Grades K-5

The daily curriculum consists of:
1) Reading – Language Arts
2) Mathematics
3) Science
4) Social Studies
5) Fine Arts (Physical Education, Music, STEM)

Language Arts Daily Components:

• Word Work – explicit and meaningful instruction in phonics and other principles of how words are constructed.

• Close-In Study of Grade Level Complex Text – Teachers read text aloud, share the reading, and use multi-media to engage students in the reading and rereading of grade level text.

• Explicit Reading Instruction – Students are taught reading skills and strategies and given the chance to apply those skills and strategies in many ways: independent practice, with the guidance of the teacher, practice with peers, and through reflection.

• Explicit Writing Instruction – Students are taught critical writing skills and given time to practice those skills independently, with the guidance of the teacher, and with their peers.

• Vocabulary Instruction – Academic and domain-specific vocabulary words are taught in the context of reading and writing.

The students at Great Beginnings Academy Orlando learn to read and/or become better readers by mastering the following:

Five Areas of Reading

• Phonemic Awareness – the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken language.

• Phonics – the study of the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent.

• Fluency – the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression.

• Vocabulary – refers to the word we must know to communicate effectively.

• Comprehension – the ability to understand what is read; it is the ultimate goal of all reading activity.

We utilize a variety of reading resources. Our base curriculum includes:
iReady LAFS by Curriculum Associates and SRA Reading Mastery.

Science Daily Components:

Effective learning in science enables our students to connect and apply science concepts and processes to everyday events. The students at Great Beginnings Academy Orlando learn science by being actively engaged in the following ways:

• Quantitative and qualitative observations
• Investigation of thoughtful questions
• Design and conduct experiments and other types of investigations
• Collect and organize data
• Make logical predictions and offer reasonable explanations
• Explore possible conclusions
• Communicate their understanding

The elementary science program uses Florida Science Fusion by Houghton Mifflin-Harcourt as our base curriculum. We also utilize various other supplemental Science materials such as: Mometrix Science Test Preparation

Social Studies Daily Components:

Elementary Social Studies provides students with the opportunity to engage in learning high level content and skills as required by the State of Florida Standards for Social Studies which integrates with the Language Arts Florida Standards. Students learn concepts and content in the area of social science, giving students an understanding of the real world around them. Students learn about places, cultures, and events around the world, what conspired to make them the way they are. This allows students an opportunity to make inferences about how the rest of the world works.

It is our goal that through Social Studies instruction, students are provided with the knowledge, skills, strategies and experiences to become active citizens in local, state, national and global society.

Our Social Studies program utilizes a variety of resources including Social Studies in Elementary Education, Pearson. We also utilize the ELA texts for content area social studies.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Components:

Our STEM programs incorporate a problem-based approach to teaching that incorporates science, technology, engineering, and math inclusively to accomplish a task or solve a problem. This approach can be particularly challenging when a student is lacking in any of these particular fields. This is why STEM was created, to help build a better knowledge base of these four fields of study. As today’s society emerges in these fields, it is necessary to provide the fundamental skills in these four areas. By grouping these subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) together, students can see how they connect with one another, which will hopefully create a stronger understanding of these subjects.

The STEM program incorporates hands-on activities that are self-paced utilizing the four components of STEM.