Intermediate – 3rd, 4th & 5th Grades

The primary purpose of St. Cecelia Catholic School is to provide instruction of the Catholic Faith. Religion is not looked upon as another subject, but rather as a way of living; a process of developing a lifelong relationship with God.  The school is an extension of the Catholic home in supporting the instruction of Catholic values.  Daily prayers, religious instruction, liturgies, and community service are part of the total experience for grades three through five. Sophia Institute Spirit of Truth provides the necessary text and religious support materials.  

Novel Study Instruction:  The Language Arts curriculum is literature based with the integration of reading, writing, listening, and oral speaking activities. Students read novels as a whole group and then use the novels to explore and master all grade level language arts skill.  Students work on phonics, grammar, spelling, comprehension and handwriting (D’Nealian).  Trade books, individual teacher-student book talks, guided reading, short stories (fiction and nonfiction), and read alouds are used throughout the primary grades. This rigorous program focuses on text-based comprehension and writing across all subject areas, strengthening students’ foundational skills, and enhancing student vocabulary.  This comprehensive program is supplemented with Language Arts IXL. https://www.ixl.com

Writing

Grades 3-5

Writing in the intermediate grades focuses on helping students to express their thoughts and ideas with an audience in mind.  Students learn to write narratives, opinion, expository, and poetry pieces.  Grammar and punctuation skills are integrated throughout the writing process.  Writing instruction is integrated throughout subject areas.  Writers Workshop occurs during the Language Arts Block.  Students focus on the 6 Traits of Writing.  Rubrics are used to assess student work.

Sadlier – https://www.sadlier.com/school/sadlier-math-preview

A comprehensive core math program provides a pedagogy which reflects the keystones of mathematical learning that empowers students to:

• Foster conceptual understanding and skill development with a cohesive grouping of lessons, explicit instruction, and guided and independent practice.
• Strengthen metacognitive development and promote learning with abundant real-world problem solving and applications related to STEAM.
• Harness innovative support for teaching and learning with embedded professional development, robust digital tools, and a comprehensive assessment plan.

Beginning in the third grade, students focus on plants and animals, weather, life science, and energy/force/motion. In fourth grade, students focus on Earth’s rotation and revolution, rocks and minerals, plants and animals of Florida, and energy.  Brain POP and Science IXL are frequently used for enrichment.  In fifth grade students focus on the human body systems, Earth and space, Earth’s water and weather, properties of matter, forces, and forms of energy. Each grade level focuses on a hands-on approach to the scientific method, with observations, and other process skills used by scientists.

At each grade level, students are provided opportunities to learn and apply the lessons from the study of history, geography, political science, and economics. Helping students develop a global perspective and an appreciation of cultures, other than their own, is emphasized through the instructional program.

The Studies Weekly publications help students create enduring understandings about the world they inhabit.  Skills to reinforce reading of nonfiction material are introduced and utilized throughout the curriculum.  In third grade, students learn about the regions in the United States, government and civics, economics, geography of North America, and cultures around the world.  The fourth-grade classes study Florida history, allowing them to deeply engage in the historic people and places in our very own state.  The study of our state’s history comes alive with our overnight field trip to St. Augustine. The fifth-grade classes tackle the early inhabitants of the Americas, the discoveries of the Europeans, and the history of the United States from colonization through the Civil War.  Fifth grade’s study of economics culminates with a day of students putting free enterprise into practice during the Enterprise Village event at the Stavros Center.  A wide range of varied online resources help to shape and deepen the students’ understandings of all concepts.