Religion
The fourth graders study Creation, the Trinity, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Beatitudes, and the Ten Commandments. They do crafts such as windsocks for Lent, and Easter stained glass windows. The fifth graders’ basic teachings are the mystery of God, Creation, and Jesus, the Word made flesh who lived, suffered, died to free us, and redeem us by drawing us to God in love. They also study the Seven Sacraments with special emphasis on the celebration of the Eucharist. They learn the Beatitudes, Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, reflections on the lives of the Saints, special feast days, Marks of the Church, and the Liturgical year. Sacred Scripture is integrated in all lessons. The sixth grade program focuses on Salvation History as presented in the Hebrew Scriptures culminating in Jesus’ coming. The students are encouraged to develop a personal relationship with God and the Church community through His Son, Jesus. The program includes a variety of prayer forms and an active participation in the liturgy. There is also an emphasis on the various seasons of the Liturgical Year. Above all, the aim is to awaken an awareness within students that God has given them the Holy Spirit and the freedom to choose good and avoid evil. It centers on God’s abiding presence with them on their journey to His Kingdom.
In the intermediate grades the students review familiar prayers and learn new prayers. Each grade organizes a monthly Liturgy of the school community. In addition, student from each class is selected every month as the All around Christian Example.
English Language Arts/Reading
The fourth graders develop and build their writing skills to prepare for the NYS English Language Arts Test. Reading emphasizes comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and literary elements. Listening skills are also developed and reinforced. The fifth graders learn grammar and writing skills. Spelling is integrated in all subjects. Narratives, letter writing, summaries, descriptions, and comparisons are all included in writing skills. Listening skills include group discussions, oral reports, dictations, and overall instructions. Fifth grade reading follows the NYS standards with a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction subject content. The sixth grade English Language Arts program reinforces and expands upon English grammar, usage and mechanics. Creative writing is built around different styles and steps in the writing process. Vocabulary, spelling, and sentence structure are stressed. Sixth grade reading deals with fiction and nonfiction and a wide variety of reading and writing experiences that will enhance the student’s overall ELA education.
ELA in the intermediate grades focuses on developing the student’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Literature appreciation is emphasized throughout the intermediate grades.
Math
Math concepts stressed in the fourth grade are place value, operations, two-step word problems, geometry, fractions, decimals, long division, graphs, and measurement. Manipulatives are used throughout the year to reinforce concepts. As a result the fourth graders, are well prepared for the NYS Math Test. The fifth grade math curriculum follows the NYS Math Standards beginning with number concepts to operations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Fractions, decimals, ratios, proportion, and percents are all taught at the grade level. Also, measurement, uncertainty and probability are dealt with on a fifth-grade level. The sixth grade reviews and strengthens previous or acquired skills as well as cultivating new ones. Sixth graders develop strategies for solving word problems, reinforce skills in computation, and get familiar with organizing data into a wide variety of graphs, tables, and diagrams. Topics include drawing and measuring angles, properties of different polygons, operations and applications with fractions and decimals, and other areas in measurement, uncertainty, probability, patterns, and functions are also covered. Manipulatives are implemented to strengthen skills.
In the intermediate grades, the curriculum sets a strong foundation anchored in the standards of problem solving/reasoning, numbers and numeration, operations, measurement, geometry, uncertainty, and patterns and functions. The students are provided with a solid basis for math in the junior high levels.
Science
Fourth grade science curriculum includes process skills, animals and plants, the human body, electricity, magnets, and personal health. Students use manipulatives throughout the year to help prepare for the hands-on section of the NYS Science Test. Fifth grade science is concerned with both the living and physical environments. Topics of Life Study include: recognizing the similarities/differences of living things; understanding that organisms and species change over time; understanding how plants and animals depend on the physical environment and how they change the environment, and recognizing the interconnectedness of all living things. Physical Setting topics include: understanding that much of what happens on earth involves interactions among air, water and land; understanding that matter is made up of particles which determine its characteristics; understanding that energy exists in many forms, and recognizing that energy and matter interact through forces that result in change. The sixth-grade curriculum focuses on Physical Science. Students learn about the physical world around them with experiments, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Topics include the atomic theory, properties of matter and the different states of matter, motion, forces, energy, and solutions. Students learn the role of these things in the physical world as well as the living environment. Sixth graders use the science lab to conduct experiments and to get acquainted with proper lab procedures.
Social Studies
Fourth graders learn about the history and geography of New York State and New York City. They study the resources and people of colonial New York City and State up until the 1900s. The fourth graders discuss current events each week using newspaper articles and an end-of-year project on their favorite topic in social studies. The fourth graders are well prepared for the fifth grade NYS Social Studies test. The fifth graders learn about America’s turning points; colonization and pre- and post-American Revolution by focusing on exploration, encounter, migration, and urbanization. They also study contemporary life in North and South America including the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The sixth grade curriculum covers the Eastern Hemisphere. Students gain insight into the history, geography, and cultures of Asia, Africa, and Europe, from the River Civilizations through the Middle Ages to the present.
All intermediate grades include the NYS Standards of citizenship, government, economics, history, and geography.