Elementary

Kindergarten

English Language Arts – Knowledge

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Nursery Rhymes and Fables
Unit 2: The Five Senses
Unit 3: Underdogs and Heroes: Stories

Quarter 2

Unit 3: Underdogs and Heroes: Stories (continued)
Unit 4: Our Planet: Cycles In Nature
Unit 5: Moo, Cluck, Oink: Farms

Quarter 3

Unit 6: Deep Roots: Intro to Native American Cultures
Unit 7: All Around the World: Geography
Unit 8: National Icons: Presidents and American Symbols

Quarter 4

Unit 8: National Icons: Presidents and American Symbols (continued)
Unit 9: Rain & Rainbows: Seasons and Weather
Unit 10: Shaped by Nature: Art and the World Around Us

English Language Arts – Skills

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Phonemic Awareness and Pre-Handwriting Skills
Unit 2: Phonemic Awareness and Pre-Handwriting Skills
Unit 3: Lowercase Letter Sounds: m, a, t, d, o, c, g, i, Tricky Words: One, Two, Three

Quarter 2

Unit 4: Lowercase Letter Sounds: n, h, s, f, v, z, p, e; Tricky Words: a, the
Unit 5: Lowercase Letter Sounds: b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, k; Tricky Words: Blue, Yellow, Look
Unit 6: Consonant Clusters, Letter Names, Trick Words: I, Are, Little

Quarter 3

Unit 6: Consonant Clusters, Letter Names, Trick Words: I, Are, Little (continued)
Unit 7: Consonant Digraphs, Tricky Words: Down, Out, Of
Unit 8: Double Letter Spellings, Tricky Words: Funny, All, Was, From

Quarter 4

Unit 8: Double Letter Spellings, Tricky Words: Funny, All, Was, From (continued)
Unit 9: Rain and Rainbows: Seasons and Weather
Unit 10: Shaped by Nature: Art and the World Around Us

Social Studies

Theme: Sense of Self
Focus Standard 1: Choices have consequences.

Unit 1: Civics
Students will recognize the existence and importance of rules at home and at school.

Unit 2: History
Students will study history through self-awareness and individual experience.

Unit 3: Geography
Students will be introduced to important geography concepts and how to locate major geographic features.

Unit 4: Economics
Students will engage in purposeful and informed decision-making by
considering risks and benefits to a decision.

Unit 1: Pushes & Pulls (Force Olympics)
The anchor phenomena for this unit are barges! Student investigate how pushes and pulls affect the motion of barges, and how other machines allow us to use barges to move huge amounts of objects.

Unit 2: Plant Needs (Plant Secrets)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a collection of examples of plants that have grown onto other objects without anyone having put the plants there. How can this happen?

Unit 3: Animal Needs (Animal Secrets)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a small collection of animals that live in very different places and do very different things. Yet they all have in common that they rely upon the place in which they live to meet their needs.

Unit 4: Sunlight & Warmth (Sunny Skies)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the fact that weather has a huge impact on our activities. Specifically, the activity of flying kites!

Unit 5: Severe Weather (Wild Weather)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the fact that weather has a huge impact on our activities. Specifically, the activity of flying kites!

Unit 6: Weather Patterns (Circle of Seasons)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the amazing cycle of changes an arctic fox's fur undergoes throughout the annual cycle of seasonal weather.

First Grade

English Language Arts – Knowledge

Quarter 1

Unit 1: The Moral of the Story: Fables and Tales
Unit 2: From Nose to Toes: How Your Body Works
Unit 3: Common Threads: Different Lands, Similar Stories

Quarter 2

Unit 3: Common Threads: Different Lands, Similar Stories (continued)
Unit 4: Reach for the Stars: Astronomy
Unit 5: Charting the World: Geography

Quarter 3

Unit 6: A World of Homes: Animals and Habitats
Unit 7: A New Nation: American Independence
Unit 8: Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales

Quarter 4

Unit 8: Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales (continued)
Unit 9: Early Americans: Maya, Aztec, Inca
Unit 10: Adventure Stories: Tales from the Edge

English Language Arts – Skills

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Reviews the Sounds and Spellings Taught in the CKLA Kindergarten Curriculum
Unit 2: Grammar: Common and Proper Nouns

Quarter 2

Unit 2: Grammar: Common and Proper Nouns (continued)
Unit 3: Five Vowel Sounds and the Most Common Spelling for Each Sound

Quarter 3

Unit 4: Most Common Spellings for /r/-Controlled Vowel Sounds
Unit 5: Spelling Alternatives: Review /k/ › ‘c,’ ‘k,’ ‘ck,’ and ‘cc’

Quarter 4

Unit 6: Spelling Alternatives for Consonant Sounds
Unit 7: Advanced Code, Focusing on Spelling Alternatives for Vowel Sounds

Social Studies

Theme: Families
Focus Standard 2: Individuals have rights and responsibilities.

Unit 1: Civics
Students focus on the basic concepts of rules and laws as they apply to family, school, and being citizens of Kansas, nation, and tribal nation.

Unit 2: Geography
Students will recognize maps and globes as models of earth and representations of the earth’s features.

Unit 3: History
Students will study history through understanding the role of families.

Unit 4: Economics
Students will engage in purposeful and informed decision-making by considering risks and benefits to a decision.

Science

Mystery Science Units

Unit 1: Animal Traits & Survival (Animal Superpowers)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a small collection of animals that live in very different places and do very different things. Yet they all have in common that they rely upon the place in which they live to meet their needs.

Unit 2: Day Patterns (Sun & Shadows)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a set of strange shadows that are moving in a mysterious way.

Unit 3: Night Patterns (Moon & Stars)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a set of surprising photos of the Moon.

Unit 4: Plant Superpowers (Plant Traits & Survival)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is based around some surprisingly large floating objects that can be found in ponds around the world.

Unit 5: Light, Sound, & Communication (Lights & Sounds)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is based around two animals that are found in the Everglades, and how each of them communicate.

Second Grade

English Language Arts – Knowledge

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Fairy Tales and Tall Tales
Unit 2: Ancient Greece
Unit 3: Greek Myths

Quarter 2

Unit 3: Greek Myths (continued)
Unit 4: Our Planet: Cycles In Nature
Unit 5: Butterflies, Bees, and Beetles: Insects

Quarter 3

Unit 5: Butterflies, Bees, and Beetles: Insects (continued)
Unit 6: A House Divided: The American Civil War
Unit 7: Sounds and Stanzas Poetry
Unit 8: Immigration

Quarter 4

Unit 8: Immigration (continued)
Unit 9: India and China
Unit 10: The Age of Aviation

English Language Arts – Skills

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Basic Code Review
Unit 2: Basic Code Review

Quarter 2

Unit 2: Basic Code Review (continued)
Unit 3: Spelling Alternatives for Vowel Sounds and Tricky Spellings
Unit 4: Spelling Alternatives: Tricky Spelling ‘a’ › /a/ and /ae/

Quarter 3

Unit 4: Spelling Alternatives: Tricky Spelling ‘a’ › /a/ and /ae/ (continued)
Unit 5: Spelling Alternatives for Vowel Sounds and the Schwa Sound

Quarter 4

Unit 5: Spelling Alternatives for Vowel Sounds and the Schwa Sound (continued)
Unit 6: New Spelling Alternatives for Vowel and Consonant Sound

Social Studies

Theme: Then and Now
Standard 4: Societies experience continuity and change over time.

Unit 1: Civics
Students will understand the basic concepts of responsibilities, authority, rules and laws as they apply to past and present societies.

Unit 2: History
Students will recognize and evaluate how societies change over time to analyze and draw conclusions about past and present societies.

Unit 3: Geography
Students will make and use maps of familiar places from past and present societies.

Unit 4: Economics
Students will recognize and evaluate how various human-made economies change over time and analyze and draw conclusions about past and present societies.

Science

Mystery Science Units

Unit 1: Plant Growth & Interactions (Plant Adventures)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is an amazing burst of life in a place called Death Valley. How can huge fields of flowers suddenly grow in one of the hottest, driest places on Earth?

Unit 2: Animal Biodiversity & Habitats (Animal Adventures)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a cave north of San Antonio, Texas, that has an unusually large amount of animal poo covering the cave floor. Throughout the unit, students gather details about the mysterious type of animal that lives there.

Unit 3: Erosion & Earth's Surface (Work of Water)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a pair of rivers that flow together but look very, very different from one another. Students explore what causes rivers to have such different colors.

Unit 4: Material Properties (Material Magic)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit can be found inside of a special type factory called a Foundry. Foundries are places where people melt solid metal into a liquid that can be poured into new shapes. Foundries can be dangerous places to work, so how do the people that work in foundries stay safe?

Unit 5: States of Matter (Material Magic)
The anchor phenomena for this unit are a collection of strange situations that seem completely unrelated. But what do they all have in common?

Third Grade

English Language Arts

Quarter 1

Unit 1: Timeless Tales: Classic Stories
Unit 2: Furs, Fins, & Feathers: Animal Classification

Quarter 2

Unit 3: Rhythm & Rhyme: Poetry
Unit 4: Rise & Fall: Ancient Rome

Quarter 3

Unit 5: Our Solar System & Beyond: Astronomy
Unit 6: Regions & Cultures: Native Americans
Unit 7: Novel Study: Charlotte’s Web

Quarter 4

Unit 7: Novel Study: Charlotte’s Web (continued)
Unit 8: From Glow to Echo: Light & Sound
Unit 9: From Blues to Bebop: All That Jazz

Social Studies

Theme: Local and National Communities

Standard 3: Societies are shaped by the identities, beliefs, and practices of Individuals and groups.

Unit 1: Civics
Students will determine how people participate in governments and analyze why choosing to participate is important.

Unit 2: History
Students will recognize and evaluate how identities, beliefs, and practices of individuals and groups shape societies.

Unit 3: Geography
Students will investigate settlement patterns to draw conclusions about a sense of place, first in their community and then in relation to other cities or tribal nations.

Unit 4: Economics
Students will recognize that limited resources require people to make choices to satisfy wants and needs for goods and services for themselves and their communities.

Science

Mystery Science Units

Unit 1: Heredity, Survival, & Selection (Fates of Traits)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is one of the most successful kinds of animals on Earth: ants! How can such small creatures survive in so many places with such a huge population of individuals?

Unit 2: Life Cycles (Circle of Life)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is based around bats that fly around at night, sticking their heads into cactus flowers. The unit is focused specifically on saguaro cacti; however, some of the images were selected due to their quality and clarity, despite the fact that they show flowers from other types of cacti.

Unit 3: Fossils & Changing Environments (Animals Through Time)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a water-filled cave that contains footprints, fossils, and ancient fire pits. How can these things be found deep underwater?

Unit 4: Weather & Climate (Stormy Skies)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is an icy hailstorm that happens during warm summer weather. In the hands-on activity, Summer Ice Storm, students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial explanation of how it happened.

Unit 5: Forces, Motion, & Magnets (Invisible Forces)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a skateboard that has been modified to work on ice and be powered by the wind.

Fourth Grade

English Language Arts

Social Studies

Theme: Kansas and Regions of the United States
Focus Standard 5: Relationships among people, places, ideas, and environments are dynamic.

Unit 1: Civics
Students will recognize and evaluate the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Unit 2: History
Students will recognize and evaluate the significant relationships and movements of people and events that shaped regions of the United States, and regions within Kansas.

Unit 3: Geography
Students will define the concept of region by identifying the shared characteristics of it.

Unit 4: Economics
Students will recognize and evaluate how limited resources require choices.

Science

Mystery Science Units

Unit 1: Human Body, Vision, & The Brain (Human Machine)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is an owl catching its prey. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial model to explain how the owl's body systems work together to catch prey.

Unit 2: Animal & Plant Adaptations
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is an animal that seems to defy the idea of survival of the fittest: the sloth! How can such a slow-moving animal be so good at survival?

Unit 3: Earth's Features & Processes (The Birth of Rocks)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the Ashfall Fossil Beds. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial explanation to explain what killed the prehistoric animals, how their bones ended up underground, and what changes happened to the land that uncovered their fossils.

Unit 4: Sound, Waves, & Communication (Waves of Sound)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a music video by composer Nigel Stanford, that showcases a series of devices that make sound waves visible. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial conceptual model to explain what is happening.

Unit 5: Energy & Energy Transfer (Energizing Everything)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is an intricate Rube Goldberg machine. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial conceptual model to explain what is happening. The performance task can be completed at any time after the sixth lesson.

Unit 6: Electricity, Light, & Heat
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is a mysterious set of three glowing towers in the desert. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial conceptual model to explain what is happening.

Fifth Grade

English Language Arts

Social Studies

US History: Early North American People Groups – 1789 C.E.

Unit 1: North American Indigenous Societies: Pre-1400s

Unit 2: North American Colonization, Compromise, and Conflict: 1492–1600s

Unit 3: Competing Indigenous and European Empires: 1600s–1760s

Unit 4: Roads to an Independent United States: 1750s–1770s

Unit 5: The Revolutionary War: 1770s–1780s

Unit 6: Stories of a New Nation: 1770s–1789

Science

Mystery Science Units

Unit 1: Earth & Space Patterns (Spaceship Earth)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the wandering stars: a small number of objects in the night sky that appear to move completely separately from all of the other stars. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and document their initial thinking about the characteristics of the wandering stars.

Unit 2: Stars & Planets
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the wandering stars: a small number of objects in the night sky that appear to move completely separately from all of the other stars. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and document their initial thinking about the characteristics of the wandering stars.

Unit 3: Ecosystems & the Food Web (Web of Life)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit focuses on attempts to grow food in an enclosed ecosystem. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial design solution to growing food inside a dome for two years.

Unit 4: Water Cycle & Earth's Systems (Watery Planet)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the Dust Bowl. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial model to explain how Earth's four spheres interacted to cause the Dust Bowl.

Unit 5: Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter (Chemical Magic)
The anchor phenomenon for this unit is stone gargoyles that seem to disappear over time. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial argument to explain what is happening.

Elementary Curriculum