thick. The trick words covered in this unit include: we, she, he, be, me, I, you, and they. 

• K Fundations Unit 5-- Unit 5 in Kindergarten Fundations focuses on basic sentence structure. We will be practicing many writing concepts as we work in this unit such as an uppercase letter at the beginning of the sentence, spaces between words, and sight words spelled correctly. The trick words covered in this unit include: or, for, of, have, from, by, my, do, and one. 

Geodes - Geodes® are information-rich books that provide emerging readers with an opportunity to build knowledge while practicing foundational reading skills.  

Wit and Wisdom -  is a comprehensive K–8 English language arts curriculum crafted to help students build the knowledge and skills they need to be successful readers, exceptional writers, and effective communicators.   

As we work through the each module, students will continue to build their foundational skills related to the reading process, as well as speaking and listening. Students will be exposed to a balance of literary, informational, and fine arts texts.  Within the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, students will begin to build background knowledge and vocabulary in order to construct a strong foundation for reading comprehension. 

Math 

Eureka Math Squared - From building conceptual understanding to creating ‘aha’ moments, we’re here to support both students and teachers. We promote student-led exploration and reinforce procedural fluency to support students and teachers. Eureka Math² makes knowledge stick so students grasp the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind the numbers. 

• Digital lessons and interactives fuel student discourse.

• Math context videos provide students with low floor/high ceiling learning opportunities as they explore real-world math.

• Family Math and Practice Partners provide caregivers with guidance on how to best support their mathematicians at home.

• Open-middle and open-ended tasks empower students to find their own solution pathways.

• Hands-on math manipulatives provide students with kinesthetic learning opportunities.

Science

National Geographic -  Our Science program focuses on the state of Ohio and consists of 4 units: Science, Engineering, and Technology, Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. We will learn about the nature of science, how to solve problems, living and non-living things, Earth and sky, and objects in our world; all while following real life National Geographic Scientists who are solving real world problems.  

Social Studies

Pearson's myWorld Social Studies - Correlating with the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, our Social Studies program highlights the importance of working in the 21st Century learning environment and skills needed in order to be a thoughtful and successful citizen in our community. The chapters focus on cooperating family and school environments, various jobs people have in our world, where we live, traditions, and life then and now.