Educational Curriculum
The curriculum for Florida Intercultural Academy will comply with the Florida
Department of Education’s
Sunshine State Standards and the Pupil
Progression Plan as used in the District.
The curriculum is based upon E.D. Hirsch Jr. Core Knowledge educational reform theory that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair education.
The Core Knowledge approach will be enhanced in creative expression of performing arts inculcated in sequential knowledge standards in English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science required by the State of Florida and School District of Broward County.
Click here for a Curriculum Components Chart
Also see the 3 Dynamic Princples at work in the Educational Life of Our Students
The Curriculum Framework - Grades: K 1 2 3 4 5 6
The Florida Intercultural Academy curriculum is modeled on a three-fold strategy that matures as children progress through the grades. The curriculum was adapted from Live Oak Charter School in Petaluma, California.
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten rhythms are established that support a variety of activities for the young child in daily, weekly and seasonal scenarios. Incentives and materials are provided for creative free play.
The day begins with a gentle welcoming and a circle of focused teacher-led expressive activities (which may include singing, counting rhymes and rhythms, pre-reading letter/phonetic sound recognition games, and dancing).
The remainder of the day features activities presented in a weekly rhythm, including beeswax modeling, watercolor painting, creative movement, cooking, puppet shows and storytelling.
Seasonal festivals and nature outings are woven into this basic framework.
Grade One
SELF
- Literature- Multicultural Nature, Folk and Fairy Tales
- English and Grammar- Beginning reading skills, speech exercises, phonetics, short plays, simple book making
SELF IN THE WORLD
- History - Multicultural festivals from around the world
- Geography- Textiles
of indigenous and other cultures through native dress, nature walks
- Science- Nature studies through observation and stories, cooking and foods from diverse cultures, simple gardening
- Mathematics- Introduction to the four operations, Whole numbers, rhythms, Roman numerals, African and Asian counting games
INTER-RELATIONAL
- The Arts- Simple drawing and coloring techniques, watercolor painting, music
- Textile Crafts- Finger knitting, two-needle knitting, clay and beeswax modeling
- Physical Activity- Games
Grade Two
SELF
- Literature- Multicultural Nature, Folk Tales, and Fables
- English and Grammar- Lower case letters, simple sentences, phonic blends and word-recognition skills, word families, months of the year, poetry and rhymes, short plays, beginning reading skills
SELF IN THE WORLD
- History - Multicultural festivals from around the world • Geography- World habitats as represented through fables and stories, evolution of juman dwellings
- Science- Seasons, names of the animals and parts of the body, environmental observations, gardening and cooking
- Mathematics- Four operations, counting games
INTER-RELATIONAL
- The Arts- Drawing symmetry and animals, watercolor painting, music
- Textile Crafts- Crochet work of small objects, beginning basketry
- Physical Activity- Games
Grade Three
SELF
- Literature- Legends of notable people, origin stories (Native American, Latin American, African, Indian sub-continent, Asian, Hebrew)
- English and Grammar- Sentence structure and parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, punctuation, simple paragraphs, reading (silent and aloud), spelling, short plays, cursive writing
SELF IN THE WORLD
- History - Multicultural festivals from around the world, house building and village construction of various cultures
- Geography- Farming and discovering the grains of the world (wheat, rice, oats, barley, millet, corn, quinoa)
- Science- Practical gardening, soils, seasons and weather, sun and moon influences on plant life, insects
- Mathematics- Whole numbers, times tables, number patterns, measurement, carrying and borrowing, prime numbers, time and counting money
INTER-RELATIONAL
- The Arts - Nature drawing, painting from lesson themes, music
- Textile Crafts- Crochet of larger objects, simple doll making
- Physical Activity- Games and sports
Grade Four
SELF
- Literature- Native American fables and folklore, Scandinavian myths and legends
- English and Grammar- Verb tenses, plural prepositions, abbreviations, personal pronouns, grammatical rules, compositions with an emphasis on story and letter writing, oral book reports, spelling, plays and speech work, dictation
SELF IN THE WORLD
- History- Early Floridian history of indigenous peoples and their societies, the Spanish settlers and the missions, the changing social, economic, cultural and geographic circumstances
- Geography- Local geography and simple map-making
- Science- Introduction to Zoology, contrast of head-trunk-limb systems of humans to animals
- Mathematics- Review of arithmetic operations, times tables, word problems, averages, long division, factoring proofs
INTER-RELATIONAL
- The Arts- Geometric drawing and animal rendering, more expressive representational painting, music
- Textile Crafts- Cross stitch, embroidery, beginning stitch work
- Physical Activity- Games and sports
Grade Five
SELF
- Literature- Mythologies and biographies from ancient historical civilizations
- English and Grammar- Active and passive verbs, subject and predicate, use of capitals, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, parts of speech, syntax, descriptive and persuasive compositions, introduction to the dictionary, encyclopedia and thesaurus
SELF IN THE WORLD
- History- The Ancient World
(Sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt,
China, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece,
pre-Columbian Americas) - Geography- U.S. Geography (major rivers, mountain ranges, watersheds, territories, states, cities and state capitals). World immigrants in the U.S., simple geographic territory of pre-political ancient civilizations
- Science- Continued Zoology, Botany, simple Climatology
- Mathematics-Decimals, fractions, mixed numbers, metric system, reciprocals, estimations and averages
INTER-RELATIONAL
- The Arts- Geometric drawing and artwork and renderings from the cultural life of ancient civilizations, Landscape and territorial maps and mixed media painting
- Textile Crafts- Doll-making, weaving, basketry, and four-needle knitting
- Physical
Activity- Games and sports
Grade Sixth
SELF
- Literature- Roman mythology and culture, writings and ballads from the early European Middle Ages
- English and Grammar- Subjunctive mood, conditional sentences, transitive and intransitive verbs, possessive and objective nouns, phrases and clauses, creating essay and report writing, outlines, note-taking styles, spelling, humorous stories, play-writing
- Spanish- Conversational Spanish, active and passive verb usage, vocabulary
- History- Fall of Troy to the founding and Fall of Rome, historical figures of the times, Barbarian invasion, Islamic culture and the crusades
- Geography- North, Central and South American Geography, oceans and continental land masses, the Pacific Rim
- Science- Physics (acoustical, heat, light, magnetism, electricity) Geology, Botanical horticulture
- Mathematics- Percentage, money, math sentences, interest, profit and loss, ratio, proportion, exchange, estimation and pre-algebraic equations
- The Arts- Exact geometric drawings and drawing with pen and ink, charcoal rendering, painting landscapes and human form, large-scale painting, music
- Textile Crafts- Creating stuffed animals, doll-making, sewing (use of sewing machines)
- Physical Activity- Games and sports
