St. Ignatius Elementary School Program

3rd – 5th Grade

Students begin learning more critical reading and writing skills. There is also a laser focus on science and math. Our elementary school program is based on various levels of problem solving and analysis in preparation for Middle School. Classrooms are collaborative learning environments complete with wobble chairs, yoga balls and dry erase desk tops.  Students are introduced to Chrome Books for note taking, test taking and skill development. Students are also able to earn their first leadership role in fifth grade as a class representative for the Student Government Association.

Third Grade Academia

3rd grade capitalizes on STEM work. 3rd grade is the first year students are able to participate in the Science Fair. Each Friday is dedicated to “STEM Friday.”  On top of a strong academic year, third grade also performs in the 3rd Grade Play in front of the entire school. It’s a great way to practice public speaking, leadership skips and fine arts.

Language Arts, Phonics & Writing

  • Nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and abstract nouns. How to form and use regular and irregular verbs and pronouns in sentences. Identify simple, compound and complex sentences as well as coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Using commas and quotation marks correctly. How to form and use possessives. Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs. Capitalization and punctuation. Sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
  • Writing focus on personal narratives, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, expository writing (learn how to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expand on the idea and set form an argument concerning the idea).
  • Reading focus on folktales, realistic fiction, information text, persuasive text, specific novels during the year, historical fiction, biographies and procedural texts.

Math

  • Multiplication, 3-4 digit addition and subtraction, place value and how to collect and record data in graphs. Multiplication, properties of multiplication and equations. Measurements, calculating mass of objects and telling time. Division and fractions. Elapsed time, measuring to the nearest inch, quarter, and below. Area, perimeter, elapsed time, shapes and angles.

Science

  • Everything weather: water cycles, types of clouds, severe weather and the difference between weather and climate. Fossils, classifying animals, inherited traits, acquired traits, learned behaviors and instincts. Scientific Method, force and motion. Life cycles of butterflies, frogs and plants.

Theology

  • Holy Trinity and parts of the Mass. Five basic forms of prayer and virtues. The Rosary, the Bible (gospels, parables, miracles, old and new testament) and the liturgical years. Paschal Mystery, church leaders, Lent and 7 sacraments. 4 marks of the church, communal life, 12 disciples, Easter, Holy Week and morality.

Social Studies

  • The nation’s symbols, national historic figures and national celebrations. Declaration of Independence and the constitution of the United States. Map skills. Human influence on the environment, irrigation, reforestation. Trading patterns between countries and regions. 5 regions in the United States. Recognize how land regions, river systems and interstate highways connect. Application of map and globe skills. Geographical regions of Alabama.

4th Grade Academia

Fourth grade focuses on Alabama history, higher math skills and literary research.  Each year they take a field trip to Montgomery to learn about Alabama’s history during civil rights. Students focus a different novel each quarter and research papers are introduced. Each student picks a famous Alabamian to research, write a paper and present during a living wax museum project.

Language Arts, Phonics & Writing

  • Story elements, novel studies, and figurative language. Dictionary and research skills. Narrative nonfiction, information texts, main ideas and details and summarizing texts. Fiction, poetry, book reports, historical fiction. Famous Alabamian research project, biographies.
  • Narratives, journaling and parts of speech. Personal narratives, subjects and predicates and composing dialogue. Pronouns, prepositions, comparative and superlative adjectives.  Articles, contractions and prepositional phrases.

Math

  • Place value, add and subtract whole numbers. Multiplication and division. Area and perimeter. Patters and sequences. Operations with fractions, decimals, customary measurement, geometry.

Science

  • Earth’s resources, energy and heat. Motion and electricity. Nature of science and science fair prep. Plants and animals. Ecosystems and human and body systems.

Theology

  • God’s plan, the story of creation, 10 commandments. In God’s image, living in God’s community, making good choices, parables. The Beatitudes love God and neighbor, honoring God. Called to serve, models of virtue, the saints, what and how the church teaches. The Catholic family, respect life, living in truth, keeping your promises, Lent. The liturgical year, sacraments, healing and Reconciliation. The kingdom of God, Easter Triduum, Ascension and Pentecost. Rosary and Mysteries.

Social Studies

  • Alabama symbols and map skills. Ancient sea. Path to statehood. Native Americans and explorers. War effects in Alabama in the 19th The American Civil War, after the war, entering the 20th century. WWI, Civil Rights Movement, WWII and current Alabama politics.

5th Grade Academia

Fifth grade is a year of leadership. The teachers promote independence in preparation for middle school. Students will work on time management, study skills and independent task completion. Students will get to run for class homeroom representatives and serve in the Student Government Association for the first time.  Students change classes between the two homeroom teachers who focus on primary subjects making them masters in their field.  Fifth grade will do a Colonial Day project to go along with their Social Studied curriculum. Chrome Books and interactive classrooms are a big focus in fifth grade as well.

Language Arts, Phonics & Writing

  • Information skills strategies (cause and effect, compare and contrast, sequencing etc.). Learning the four types of sentences, subjects and predicates, independent and dependent clauses. Compound and complex sentences, common & proper nouns, plural nouns, possessive nouns and verbs.  Comma, capitalization and spelling.
  • Reading skills: fictional skills, plot diagram, theme, characters and setting. Book reports.
  • RACE writing strategies. Fact-based opinion writing, narrative and informational writing. Personal and fictional narratives.

Math

  • Place value, multiplying whole numbers. Dividing by 1 and 2 digit divisors. Add, subtract and multiply decimals. Expressions, patterns and measurements.  Fractions (adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions). Shapes and capacity.

Science

  • Layers of Earth’s atmosphere and Earth spheres. Solid, liquid and gasses. Mixtures and solutions. Physical and chemical changes. Force. Plant and animal adaptation. Science Fair. Scientific Method. Food chains and food webs. Ecosystems.

Theology

  • Revelation, Trinity, Living Image of Jesus Christ, The Church’s Message, Morality, Forgiveness, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist. Sacraments, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.

Social Studies

  • The first Americans, exploring the Americas, completing for colonies, colonial America. Life in the American colonies, spirit of independence. The American Revolution and the Constitution. The young republic, Civil War and reconstitution.