Curriculum Guide
This guide provides a subject-by-subject overview of the District 401 curriculum for grades K-5.
The faculty and staff at both of our elementary schools — John Mills and Elmwood — are committed to giving our students every opportunity to meet and surpass the rigorous expectations of the Illinois State Learning Standards.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure that students leave District 401 ready for college success, career fulfillment and a lifetime of continual learning.
An Articulated Curriculum
To this end, the District has built a curriculum that is articulated across and within subjects, grade levels and schools.
"Articulation" refers to the coordination and logical progression of learning objectives and subject matter from course to course and from grade level to grade level.
When a curriculum is articulated, students are offered a seamless learning experience as they advance through their schooling, regardless of the building or classroom they are assigned to.
For example, if a student is enrolled in 5th grade at one of our elementary schools, that student will work with the same curriculum in each content area as other 5th graders in the classroom next door and at the District's other elementary building.
An Interactive Curriculum
To put this articulated framework into action, District 401 faculty members use standards-based curriculum materials featuring interactive e-texts. Our e-texts for grades K-5 include the following:
- Pearson | ReadyGEN for English language arts
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | GO Math! for mathematics
- STEMscopes for science
- Committee for Children | Second Step SEL for social and emotional learning
- Pearson | MyWorld Interactive for social studies
With an interactive, articulated curriculum, our teachers are in a position to use the same language and expectations in conjunction with continuously updated instructional materials.
K-5 Curriculum
To learn more about the K-5 curriculum at John Mills and Elmwood, click the rows located below.
Do you have general questions about curricular programming and content? If so, please contact Dr. Kimberly Ontiveros, the District's Director for Curriculum & Instruction.
Students receive instruction in English language arts (ELA) throughout their time at District 401's two elementary schools.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Common Core-based Illinois Learning Standards for English language arts.
Because District 401 is committed to offering an articulated curriculum that is consistent across grade levels and content areas, both elementary schools use the same ELA curricular programs.
In grades K-5, teachers and students use ReadyGEN as their ELA curriculum. This curriculum is designed to provide students with the skills and understanding they will need to do the following at the level appropriate to their specific grade:
► Key Ideas and Details
- Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
► Craft and Structure
- Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
- Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
► Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
- Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
- Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
- Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
►Range of reading and Level of text Complexity
- Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Students receive instruction in mathematics throughout their time at John Mills and Elmwood.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Common Core-based Illinois Learning Standards for math.
Because District 401 is committed to offering an articulated curriculum that is consistent across grade levels and content areas, both elementary schools use the same mathematics curricular programs.
In grades K-5, teachers and students use GO Math! as their math curriculum. This curriculum is designed to provide students with the skills and understanding they will need to do the following at the level appropriate to their specific grade:
- Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
- Model with mathematics.
- Use appropriate tools strategically.
- Attend to precision.
- Look for and make use of structure.
- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Students receive instruction in science throughout their time at our two elementary schools.
Our curriculum is aligned with the rigorous Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which have been adopted as the Illinois Learning Standards in the field.
Because District 401 is committed to offering an articulated curriculum that is consistent across grade levels and content areas, both elementary schools use the same science curricular program.
In grades K-5, teachers and students use STEMscopes as their science curriculum.
Students continue using STEMscopes when they leave elementary school and study science in grades 6-8 at Elm Middle School.
A VIDEO OVERVIEW OF NGSS
The following video from the Illinois State Board of Education explains the NGSS standards:
MORE ABOUT STEMSCOPES
As noted above, our teachers use STEMscopes to build their lessons. STEMscopes is a comprehensive science curriculum based on the 5E model of pedagogy:
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain
- Elaborate
- Evaluate
Our students learn science by doing and experiencing rather than passively observing. The relationship of science to technology, engineering and math — the subjects collectively known as STEM — becomes clear to students through evidence-driven investigations, engineering challenges, content connection videos, claim-evidence-reasoning assessments and more.
In compliance with federal testing requirements, Illinois administers a science assessment to students enrolled in public school districts in grades 5, 8 and once at the high school level. Our 5th graders take this exam, the Illinois Science Assessment, in the spring.
Known as "SEL" for short, social and emotional learning is the process through which individuals acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to:
- Understand and manage emotions
- Set and achieve positive goals
- Feel and show empathy for others
- Establish and maintain positive relationships
- Make responsible decisions
For children, this process provides an environment that helps foster supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging and meaningful.
CORE COMPETENCIES AND OUR VISION FOR SEL
One of the nation's leaders in SEL research, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), has identified five core competencies that systematic SEL instruction seeks to develop in students:
- SELF-AWARENESS — the ability to know one's strengths and limitations, with a well-grounded sense of confidence, optimism and a "growth mindset."
- SELF-MANAGEMENT — the ability to effectively manage stress, control impulses and motivate oneself to set and achieve goals.
- SOCIAL AWARENESS — the ability to understand the perspectives of others and empathize with them, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
- RELATIONSHIP SKILLS — among other skills, the ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed.
- RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING — the ability to make constructive choices about behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety and social norms.
With these competencies in mind, District 401 has engaged in a multi-year initiative to build a continuum of SEL supports across all grades.
Our vision is to seamlessly integrate SEL into the academic environment by using a variety of research-based programs, along with staff development, to teach students the social and emotional skills they need to be successful learners.
CASEL's five core competencies serve as the foundation for our SEL instruction at each grade level, from early childhood to high school.
SEL CURRICULAR PROGRAMS
During the 2018-19 school year, various staff members at District 401 schools covering grades PK-8 began piloting SEL instruction in their classrooms using the Second Step curriculum.
At the same time, teachers at the high school learned how to use the RULER program for SEL instruction in their respective classes.
Beginning in 2019-20, all classrooms within the District implemented an SEL curriculum. Pre-K through 8th grade put into practice Second Step, while the high school incorporated RULER.
All of this has been done in support of District 401's core commitment to strengthening our students’ social-emotional growth and development in addition to their academic growth and readiness.
Students receive instruction in social studies throughout their time at Elmwood and John Mills.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for social science.
Because District 401 is committed to offering an articulated curriculum that is consistent across grade levels and content areas, both elementary schools use the same mathematics curricular programs.
In grades K-5, teachers and students use MyWorld Interactive as their social studies curriculum. This curriculum is designed to provide students with the skills and understanding they will need to do the following at the level appropriate to their specific grade:
- Construct essential questions
- Construct supporting questions
- Determine helpful sources
- Gather and evaluate sources
- Develop claims and use evidence
- Communicate conclusions
- Critique conclusions
- Take informed action
Students develop these inquiry skills while mastering a series of disciplinary concepts organized around a different theme at each grade level. These themes are:
- Kindergarten — My Social World
- 1st Grade — Living, Learning and Working Together
- 2nd Grade — Families, Neighborhoods and Communities
- 3rd Grade — Communities Near and Far
- 4th Grade — Our State, Our Nation
- 5th Grade — Our Nation, Our World
At each grade level our students explore the relationship between individuals and society, from friends and family to local civic institutions and global networks.
Our standards-based curriculum draws on a variety of social science disciplines, including civics, geography, history, financial literacy and economics.
By the time our students move on to middle school, they have received the necessary foundation for becoming civically engaged, socially responsible, culturally aware and financially literate.
Students receive art instruction throughout their time at District 401's two elementary schools.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for fine arts.
District 401 students learn the language of the visual arts from the earliest grades. They are introduced to the fundamental elements of line, shape, space, color and texture. They learn about the principles of repetition and pattern. They study the expressive qualities of mood, emotion and pictorial representation.
They are also introduced to the processes, traditional tools and modern technologies of the visual arts.
Using this knowledge, they learn how to create their own works of art that embody the principles of balance, unity, harmony, pattern, contrast and emphasis.
Enrichment class exposes all students in grades K-2 to in-depth learning experiences from the following curricula:
- ReadyGEN curriculum for English language arts (ELA)
- Go Math! curriculum for mathematics
- STEMscopes curriculum for science
These weekly enriched lessons are taught by the District's elementary school enrichment teachers.
In grades 3-5, a select number of students are afforded the opportunity for next-grade-level exposure to qualifying content areas based on meeting District criteria.
Students receive general music instruction throughout their time at Elmwood and John Mills.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for fine arts.
District 401 students learn the language of music from the earliest grades. They learn, for example, how to identify differences in the elements and expressive qualities of music, such as fast and slow tempo, loud and soft dynamics, high and low pitch/direction, long and short duration, as well as same and different form.
As they progress through the curriculum, students are introduced to more sophisticated elements and expressive qualities such as tone color, harmony, melody, form (rondo, theme and variation), rhythm/meter and dynamics in a variety of musical styles.
They also learn how to relate symbol systems to musical sounds and how to read and interpret the traditional music notation of note values and letter names.
Performance is also a key part of the curriculum. Students sing or play on classroom instruments a variety of music representing diverse cultures and styles.
Students participate in physical education classes throughout their time at our two elementary schools.
Our curriculum is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for physical development and health.
PE classes focus on building fitness skills for lifetime health. Our teachers use sports, games and other instructional activities to show students how to achieve and maintain physical fitness.
Our students acquire and demonstrate physical competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns. They also acquire and demonstrate a knowledge of rules, strategies and safety procedures during physical activity.
Although we have no official health class, our PE teachers incorporate standards-based health instruction within the curriculum, such as basic principles of health promotion and illness prevention.
Although the use of technology is incorporated in our classes at every grade level, students also receive formal technology instruction throughout their time at Elmwood and John Mills.
Our curriculum is aligned to the International Society for Technology in Education standards.
Through active, project-based learning, students acquire the skills and knowledge they need to become:
- Empowered learners
- Digital citizens
- Constructors of knowledge
- Innovative designers
- Computational thinkers
- Creative communicators
- Global collaborators
By the time our students move on to middle school, they have received a solid foundation for engaging and thriving in a connected, digital world.