Language Arts and Reading: In our interdisciplinary Language Arts and Reading program, students work on the basic building blocks of writing and language, covering the alphabet and its discrete phonemes. Phonics lessons help solidify spelling and reading skills. Reading grade-appropriate books helps students expand their vocabularies and develop reading comprehension strategies.  

Science: In their first official science class, 1st graders practice how to make scientific observations and predictions, and collect data. They learn about the three main types of science: life, earth, and physical science. Teachers use interactive lessons to help foster students’ interest in all fields of science, covering diverse topics such as the characteristics of living and non-living things, plants and animals, rocks, fossils, seasons, weather, matter, sound, and magnets.

Grammar and Composition: First grade is an important year for young writers as they begin to learn and adopt the steps of the writing process: brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, and publishing. All six of these areas are given special focus, culminating in students publishing their work in area writing contests. Students learn core building blocks of the written English language, practicing parts of speech and experimenting with sentence types and paragraph structures. As students become more adept at structured writing, they begin to add details, feelings, and expression to the stories they write.

Math: In their first formal mathematics course, 1st graders focus on highly practical applications of math to help them see the beauty and joy of the subject. Students develop an understanding of measurement, patterns, money, fractions, and counting through a variety of interactive activities such as number stores and demonstrations. Teachers use hands-on approaches to encourage students to ask questions and cultivate mathematical curiosity.

Social Studies: In their first official history class, 1st grade students begin to develop a better understanding of the world around them. Their main focus is on family life, our world, good citizenship, and professions. Students are introduced to important skills such as reading timelines, maps, and graphs. Intermingled in the program are short biographies and international studies.

Additional Subjects: Art, Library/Reading Buddies, Music, Outdoor Education, Physical Education and Spanish.

Language Arts and Reading: For our young readers, 2nd grade is a year of growth and exploration as their reading skills greatly expand and progress. Students build good strategies for decoding the author’s purpose and reading with fluency. They study how an author thinks and how viewpoints can affect the way text is written and portrayed. Second graders learn to discern the difference between facts and opinions and begin to craft their own opinions using more complex word structures and syntax.

Science: Students continue to explore the world of science in an integrated manner, exploring the various types of life that surround us every day. Second graders study types of habitats and the Earth, both as our home and in its position in the solar system. Students learn more about the weather and weather-recording instruments, finishing out the year with units on forces, simple machines, and sound.

Grammar and Composition: Students in 2nd grade are challenged in both grammar and composition as they pay special attention to relationships between words such as synonyms, antonyms, and explore other vocabulary usages. Students delve deeper into the various forms of writing, including biographies, letters, narratives, and persuasive writing as they begin to refine and expand their work. As their reading skills and information processing abilities improve, 2nd graders begin writing and presenting book reports that are vivid, concise, and use detailed imagery to express their ideas and viewpoints.

Math: The 2nd grade math program builds upon students’ ability to use and manipulate numbers in a variety of ways. Confidence with addition, subtraction, number operations, and measurement is solidified as students begin to take apart whole numbers using fractions, decimals, and place values. Students build arrays to understand the concepts of multiplication and division. Teachers work individually with students to help foster understanding and provide suitable challenges for each young mathematician.

Social Studies: Students learn to identify continents, regions, countries, and oceans on a map using a map key, compass rose, and a grid pattern. Students explore the intersection of history and geography through the study of the great ancient river civilizations and later empires in Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt. Students learn to compare and contrast while discussing cultural contributions made by inhabitants of these regions. As their study of the world continues, students turn to North America before the arrival of Europeans and explore the cultural achievements of Native Americans. Students apply their knowledge of ancient and modern cultures to their study of maps through a variety of independent and cooperative activities.  

Additional Subjects: Art, Library/Reading Buddies, Outdoor Education, Music, Physical Education and Spanish.

Language Arts and Reading: Third grade marks an important transition in students’ reading abilities from learning how to read, to reading to gain knowledge. Students move from the mindset of simply reading text to thinking outside of what they read, making inferences, developing predictions, and drawing conclusions. Third graders also develop the abilities to summarize and effectively describe the main idea of a book or article as they prepare to form their own stories.

Science: As 3rd graders’ curiosity continues to grow, the complexity of the integrated science curriculum continues to grow, and teachers help students to develop and construct experiments. Both Science and Language Arts are entwined as they work as work their way through complex problems and experiments where they learn to apply the scientific method and logical thought processes and write about both.

Grammar and Composition: Building on skills from earlier grades, 3rd grade focuses on a student’s ability to develop more sophisticated stories and expository pieces. Students are introduced to the stylistic conventions and strategies used in personal narratives, letters, reports, and news stories as they learn to construct their own. Students learn the art of letter-writing as a life skill, practicing invitations, thank-you notes, and envelope layouts. Students also continue to hone the crucial cognitive skill of identifying main ideas by summarizing what they learn in concise, logical texts. 

Math: Third grade math represents a marked jump in difficulty and complexity, adding multiplication and division to students’ math toolbox. The world of math opens up to curious students as they learn more ways to manipulate numbers and describe their surroundings in mathematical terms. New concepts of probability, geometry, and linear measurements are introduced, as students achieve mastery in basic arithmetic.

Ancient History: Third graders continue in-depth studies of ancient civilizations. Their focus is on the history and cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Units exploring the great myths of antiquity interweave language arts skills while skits and plays give students a chance to work on public speaking skills. All history units lend themselves to hands-on and cross-curricular projects and writing assignments such as building model castles and writing in the style of some famous authors of the time.

Additional Subjects: Art, Library/Reading Buddies, Music, Physical Education, Outdoor Education and Spanish.

Literature: Fourth grade marks students’ first true literature course, as they read timeless novels such as Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting. As fourth graders progress through various novels, they learn to draw their own conclusions and identify subtextual meanings and themes in the text. These literary analysis skills will prepare them well for middle school and beyond.

Science: Students continue to develop their understanding of the world they live in and the changes that occur above and beneath its surface. Students explore meteorological and geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and weather through interactive explorations and experiments. Teachers weave the classical curriculum mindset of logic and rhetoric into STEM through the Annual WCDS Science Fair where students conduct thoughtful experiments and present their findings to the entire school community.

Grammar and Composition: As students grow and blossom into writers and authors, the expectations regarding sentence structure, writing style, and length increase. Students learn to apply their composition skills across subject areas as they write about history and science. Students explore multiple genres such as reports, essays, and letter writing focusing on clear organization, logical structure, and well-formulated opinions.

Math: The fourth-grade math program solidifies previous years’ math skills, enables students to explain math concepts in clear, concise ways, and fosters students’ problem-solving abilities. Students tackle larger and more complex mathematical operations and explore 2D and 3D shapes in depth. Spatial cognition is stressed as fourth graders learn about angles, symmetry, and reflections as they prepare for middle school geometry coursework.

American History Part 1: Students begin an in-depth study of the history of the United States, beginning with the Native Americans of North America and progressing to the struggles of colonial America and the troubles of a young nation. Field trips and projects such as the famed WCDS live wax museum are hallmarks of a fourth grade education, as students integrate skills learned across other subject areas.

Additional Subjects: Art, Library/Reading Buddies, Music, Physical Education, Outdoor Education and Spanish.

Literature: In students’ second year of literature, the topic of literary elements (e.g. metaphors, similes) is introduced. Novels begin to grow in length and complexity, and students learn how to engage successfully with longer reading assignments and complex themes. Fifth graders read a selection of American literature that supplements their history class and take a deep dive into poetry and short stories, gaining exposure to a wide variety of written expressive forms.

Grammar and Composition: With basic grammar structures covered, 5th graders can delve into more complex grammar topics such as modifiers, phrases, and clauses. Students also learn sentence diagramming to logically pick apart sentences and analyze their core structures. In composition, students continue exploring their personal narratives and conduct research reports that tackle complex topics and synthesize information from a variety of sources.

Math: With a solid mastery of numeric operations, 5th graders begin to deepen their understanding of exploring number theory and estimation as tools in their mathematics toolbox. Additionally, algebraic thinking is introduced to students through negative numbers and exponential functions. The coordinate plane is also introduced to help students visualize concepts of volume, capacity, and linear functions.

World and Environmental Geography and History: Fifth grade history builds on the foundation laid in 4th grade, exploring US history from the Reconstruction Era through modern times, with an emphasis on important people and events, as well as pivotal social and political movements. Students examine US history not just internally but also in terms of America’s role on the larger geopolitical stage. Students continue building an understanding of how history is to be studied by learning how to interpret a variety of sources such as charts, graphs, primary sources, and biographies. Students are asked to discern the important data and facts from these sources and articulate them in their own words. Complementing their study of history is a thorough study of US geography, with students focusing on mastery of the location, abbreviations, and capitals of all 50 states. Students will demonstrate their understanding through quizzes, tests, and a variety of research projects. 

Science: Fifth grade science is a foundational and thought-provoking course covering Earth, Physical, and Life Science. Students begin with topics ranging from weather to volcanoes, then move on to physical sciences, where they build a foundation of understanding matter and energy to prepare them for future physics courses. Students perform controlled experiments and understand the importance of math in conjunction with science, setting up experiments and encouraging the constant questioning of how things work. Finally, the last third of the year provides students the opportunity to discover how plants and life work, covering topics such as life structure and function, cells and cell processes, including that of bacteria and plants. 

Additional Classes: Spanish, Music, Art, Outdoor Education and Team Sports

The visual arts program at WCDS introduces students to a variety of materials and techniques, including drawing, painting, collage, basic printmaking, fiber arts, and sculpture. In twice-weekly classes, they learn to recognize the fundamental elements of art while continually improving their basic motor skills and developing their confidence as budding artists. Many art projects have cross-curricular components, inspired by books, art history, traditional folk crafts, and nature. Students experience how art and creative expression can help them process the world around them. Students study music twice a week and develop a fundamental understanding of sound, tone, composition, rhythm, and, of course, instruments. As a showcase of the skills students have mastered, they prepare pieces for their bi-annual concert performances. Students may also choose to pursue instrumental lessons further, depending on the student’s time constraints and wishes.

The Lower School Spanish program consists of an introduction to the language that is cumulative and theme-based. The goal is to immerse students in both the Spanish language and culture. As students explore the Hispanophone world, they experience the rich songs, books, arts, and culture of Latin America and Spanish-speaking Europe through interactive activities and technology-enhanced extension activities to encourage active speech and usage. Lessons in Spanish are centered around practical themes such as greetings, family, animals, numbers, colors, weather, clothing, and holidays.