Lower School

Gaining Independence and Adjusting to More Demanding Academics

Astounding progress is made in all areas of language arts in First Grade.  The selected reading and writing program ensures the key principles for success - phonemic awareness, letter-sound association, letter formation, sight vocabulary, listening, thinking, comprehension, and spelling.  All are taught thoroughly and creatively, and the students emerge as strong, independent readers and writers.  The program is supplemented with leveled readers to meet individual needs. Math is taught at an accelerated level - and success is ensured through direct instruction of incremental skills, student participation, hands-on activities, and repetition.   Mental mathematics is an emphasis with multi-sensory approaches that build confidence and develop a solid foundation in the language and concepts necessary for a lifetime of success in mathematics.  In both reading and mathematics, our children achieve to outstanding levels on standardized tests. Social studies and science activities are woven into the curriculum, introducing interesting and exciting topics of study.  Both reinforce the basic skills of reading, writing, and mathematics.  First grade is an exciting time of growth, development, and learning, and the students are engrossed in various topics of study - including dinosaurs, astronauts, biology, and San Diego. In encouraging leadership skills, a Star Student is chosen each week to be the leader of the class.  The child illustrates an All About Me poster and presents it to the class, which gives the children an opportunity to learn more about each other and helps to personalize the program. Simultaneously with all of this, students attend PE & Spanish class daily, as well as art, music, drama, library and technology on a weekly basis. The following information provides a “snapshot” in to the First Grade course overview during the autumn months:

Reading & Language Arts: Let’s Read; Animals; Things that Go
Mathematics: Computation; Time; Identifying patterns; Graphs; Even & odd numbers; Ordinal position; Polygons; Fractions
Science: Kinds of Living Things – differences in plants; differences in body coverings; animal adaptations; grouping animals; growth & change; life cycles
Social Studies: People Everywhere – Rights & individual responsibilities; varied backgrounds of American citizens
Character Education: Friendship; Responsibility, Courage

Honing the Basic Skills, Achieving High Levels of Fluency, and Gaining Confidence

The goal of Second Grade is to develop academic confidence within each student in each subject area.  Reading skills soar, as comprehension supersedes basic fluency.  Writing skills develop to remarkably sophisticated levels, with two-to-three page research reports produced in the spring.Competency in basic mathematics skills are honed and enhanced.  All students achieve beyond grade-level expectations with beginning multiplication and division while enrichment fun maintains interest and enthusiasm. In the winter, students enjoy a special interdisciplinary unit on fairy tales and castles.  As they read traditional versions of fairy tales from various cultures, castle architecture and history are studied, castles are drawn and models are built with blocks.  This unit culminates with each student writing their own original fairy tale and presenting it to the class dressed in the tale's theme.  Usually, the 2nd class play is a fair tale, as well. Simultaneously with all of this, students attend PE & Spanish class daily, as well as art, music, drama, library and technology on a weekly basis. The following information provides a “snapshot” in to the Second Grade course overview during the winter months:

Reading: Fairy tales; Fantasy; Historical fiction; Making connections
Language Arts: the writing process; descriptive writing; proofreading; grammar & mechanics; Letter writing
Mathematics: Two-digit addition & subtraction; fractions; introduction to multiplication
Science: Energy & Motion; Rollercoasters
Social Studies: Families; Holidays & Traditions Around the World
Drama & Field Trips: Second Grade Play
Computers & Library: Touch-typing techniques
Character Education: Courage, Respect

Becoming More Competent Scholars and Responsible Citizens

Third Grade students work year-round on what will ultimately be a personalized bound book of their own work at year's end.  The collection includes well-developed creative writing, poetry, essays, reports, selected works from classmates, special memories, and photographs.  This becomes a special keepsake that highlights the important accomplishments and memories of Third Grade. "Literature Circles" occur throughout the year, as well.  Students are assigned certain jobs while reading (such as discussion director), each responsible for "teaching" the other students in their circle, all the while helping to improve reading comprehension and writing skills, as well as promote responsibility and accountability. Social studies and science become more important, as breadth of knowledge, higher level thinking about complex subject matter, and content comprehension are emphasized. Native American culture, the rain forest, and force are examples of challenging topics. An overnight at Indian Hills Camp is a highlight of several valuable field trips.  The students sleep in teepees, learn about the Kumeyaay and the use of natural resources and the land.  They play cooperative games of Native American origin, take a night hike, pound Yucca into rope, and enjoy legends told by a mountain man around the campfire. Simultaneously with all of this, students attend PE & Spanish class daily, as well as art, music, drama, library and technology on a weekly basis. Following is a snapshot of the 3^rd grade’s first quarter curriculum:

Reading: Class novel – Because of Winn-Dixie; dictionary skills & vocabulary
Language Arts: types of sentences; writing process; ending punctuation; complete sentences; subject/predicate; writing for fluency; journals; creative writing; paragraph writing; nouns (singular & plural; common & proper); commas; similes/metaphors
Mathematics: mental computation; multiples; even/odd #s; subtraction with re-grouping; graphing; addition review; time/elapsed time; making change; measurement; radius/diameter; fractions; multiplication; time zones; map scale; logic
Science: Roles of living things – food chain mobile; needs of living things
Social Studies: Communities – geography & map skills; reading graphs; compass skills
Spelling: spelling of long & short vowel sounds; cursive – lower case letters; manuscript maintenance
Computers & Library: Touch-typing techniques

Going Beyond and Reaching Out

Children are challenged to succeed at accelerated levels in all areas of language arts and mathematics in fourth grade. Additionally, students participate in a public speaking program designed to teach them how to communicate more comfortably and confidently in front of an audience, educating them in proper public speaking techniques, and strengthening their listening, attention-holding, and articulation skills. Many of the field trips and activities complement the year’s study of California history.  In the fall, students visit a mission.  Upon their return, they write mission reports and plan, design, and build mission models in cooperative groups.  In the spring, students and parent chaperones travel north to relive the exciting events of the California Gold Rush and tour the state capitol in Sacramento or visit San Francisco. In December, each student chooses a state, researches it in the computer lab and library, and writes a comprehensive report for the big State Fair held each May, presenting information unique to their state to other WWS students, their friends, and parents upon completion.  Science topics include rock formations and the systems of the human body.  Teachers ensure that hands-on experiences reinforce the complex subject matter. Simultaneously with all of this, students attend PE & Spanish class daily, as well as art, music, drama, library and technology on a weekly basis. The following information provides a “snapshot” in to the Fourth Grade course overview during the second quarter:

Literature: Read aloud; In-class novels; SRA; (2) book projects
Composition: Novel essays; California mission report; poetry; essential questions
Grammar: sentences; parts of speech; paragraphs; spelling
Math: multiplication; division; story problems
Science: Rocks & Minerals; volcanoes; experiments; earthquakes
Geography/Social Studies: California Ranchos; Gold Rush; Railroads; Statehood; 49ers
Computers & Library: Touch-typing techniques

Practicing Leadership Skills

Powerful literature units are integrated with the study of American History in fifth grade. It's one thing to learn the facts about our nation and begin to understand big ideas like democracy and equality, but it's even better to experience them with the characters of great books, such as Johnny Tremain. Challenging mathematics lessons reinforce the basic skills of math, yet expand each student's math awareness and problem solving expertise. In science, fifth graders take an in-depth look at the oceans and what lives in them, visiting the tide pools and presenting group reports on marine ecosystems. Fifth Grade students learn leadership skills through their daily opportunities to lead. They learn to share the vision of the school, strive to make a difference, help each other, use good judgment, and perform small but effective acts of selflessness.  For our weekly campus Flag Ceremony, they raise the flag, lead the flag salute, and provide announcements to students and parents.  They are also involved in community service projects throughout the year. In the spring, they hike to the top of a mountain to reinforce how character traits such as perseverance and self-discipline help us reach our goals. Most importantly though fifth graders are being prepared throughout the year both academically and socially for the transition to Middle School. Simultaneously with all of this, students attend PE & Spanish class daily, as well as art, music, drama, library and technology on a weekly basis. The following information provides a “snapshot” in to the Fifth Grade course overview during the second quarter:

Literature: Novel – Bud not Buddy; book projects: Biography/ Autobiography
Composition: sentence & paragraph formation & expansion; creative writing; five-paragraph essay; expository writing
Grammar: Eight parts of speech; mechanics
Math: basic facts; number theory; concepts; operations with whole numbers, exponents, rational numbers and roots
Science: Earth science; weather
Social Studies: Colonial times; world expansion; birth of American slavery; Star of India
Computers & Library: Touch-typing techniques

An environment that encourages optimum academic progress must also promote high standards of character and behavior.  Warren-Walker School's administration, faculty, and staff desire to foster a respect for others and a sense of responsibility in each of our students.  To achieve these goals, we have carefully crafted our Character and Leadership Program, using input from experts, respected colleagues, and parents. 

Each month we focus on one of our core values or a theme:

• September: Friendship/Building a Caring Community

• October: Responsibility

• November: Courage

• December: Respect

• January: Self-Discipline

• February: Honesty

• March: Good Judgment

• April: Patience/Perseverance

• May/June: Integrity

Students are helped to develop these personal qualities through special lessons and assignments with guidance, daily experience, and discipline – and to demonstrate them in their daily lives. 

Unique to Warren-Walker Schools are the many enrichment programs taught by highly qualified dedicated, full time teaching professionals. The goals of these programs are to expand the classroom learning experience, integrate interdisciplinary opportunities, and develop a well-rounded foundation of skills in our students.