Montessori Upper Elementary Curriculum

Our Upper Elementary class curriculum includes Language Arts, Math, Science, and History objectives. Extra-curricular offerings including P.E., Spanish, art, computer technology, and music are also incorporated for all students.

Upper Elementary language arts includes listening and speaking, comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing skills. Students participate in journal writing, process writing, and formal writing including book reports, essays, and writing assessments.

Specific Objectives for Upper Elementary Language Arts

Listening and Speaking Skills

1.00 Receptive skills
     1.10 Listens to others with eye contact and positive body language
            demonstrating respect for others
     1.20 Follows verbal directions
     1.30 Blocks out extraneous noise/conversations and maintains work focus
     1.40 Can synthesize material and record important facts or concepts in
            note-taking form
2.00 Speaking skills
     2.10 Speaks publicly before a small group, communicating ideas effectively               2.10.1 Informative presentation
          2.10.2 Persuasive presentation
          2.10.3 Distinguishes between feelings, emotional, and rational information
          2.30.4 Participates in reports, oral presentations, drama, debates, etc.

Comprehension

1.00 Comprehension
     1.10 Sequences events in a story by beginning, middle, an end
     1.20 Reads and answers comprehension questions on grade level
            with > 80% accuracy
     1.30 Determines fact or opinion in statements
     1.40 Determines cause and effect
     1.50 Makes predictions, draws inferences, and conclusions from what is read2.00 Combined tasks
     2.10 Works independently to complete a task by following written directions
     2.20 Reads for pleasure *
          2.20.1 Defines and identifies: legends; myths; fairy tales; biographies;
                    autobiographies, fiction; non-fiction
     2.30 Participates in Jr. Great Books reading and Literature Discussion Circles

Vocabulary

1.00 Word Study
     1.10 Defines and creates compound words, contractions
     1.20 Defines and identifies: root word, suffixes, and prefixes
     1.30 Defines and applies examples: Antonyms, anonyms, synonyms,
            homonyms, similes, metaphors
     1.40 Uses reference texts appropriately
          1.40.1 Dictionary: Locates words, parts of speech, definitions
                    using guide words; identifies etymology of words
          1.40.2 Thesaurus: Locates synonyms
          1.40.3 Encyclopedia: Locates information an a topic
          1.40.4 Atlas
          1.40.5 Almanac
          1.40.6 Telephone book
          1.40.7 Uses Computer card catalog or Dewey decimal system in library          1.50 Classifies vocabulary terms and creates a chart

Spelling Skills

1.00 Uses spelling strategies to accurately spell words
2.00 Spells words at grade level using knowledge of spelling rules and patterns
3.00 Studies for spelling tests and demonstrates practical life test-taking skills

Grammar

1.00 Defines parts of speech and identifies each part within a sentence:
    1.10 Noun
          1.10.1 Proper and common
          1.10.2 Concrete, abstract, collective, predicate nouns, masculine
                    and feminine, possessive, compound, plural
          1.10.3 Article/noun agreement
    1.20 Verb
          1.20.1 Action verbs: Visible and mental actions, transitive and intransitive
          1.20.2 Linking verbs
          1.20.3 Helping verbs and verb phrases
          1.20.4 Verbals: Participles, gerunds, and infinitives
     1.30 Adjectives
          1.30.1 Articles as adjectives
          1.30.2 Nouns as adjectives
          1.30.3 Proper adjectives
          1.30.4 Degrees of comparison
          1.30.5 Predicate adjectives
    1.40 Adverbs
          1.40.1 Modifying adverbs
          1.40.2 Adverbs with adjectives
          1.40.3 Adverbs with adverbs
     1.50 Pronouns
          1.50.1 Personal, antecedents, agreement, nominative, objective,
                    possessive, reflexive intensive, demonstrative, interrogative,
                    indefinite
          1.50.2 Who/whoever; whom/whomever
     1.60 Conjunctions: Coordinating, correlative, subordinating
     1.70 Others: Interjections, prepositions, and prepositional phrases
2.00 Locates within a sentence: subject; predicate; direct object
     2.10 Complete, simple, compound, hidden subjects
     2.20 Verb Tenses and Conjugation: Simple, principle parts, compound,
             perfect, progressive tenses
3.00 Clauses, phrases, and sentences
     3.10 Prepositional, appositive, and verbal phrases
     3.20 Independent, subordinate, adjective, adverb, and noun clauses
     3.30 Simple, compound, complex, compound/complex
     3.40 Declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences
4.00 Punctuation
     4.10 Correctly utilizes hyphen, colon, semi-colon, and quotation marks

Writing Skills

1.00 Written words
     1.10 Writes legibly in cursive (slant, spacing, letter formation)
     1.20 Types using both hands; approximates proper finger placement
     1.30 Understands function and correct use of underline and italics
     1.40 Utilizes formatting including font and justification
     1.50 Writes for self (journal) as well as for others
2.00 Writing process
     2.10 prewrite (making notes, generating a web, creating an outline)
     2.20 draft (handwritten process writing on lined paper, skipping lines)
     2.30 revising (intended audience, clarity, word choice, peer conferencing)
     2.40 editing (correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation; use of common
            editing marks)
     2.50 publishing (typing and formatting work for publication)
          2.50.1 self-published class anthologies
          2.50.2 submitting work for publication
3.00 Modes and forms of writing
     3.10 narrative (first and third person narratives)
     3.20 descriptive (in isolation and as a component of other writing)
     3.30 persuasive
     3.40 expository (research reports)
     3.50 essays (three and five paragraph formats)
     3.60 book reports
     3.70 poetry (acrostic, haiku, cinquain, sonnet, etc.)
     3.80 letter format (friendly and business letters)
4.00 Conventions of formal writing  
     4.10 Capitalizes correctly
     4.20 Utilizes punctuation correctly: End marks; commas; quotation marks;
            colons; semicolons; hyphens; abbreviations; apostrophes
     4.30 Applies grammar skills to writing
     4.40 Applies spelling skills to writing

* Reading instruction is accomplished through read-aloud, self-selection, and by assignment for group discussion work. Reading spans the gamut from short prose, poetry, media, SRA, Barnell-Loft, chapter books, Junior Great Books, Newberry Books, and classics.