Academics
The Academics Department is a teaching and learning community composed of professional teams who create curriculum, work with school communities to develop and coordinate programs, and provide vital services to students in need of additional academic supports.
Conversation: A Three-Minute Video on Common Core State Standards from CGCS Video Maker on Vimeo.
NORWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS CORE CURRICULUM
English Language Arts (ELA) | Math | Science | Social Studies
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA)
The Connecticut Core Standards provide the foundation for the work within Reading/English language arts. Reading high-quality literature and informational text, building reading foundational skills, writing, speaking and listening, and developing language skills are all areas addressed through these standards.
GRADE K
Unit 1: Going Places
Essential question: What makes a place special?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: EXPLORATION (Geography)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will read fiction texts.
Students will make and use words to read and draw or write realistic fiction.
Students will draw or write.
Students will talk about what makes a place special.
Unit 2: Living Together
Essential question: What do living things need?
Theme: SCIENCE: PATTERNS (Life Science)
Genre: Informational
Goals of the unit:
Students will read informational texts.
Students will make and use words to read and draw or write informational text.
Students will write an informational text.
Students will learn about living things.
Unit 3: Tell Me a Story
Essential Question: Why do we like stories?
Unit Theme: HUMANITIES: EXPRESSIONS (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Traditional Stories
Goals of the Unit:
Students will read traditional stories.
Students will make and use words to read and draw or write a story.
Students will write a story.
Students will talk with others about why people like stories.
Unit 4: Then and Now
Essential question: What can we learn from the past?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: CONNECTIONS (History)
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will read narrative nonfiction.
Students will make and use words to read and draw or write narrative nonfiction.
Students will write a story about themselves.
Students will talk about what we can learn from the past.
Unit 5: Outside My Door
Essential question: What can we learn from the weather?
Theme: SCIENCE: OUR WORLD (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational
Goals of the unit:
Students will read informational texts.
Students will make and use words to read and draw or write informational text.
Students will write a nonfiction text.
Students will talk about what we can learn from the weather.
GRADE 1
Unit 1: My Neighborhood
Essential question: What is a neighborhood?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: EXPLORATION (Geography)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will read realistic fiction.
Students will make and use words to read and write realistic fiction.
Students will write a story.
Students will talk with others about their neighborhood.
Unit 2: I Spy
Essential question: How do living things grow and change?
Theme: SCIENCE: PATTERNS (Life Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will read informational text.
Students will make and use words to read and write informational text.
Students will write an informational text.
Students will talk with others about how living things grow and change.
Unit 3: Imagine That
Essential question: How can we use our imaginations?
Theme: HUMANITIES: EXPRESSIONS (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Traditional Stories
Goals of the unit:
Students will read traditional stories.
Students will make and use words to read and write about imagination.
Students will write poetry.
Students will talk with others about using their imagination.
Unit 4: Making History
Essential question: Why is the past important?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: CONNECTIONS (History)
Genre: Biography
Goals of the unit:
Students will read a biography.
Students will make and use words to read and write narrative nonfiction.
Students will write a personal narrative.
Students will talk with others about people who have made history.
Unit 5: Beyond My World
Essential question: How do the seasons affect us?
Theme: SCIENCE: OUR WORLD (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will read informational text.
Students will make and use words to read and write informational text.
Students will write a how-to book.
Students will talk with others about the seasons.
GRADE 2
Unit 1: You Are Here
Essential question: How do different places affect us?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: EXPLORATION (Geography)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about realistic fiction and understand its elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing.
Students will plan, draft, and publish my writing.
Students will talk with others about how different places affect us.
Unit 2: Nature’s Wonders
Essential question: What patterns do we see in nature?
Theme: SCIENCE: PATTERNS (Life Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about informational text and understand its features and structures.
Students will learn and use words to read and write informational text.
Students will use elements of informational text to write a list article.
Students will talk with others about what patterns we see in nature.
Unit 3: Our Traditions
Essential question: What makes a tradition?
Theme: HUMANITIES: EXPRESSIONS (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Traditional Tales
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of traditional tales and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing.
Students will use figurative language and sound devices to write poetry.
Students will talk with others about what traditions are.
Unit 4: Making a Difference
Essential question: Why is it important to connect with other people?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: CONNECTIONS (History)
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about narrative nonfiction and understand its elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing narrative nonfiction.
Students will use elements of narrative nonfiction to write a personal narrative.
Students will talk with others about why it is important to connect with other people.
Unit 5: Our Incredible Earth
Essential question: How does Earth change?
Theme: SCIENCE: OUR WORLD (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their features and structures.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing informational text.
Students will use elements of informational text to write a procedural text.
Students will talk with others about why it is important to connect with other people.
GRADE 3
Unit 1: Environments
Essential question: How does our environment affect us?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: EXPLORATION (Geography)
Genre: Traditional Tales
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of traditional tales and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing fiction.
Students will use elements of narrative text to write a personal narrative.
Students will determine how our environment affects us.
Unit 2: Interactions
Essential question: How do plants and animals live together?
Theme: SCIENCE: PATTERNS (Life Science)
Genre: Informational
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing informational text.
Students will use elements of an informational text to write a how-to article.
Students will determine how plants and animals live together.
Unit 3: Heroes
Essential question: What makes a hero?
Theme: HUMANITIES: EXPRESSIONS (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about historical fiction and understand its elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading historical fiction and writing historical fiction.
Students will use elements of narrative text to write a historical fiction story.
Students will collaborate with others to determine what makes a hero.
Unit 4: Events
Essential question: How do communities change over time?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: CONNECTIONS (History)
Genre: Biography
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about biography and understand its elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing narrative nonfiction.
Students will use elements of opinion writing to write an opinion essay.
Students will collaborate with others to determine how communities change over time.
Unit 5: Solutions
Essential question: How does the world challenge us?
Theme: SCIENCE: OUR WORLD (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing informational text.
Students will use knowledge of the sound and shape of poetry to write a poem.
Students will determine how the environment challenges us.
GRADE 4
Unit 1: Networks
Essential question: How can a place affect how we live?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: EXPLORATION (Geography)
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of narrative nonfiction and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading narrative nonfiction and writing a personal narrative.
Students will use elements of narrative nonfiction to write a personal narrative.
Students will collaborate with others to explore how elements of systems change.
Unit 2: Adaptations
Essential question: How do living things adapt to the world around them?
Theme: SCIENCE: PATTERNS (Life Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their structures and features.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing informational text.
Students will use elements of informational text to write an article.
Students will collaborate with others to determine how living things adapt to the world around them.
Unit 3: Diversity
Essential question: How can we reach new understandings through exploring diversity?
Theme: HUMANITIES: EXPRESSIONS (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of fiction and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing fiction.
Students will use elements of narrative writing to write a realistic fiction story.
Students will collaborate with others to determine how we reach new understandings about diversity.
Unit 4: Impacts
Essential question: How do our stories shape our world?
Theme: SOCIAL STUDIES: CONNECTIONS (History)
Genre: Traditional Literature (Fiction)
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of traditional literature and understand their elements.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing.
Students will use elements of opinion writing to write an essay.
Students will collaborate with others to determine how stories shape our world.
Unit 5: Features
Essential question: Why is it important to understand our planet?
Theme: SCIENCE: OUR WORLD (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their structures and features.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing.
Students will use knowledge of the elements and structure of poetry to write a poem.
Students will collaborate with others to determine why it is important to understand our planet.
GRADE 5
Unit 1: Journeys
Essential question: How do journeys change us?
Theme: Social Studies: Exploration (Geography)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their structures and features.
Students will use language to make connections between reading and writing informational texts.
Students will use elements of narrative writing to write a personal narrative.
Students will collaborate with others to determine how journeys change us.
Unit 2: Observations
Essential question: How do we learn through our observations?
Theme: Science: Patterns (Life Science)
Genre: Informational Text
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational text and understand their structures and features.
Students will use language to make connections between reading about informational text and writing persuasive texts.
Students will use elements of informational writing to write an informational article.
Students will collaborate with others to explore how we learn through our observations.
Unit 3: Reflections
Essential Question: How do the experiences of others reflect our own?
Theme: Humanities: Expressions (Arts and Literature)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of fiction and understand their elements.
Students use language to make connections between reading and writing fiction.
Students use elements of opinion writing to write an essay.
Students collaborate with others to explore how the experiences of others reflect our own.
Unit 4: Liberty
Essential Question: What does it mean to be free?
Theme: Social Studies: Connections (History)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of fiction and understand the elements of historical fiction.
Students use language to make connections between reading about historical fiction and writing literary analysis.
Students use elements of science fiction to write a short story.
Students collaborate with others to determine what it means to be free.
Unit 5: Systems
Essential Question: How do elements of systems change?
Theme: Science: Our World (Earth Science)
Genre: Informational
Goals of the unit:
Students will know about different types of informational texts and understand their structures and features.
Students use language to make connections between reading about historical fiction and writing literary analysis.
Students use elements of poetry to write a poem.
Students collaborate with others to explore how elements of systems change.
GRADE 6
UNIT 1: Childhood
Essential Question: What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?
Performance Based Assessment: Nonfiction Narrative
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze how authors express their points of view in nonfiction narrative.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write a nonfiction narrative in which you develop experiences or events using effective technique.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.
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Collaborate with team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communication.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 2: Animal Allies
Essential Question: How can people and animals relate to each other?
Performance Based Assessment: Explanatory Text
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and determine authors’ purpose and points of view, and analyze development of ideas and language in literature and nonfiction texts.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and thematic vocabulary.
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Write an explanatory essay in which you examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 3: Modern Technology
Essential Question: How is modern technology helpful and harmful to society?
Performance Based Assessment: Argument
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and determine authors’ points of view and evaluate ideas expressed in both literary works and nonfiction texts.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and thematic vocabulary.
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Write an argument to support a claim with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claims and reasons.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 4: Imagination
Essential Question: Where can imagination lead?
Performance Based Assessment: Fictional Narrative
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze character and plot development.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and thematic vocabulary.
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Write a fictional narrative as you develop imagined experiences or events using effective technique.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Combine sentences for variety.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 5: Exploration
Essential Question: What drives people to explore?
Performance Based Assessment: Argument
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Evaluate written arguments by analyzing how authors state and support their claims.
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Expand knowledge and use of academic and thematic vocabulary.
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Write an argument in which you effectively incorporate the key elements of an argument.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Correct errors with verbs.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
GRADE 7
UNIT 1: Generations
Essential Question: What can one generation learn from another?
Performance Based Assessment: Nonfiction Narrative
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze how authors express point of view in nonfiction narrative.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write a nonfiction narrative in which you develop experiences or events using effective technique.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Develop your voice, or style of writing, with word choice and sentence structure to convey meaning and add variety and interest to writing and presentations.
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Collaborate with team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communication.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 2: A Starry Home
Essential Question: Should we make a home in space?
Performance Based Assessment: Argument
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Evaluate written arguments by analyzing how authors state and support their claims.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an argumentative essay in which you effectively incorporate the key elements of an argument.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of the proper use of verb tenses.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations
UNIT 3: Turning Points
Essential Question: What can cause a sudden change in someone’s life?
Performance Based Assessment: Explanatory Essay
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze explanatory texts.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an explanatory text to examine a topic and convey idea.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations
UNIT 4: People and the Planet
Essential Question: What effects do people have on the environment?
Performance Based Assessment: Argumentative Essay
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Evaluate written arguments by analyzing how authors state and support their claims.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an argumentative essay in which you effectively incorporate the key elements of an argument.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of the use of participles and participial phrases.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 5: Facing Adversity
Essential Question: How do we overcome obstacles?
Performance Based Assessment: Informative Essay
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze informative texts.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an Informative essay to examine a topic and convey ideas.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of coordinate adjectives.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
GRADE 8
UNIT 1: Rites of Passage
Essential Question: What are some milestones on the path to growing up?
Performance Based Assessment: Nonfiction Narrative
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze how authors express their points of view in nonfiction narrative.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write a nonfiction narrative in which you develop experiences or events using effective technique.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including the usage of the different moods of verb.
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Collaborate with team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communication.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 2: The Holocaust
Essential Question: How Do We Remember the Past?
Performance Based Assessment: Explanatory Essay
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read and analyze how authors discuss a cause, event, or condition that produces a specific result.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an explanatory essay in which you show connections between historical events and a dramatic adaptation of a historical document.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including correct usage of verbs and conjunctions.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 3: What Matters
Essential Question: When is it right to take a stand?
Performance Based Assessment: Argument
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Evaluate written arguments by analyzing how authors state and support their claims.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an argumentative essay in which you effectively incorporate the key elements of an argument.
-
Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
-
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including correct usage of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, clauses, and sentence structure.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 4: Human Intelligence
Essential Question: In what different ways can people be intelligent?
Performance Based Assessment: Informative Text
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Gather information and ideas from a variety of texts.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an informative essay in which you examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including correct agreement of nouns and verbs.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
UNIT 5: Invention
Essential Question: Are inventions realized through inspiration or perspiration?
Performance Based Assessment: Argument
Unit Goals
Students will be able to:
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Read a variety of texts to gain the knowledge and insight needed to write about inspiration and invention.
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Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.
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Write an argumentative essay in which you effectively incorporate the key elements of an argument.
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Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.
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Improve your writing by using gerund phrases and participial phrases to combine short, choppy sentences.
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Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.
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Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.
MATH
The Connecticut Core Standards provide the foundation for the Cheshire mathematics curriculum. While the mathematical content and skills in each grade level are essential for student success, a good portion of the emphasis in math is related to the eight mathematical practices described in the standards.
GRADE K
Unit 1: Numbers to 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will know the number names and the count sequence.
Students will count to tell the number of objects.
Students will understand addition as counting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from.
Students will classify objects and count the number of objects in each category.
Unit 2: Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes
Goals of the unit:
Students will classify objects and count the number of objects in each category.
Students will identify and describe shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres).
Students will analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.
Unit 3: Comparison of Length, Weight, Capacity, and Numbers to 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will compare numbers.
Students will describe and compare measurable attributes.
Unit 4: Number Pairs, Addition and Subtraction to 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from.
Unit 5: Numbers 10–20 and Counting to 100
Goals of the unit:
Students will know number names and the count sequence.
Students will count to tell the number of objects.
Students will work with numbers 11–19 to gain foundations for place value.
Unit 6: Analyzing, Comparing, and Composing Shapes
Goals of the unit:
Students will count to tell the number of objects.
Students will analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.
GRADE 1
Unit 1: Sums and Differences to 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Students will add and subtract within 20.
Students will work with addition and subtraction equations.
Unit 2: Introduction to Place Value Through Addition and Subtraction Within 20
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Students will add and subtract within 20.
Students will understand place value.
Unit 3: Ordering and Comparing Length Measurements as Numbers
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
Students will represent and interpret data.
Unit 4: Place Value, Comparison, Addition and Subtraction to 40
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will extend the counting sequence.
Students will understand place value.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Unit 5: Identifying, Composing, and Partitioning Shapes
Goals of the unit:
Students will tell and write time and money.
Students will reason with shapes and their attributes.
Unit 6: Place Value, Comparison, Addition and Subtraction to 100
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will extend the counting sequence.
Students will understand place value.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Students will tell and write time and money.
GRADE 2
Unit 1: Sums and Differences to 100
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction
Students will add and subtract within 20.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction of Length Units
Goals of the unit:
Students will measure and estimate lengths in standard units.|
Students will relate addition and subtraction to length.
Unit 3: Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand place value.
Unit 4: Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Unit 5: Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000 with Word Problems to 100
Goals of the unit:
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Unit 6: Foundations of Multiplication and Division
Goals of the unit:
Students will work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.
Students will reason with shapes and their attributes.
Unit 7: Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data
Goals of the unit:
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
Students will measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
Students will relate addition and subtraction to length.
Students will work with time and money.
Students will represent and interpret data.
Unit 8: Time, Shapes, and Fractions as Equal Parts of Shapes
Goals of the unit:
Students will work with time and money.
Students will reason with shapes and their attributes.
GRADE 3
Unit 1: Properties of Multiplication and Division and Solving Problems with Units of 2–5 and 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.
Students will understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division.
Students will multiply and divide within 100.
Students will solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
Unit 2: Place Value and Problem Solving with Units of Measure
Goals of the unit:
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
Students will solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
Unit 3: Multiplication and Division with Units of 0, 1, 6–9, and Multiples of 10
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.
Students will understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division.
Students will multiply and divide within 100.
Students will solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic. (A range of algorithms may be used.)
Unit 4: Multiplication and Area
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition.
Unit 5: Fractions as Numbers on the Number Line
Goals of the unit:
Students will develop understanding of fractions as numbers. (Grade 3 expectations in this domain are limited to fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.)
Students will reason with shapes and their attributes.
Unit 6: Collecting and Displaying Data
Goals of the unit:
Students will represent and interpret data.
Unit 7: Geometry and Measurement Word Problems
Goals of the unit:
Students will solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
Students will represent and interpret data.
Students will recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear and area measures.
Students will reason with shapes and their attributes.
GRADE 4
Unit 1: Place Value, Rounding, and Algorithms for Addition and Subtraction
Goals of the unit:
Students will use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
Students will generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers. (Grade 4 expectations are limited to whole numbers less than or equal to 1,000,000.)
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
Unit 2: Unit Conversions and Problem Solving with Metric Measurement
Goals of the unit:
Students will solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
Unit 3: Multi Digit Multiplication and Division
Goals of the unit:
Students will use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
Students will gain familiarity with factors and multiples.
Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
Students will solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
Unit 4: Angle Measure and Plane Figures
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand concepts of angle and measure angles.
Students will draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.
Unit 5: Fraction Equivalence, Ordering, and Operations
Goals of the unit:
Students will generate and analyze patterns.
Students will extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering.
Students will build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers.
Students will represent and interpret data.
Unit 6: Decimal Fractions
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions.
Students will solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
Unit 7: Exploring Measurement with Multiplication
Goals of the unit:
Students will use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
Students will solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit.
GRADE 5
Unit 1: Place Value and Decimal Fractions
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand the place value system.
Students will perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.
Students will convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.
Unit 2: Multi-Digit Whole Number and Decimal Fraction Operations
Goals of the unit:
Students will write and interpret numerical expressions.
Students will understand the place value system.
Students will perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.
Students will perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction of Fractions
Goals of the unit:
Students will use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions.
Unit 4: Multiplication and Division of Fractions and Decimal Fractions
Goals of the unit:
Students will write and interpret numerical expressions.
Students will perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions.
Students will convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.
Students will represent and interpret data.
Unit 5: Addition and Multiplication with Volume and Area
Goals of the unit:
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions.
Students will understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition.
Students will classify two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.
Unit 6: Problem Solving with the Coordinate Plane
Goals of the unit:
Students will write and interpret numerical expressions.
Students will analyze patterns and relationships.
Students will graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
GRADE 6
Unit 1: Ratios and Unit Rates
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
Unit 2: Arithmetic Operations Including Division of Fractions
Goals of the unit:
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions.
Students will compute fluently with multi-digit numbers and find common factors and multiples.
Unit 3: Rational Numbers
Goals of the unit:
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers.
Unit 4: Expressions and Equations
Goals of the unit:
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of arithmetic to algebraic expressions.
Students will reason about and solve one-variable equations and inequalities.
Students will represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables.
Unit 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems
Goals of the unit:
Students will solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area, and volume.
Unit 6: Statistics
Goals of the unit:
Students will develop understanding of statistical variability.
Students will summarize and describe distributions.
GRADE 7
Unit 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Goals of the unit:
Students will analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations.
Students will draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them.
Unit 2: Rational Numbers
Goals of the unit:
Students will apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers.
Students will use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations.
Unit 3: Expressions and Equations
Goals of the unit:
Students will use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume.
Unit 4: Percent and Proportional Relationships
Goals of the unit:
Students will analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations.
Students will draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them.
Unit 5: Statistics and Probability
Goals of the unit:
Students will use random sampling to draw inferences about a population.
Students will draw informal comparative inferences about two populations.
Students will investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models.
Unit 6: Geometry
Goals of the unit:
Students will draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them.
Students will solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume.
SCIENCE
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are the anchor for the Science Curriculum. The curriculum relative to these standards is still evolving. Embedding science practices (the behaviors of scientists), crosscutting concepts (those ideas that link all domains of science), and disciplinary core ideas (the science content) is the work that has and will continue to happen relative to the written curriculum.
GRADE K
Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Essential Questions:
How can we predict or describe the weather?
Why is it important to predict the weather?
What effect does the sun have on the earth’s surface?
Big Ideas:
Sunlight causes temperature changes.
Different seasons have different weather.
Weather comes in different predictable patterns (seasons).
People forecast the weather in order to prepare and adapt as necessary.
People can build or use structures in order to reduce the effects of the sun.
Unit 2: Pushes & Pulls
Essential Questions:
How do objects move?
How can you make an object move?
What can impact the motion of an object?
Big Ideas:
Pushing or pulling will move objects.
People and things can change or affect the motion of an object.
Tools and structures can be used to affect the motion of an object.
Unit 3:
Essential Questions:
What do plants and animals need to survive?
How do plants and animals change the environment in order to meet their needs?
How can humans influence their environment?
Big Ideas:
Interaction of plants, animals and the environment.
Humans can positively and negatively affect plants, animals, and the environment.
GRADE 1
Unit 1: Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles
Essential Questions:
What are objects in the sky?
What is a pattern? How can we use patterns in the sky to make predictions?
How does your shadow change during the day?
Why are some objects only seen at night or day?
Big Ideas:
The sun, moon, and stars all have certain patterns. However, the patterns are different.
Patterns in the natural world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence.
Unit 2: Structure, Function & Information Processing
Essential Questions:
How are young plants and animals like their parents?
How are young plants and animals different from their parents?
What physical features help plants and animals survive?
What behaviors do plants and animals engage in to help them survive?
Big Ideas:
Young animals are very much, but not exactly like their parents.
Plants also are very much, but not exactly like their parents.
Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways.
Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive.
All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water, and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs.
The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their functions.
Unit 3: Waves: Light and Sound and Engineering Design
Essential Questions:
What happens when materials vibrate?
How can we use sound to communicate over long distances?
How can we communicate with light?
Big Ideas:
Understand the relationship between sound and vibrating materials
Understand the relationship between the availability of light and ability to see objects
Understand that light travels from place to place
Determine the effect of placing objects made from different materials in the path of a beam of light
GRADE 2
Unit 1: Structure & Properties of Matter
Essential Questions:
How are materials similar and different from one another?
How do the properties of the materials relate to their use?
What properties in matter contribute to irreversible changes?
Big Ideas:
Materials have observable properties which can be analyzed and classified.
Materials have properties that can be best used for certain purposes.
Changes to matter can be caused by heating or cooling which may or may not be reversible.
Unit 2: Earth’s Systems
Essential Questions:
What are the landforms and bodies of water that make up Earth?
Which natural occurrences change landforms quickly and/or slowly?
How does wind and water change or modify landforms?
How can we slow or prevent landform changes?
Big Ideas:
The Earth is made up of many types of landforms and bodies of water.
Landforms can be changed quickly or slowly based on natural occurrences.
Wind and water can shape and change existing landforms.
We can slow or stop landform changes.
Unit 3: Interdependent Relationships in the Ecosystem
Essential Questions:
What happens to plants that lack sunlight and water?
How do animals help plants disperse seeds?
How are plants and animals different in various habitats?
Big Ideas:
Plants need sunlight and water to grow
Animals have an important role in dispersing seeds and pollinating plants
Plants and animals live in various habitats
GRADE 3
Unit 1: Weather & Climate
Essential Questions:
How can weather patterns help you predict the weather?
How do climates differ around the world?
How can I reduce the impact of a weather-related hazard?
Big Ideas:
Weather patterns, such as season and climate, can help you predict the weather of a particular region.
Climate is the pattern of weather over a long period of time (at least 30 years). Different geographic locations have varied climates.
Weather means temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation (or lack thereof), and wind strength in a particular time and place.
Climate means a pattern of weather in a region over an extended period of time (at least 30 years)
Understanding weather related hazards such as floods, hurricanes, droughts, lightning, wind, tornados, etc. to help me make a claim on a solution that will reduce their impact (ex. lightning rods, wind resistant roofs, sea walls, houses on stilts, etc.).
SOCIAL STUDIES
The C3 Social Studies framework (College, Career, and Civic Life) provides the anchor for the Social Studies curriculum. The framework is relatively new, and the curriculum in Social Studies is evolving.
GRADE K
Unit 1: Rights and Responsibilities Within Our Classroom & School
Essential Questions:
Why do we need rules in our classroom and school?
Who should be involved in creating the rules of our classroom and school?
How can you solve a problem positively?
Why should each member of our classroom community contribute to daily tasks?
Goals of the unit:
Students will contribute to making and maintaining a community.
Students will participate in conflict resolution with or without facilitation.
Students will demonstrate positive citizenship skills.
Students will work positively in both cooperative and independent learning settings.
Students will participate in classroom rule creation.
Unit 2: Cultures around the World
Essential Questions:
How are traditions similar in all cultures?
Who am I?
How is my family life the same or different from the family lives of others?
Goals of the unit:
Students will understand the various components of traditions for different cultures.
Students will present about themselves and share their interests with their peers.
Students will develop an understanding and respect for other families structures.
Students will research the different cultures represented in the classroom.
Unit 3: Community Involvement and Outreach
Essential Questions:
Who are the people that are essential to a school community? City community?
Why are school communities important?
How can I contribute to my communities?
Goals of the unit:
Students will discuss the people in important roles who help students.
Students will identify the people who contribute to the communities and why they’re important.
Students will identify why community figures are necessary.
GRADE 1
Unit 1: Rules and School Leaders: Roles and Responsibilities
Essential Questions:
How do rules make us more respectful?
What makes a community successful?
Why is it important to be an active participant in the communities to which I belong?
How do the rules help the community be a better place to live?
How do needs and wants affect how we live?
How do goods and services benefit a community?
What are my roles and responsibilities in my community?
Goals of the unit:
Students will read and discuss the topic of why rules are important.
Students will create classroom rules to make sure everyone is respected.
Students will vote on the final set of rules through a shared discussion.
Students will discuss ways to resolve conflicts.
Students will identify school leaders.
Students will explain the roles of each school job.
Students will work in groups to apply knowledge of school rules and reasons for rules.
Students will present information learned to the school community.
Students will identify goods and services as either needs or wants.
Unit 2: History: Past and Present
Essential Questions:
How do past actions of people in our community still influence our community today?
Why does what people believe change over time?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will compare elements of the past in family, school, and community to the elements of the present.
Students will create a timeline of their life.
Students will evaluate if information is fact or opinion.
Students will identify facts about important historical figures.
Unit 3: Geography
Essential Questions:
What features do you include when creating a map of a community you belong to?
What types of landforms are included on maps?
How do we use maps to locate various places in our community?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will identify the elements of a map.
Students will distinguish the difference between a map and a globe.
Students will explain the features and functions of a map.
Students will identify and compare different types of landforms.
Students will construct and label landforms.
Students will explore the school.
Students will create a map and identify locations within a school.
Students will use the compass rose to give and receive directions.
Students will compare and contrast school layouts.
GRADE 2
Unit 1: Rules and Government in our Community
Essential Questions:
What is government and what does it do?
Who makes decisions in our town/city and what types of things do they decide?
How do people in our town/city work together?
What does it mean to be a good citizen in my school and in my community?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create rules for the classroom community.
Students will identify rules in the local community.
Students will define government and tell its purpose.
Students will identify leadership roles in the community.
Students will define leadership roles in the community.
Students will explain the process of how people are selected for leadership roles.
Students will define citizen.
Students will tell characteristics of what makes a good citizen.
Students will identify and tell ways people in a town/city work together.
Unit 2: Maps and Types of Communities
Essential Questions:
How do maps help us understand our community?
What are the characteristics of a rural, urban and suburban communities?
How are the different communities similar and different?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in an urban, suburban or rural community?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will explain how and why we use maps.
Students will locate important places in the community on a map.
Students will represent important places in the community on a map.
Students will identify and list the characteristics of the three types of communities.
Students will compare and contrast the types of communities.
Students will recognize how living in each of the communities influences a person's way of life.
Unit 3: Important Contributions of People, Past and Present
Essential Questions:
How is the way people made a positive difference in the past different from and similar to how people make a positive difference today?
How do the positive actions of people in the past influence us today?
What does it mean to make a positive difference in society?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create a timeline to make a chronological sequence of multiple events.
Students will interpret a timeline of another person’s life.
Students will determine and discuss ways to make a positive difference in a community
Students will identify people both past and present who have made a positive difference in the world.
GRADE 3
Unit 1: Local Governments and State Governments both need Good Citizens
Essential Questions:
Why do governments make laws?
What do laws do?
Who makes important decisions for Connecticut?
How can citizens take part in government?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will identify and use evidence from a source to develop a claim
Students will explain how laws change society.
Students will explain how people create laws.
Students will create a rule or law for their classroom following a democratic procedure.
Students will identify the role of each of the three branches of state government.
Students will role-play each branch of government and act on the creation of a law as that branch.
Students will explain another person’s point of view.
Students will identify how personal values affect civic responsibility.
Students will create and participate in the goals of the current Kid Governor.
Unit 2: How is Connecticut’s Story part of America’s Story?
Essential Questions:
How have historical Connecticut/Norwich residents impacted Connecticut and national history?
How have Connecticut/Norwich industries contributed to national history over time?
How did inventions and technology contribute to Connecticut and national history?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will explain probable causes and effects of America’s historical events and developments based on Connecticut/Norwich’s story
Students will create and use a chronological sequence of related events to compare developments that happened at the same time
Students will compare Connecticut/Norwich’s life in specific historical time periods to life today
Students will identify examples of the variety of resources (human capital, physical capital, and natural resources) that are used in Connecticut/Norwich.
Students will generate questions about individuals from Connecticut/Norwich who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
Unit 3: Why do we live in Norwich, Connecticut?
Essential Questions:
Why do we live in Connecticut?
How has geography affected the growth and development of your town and of Connecticut in general?
Why is your city and state shaped the way it is?
What economic or geographic features have caused people to move into (or out of) your town/state?
What cultural features cause people to move into your town/state?
How does the past influence the present and future of our communities?
How does where you live influence your life?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will identify reasons why people would want to live in Connecticut.
Students will describe where Connecticut is located.
Students will describe physical features of Connecticut...various rivers, lakes, Long Island Sound, highlands, lowlands, and various elevations.
Students will describe how environmental and cultural characteristics influence population distribution in Connecticut.
Students will explain how human settlements and movements relate to the locations and use of various natural resources.
Students will make a claim and support it with evidence.
GRADE 4
Unit 1: Maps and Regions
Essential Questions:
How do geography, climate and natural resources affect the way people live?
How can a United States map be used to analyze its history?
What factors determine if a region is a good or a bad place to live?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will brainstorm the relationship between humans and the physical environment of the Northeast region.
Students will investigate through multiple resources- the challenges and opportunities of the physical environment during Native American settlement in Connecticut.
Students will explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the movement of people, goods, and ideas.
Students will gather research through multiple resources.
Students will identify ways that a study of geography is important while studying a country or region.
Students will analyze how the study of various regions of a country helps an overall understanding of that country.
Students will examine and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (scale, symbols, legend, title, cardinal and intermediate directions) and purposes.
Students will identify the maps or types of maps most appropriate for specific purposes.
Students will examine why proximity to water was so important for settlement in the region, think about seasons, climate, and weather as well.
Students will analyze the impact of rivers and waterways.
Students will evaluate why people have moved to and from the region.
Students will compare and contrast the history, landscape, environmental resources, economy, industry, cultures, and the advantages of settling in a location with the Northeast and another region of choice.
Unit 2: Kids as Leaders
Essential Questions:
What makes a good citizen?
How can you influence others in a positive way?
How and why do places change overtime?
What characteristics make groups of people unique?
What can we do to change an issue in our society?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create a solution to an issue within our community.
Unit 3: Native American Storytelling
Essential Questions:
What do I think about when I read with new lenses?
How do readers interpret complex texts?
How do writers respond to a text with a reasoned, well-crafted piece of writing?
How do students use text evidence to back up their opinions?
How do writers provide reasons that are supported by facts and details?
How is a culture shaped by its historical events?
How are Native American cultures still thriving today?
What is the purpose of oral tradition in Native American communities?
What characteristics make groups of people unique?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will interpret complex ideas in a text.
Students will analyze similarities and differences in a text.
Students will utilize a repertoire of strategies to interpret and analyze complex text.
Students will understand and use figurative language.
Students will determine whose perspective the story is being told from.
Students will develop a claim about the past using evidence to better understand a person, place, or time period.
GRADE 5
Unit 1: Map Skills and Geography
Essential Questions:
What stories do maps and globes tell?
What makes places unique and different?
How do maps and globes reflect history, politics, and economics?
How do historians use maps/atlases to add to their understanding of events, people and changes over time?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will use a map, globe, satellite image to learn about a region or area and that new information with peers.
Students will determine the difference between various maps and can select the map that will help me answer my questions.
Students will use longitude and latitude in order to locate specific area and climates on a map.
Students will compare and contrast map projections (see e. under Map Centers).
Unit 2: The Age of Exploration 1400-1600s
Essential Questions:
Why did certain groups of people choose to explore the world beyond Europe?
Who were the important figures in European exploration of the New World?
How did the voyages of European explorers influence the formation of the colonies?
How have maps and atlases been influenced by individuals and events in the Age of Exploration?
What resources are available to scholars studying the Age of Exploration?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create and use a chronological sequence of related events and compare them.
Students will analyze the ways, and for whom, the New World was an economic land of opportunity for explorers.
Students will use evidence to make claims and draw conclusions about the past.
Students will analyze primary resource maps and gather evidence.
Unit 3: Colonial America
Essential Questions:
How did the geography of the different colonies affect the way they grew and developed over time?
In what ways, and for whom, was America an economic land of opportunity during the colonial period?
How did the experiences of colonists in Colonial America influence the development of the democratic principles that provided the foundation for our country and still influence us today?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will compare and contrast the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth.
Students will analyze how geographic features of Jamestown affect the early settlement and development of the colony.
Students will explain why the interactions with the native peoples of New England were important to the survival of the Plymouth Colony.
Students will examine the ways the indigenous people’s views and acceptance of the colonists changed over time.
Students will analyze how the geography affected the site for the first settlement of Jamestown recognizing the advantages and disadvantages associated with selecting the site for the first permanent settlement.
Students will analyze the economic differences between the southern and northern colonies.
Students will compile evidence to show how the geographic characteristics of the two regions affected the economic conditions in the colonies located in these regions?
Students will identify and differentiate the governmental structures in the colonies and discuss why some colonies were governed differently.
Students will describe the resources that were available in the different colonies and how were those resources were used.
Students will connect how the lives of children during colonial times were similar to the lives of children today.
Students will identify the major reasons for the French and Indian War, as seen through both the British and the French and explain how the war set the stage for the Revolution.
Students will analyze the impact of colonization on the way of life of the indigenous people.
Unit 4: American Revolution and Connecticut History
Essential Questions:
How did the actions of colonists in Colonial America influence the development of the democratic principles that provided the foundation for our country and still influence us today?
How did the Revolutionary War contribute to an American identity?
Was the Revolutionary War avoidable?
What was the role of Connecticut and its citizens during the Revolution?
What was the role of Norwich and its citizens during the Revolution?
Who were the key important figures during the Revolution and what roles did they serve?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will analyze the major events that led up to the Revolutionary War.
Students will utilize primary source documents and establish roles by key figures in developing the Declaration of Independence.
Students will describe the role of Connecticut in the Revolution, as well as the citizens of Norwich.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of important Revolutionary figures and the Founding Fathers.
Students will describe key roles women played in the establishment of America and how these roles shaped our newly found country.
GRADE 6
Unit 1: Southern Asia Geography
Essential Questions:
How do maps of Southern Asia reflect its history, politics, and economics?
What environmental and cultural factors make Southern Asia and Northeastern United States different from one another?
How does the growth in population of a region such as South Asia affect its environment over time?
What are the major pull factors for countries of Southern Asia to draw people to living there?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will explain the five themes of geography.
Students will construct a map of Southern Asia and their community.|
Students will identify and define geographical landforms and water systems.
Students will use latitude and longitude to find the absolute location of a place.
Students will explain what makes something a region.
Students will understand and provide examples of Human Environment Interaction.
Students will identify the push and pull factors that lead to human movement.
Students will locate geographic features in their community of Southern Connecticut.
Students will create a cohesive argument.
Unit 2: Civilization of Early Americas
Essential Questions:
What are the features of a civilization?
What aspects of the Maya, Inca, and Aztecs made them advanced civilization?
Was conquest by the Spaniards of the Americas exploration or exploitation?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will identify the characteristics of a civilization.
Students will locate on a map the area that made up the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations.
Students will know characteristics of their civilizations that made the Maya, Inca, and Aztec unique and advanced.
Students will argue which of the three civilizations was the most advanced.
Students will evaluate the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas impact on the region.
Students will explain the differences between colonization and conquest.
Students will explain what exploitation of a people means.
Unit 3: Human Migration
Essential Questions:
What local and global issues cause people to migrate?
What is the impact of migration on people and places around the world?
How does population density affect the availability of resources?
Why are certain places more populated than others?
How does where you live affect how you live?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will know the push and pull factors that lead to migration and immigration.
Students will know the impact that people moving from one region to another has on the people, land, and resources on both the places they move to, as well as the places they move away from.
Students will know the expansion and redistribution of the human population affects patterns of settlement, environmental changes, and resource use.
Students will know that political, economic, and technological changes sometimes have dramatic effects on population size, composition, and distribution. Students will know that past, present, and future conditions on Earth’s surface cannot be fully understood without asking and answering questions about the spatial patterns of human population.
Unit 4: Environmental Changes
Essential Questions:
What is the impact of environmental change?
What innovations change the way humans impact the environment?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will know that environmental and weather changes in one part of the world can impact other parts of the world.
GRADE 7
Unit 1: Using Water to Survive and Thrive
Essential Questions:
How did the development of river valley civilizations alter both human life and the environment where they lived?
How do people throughout the world use water?
What are the relationships between water and agriculture?
What solutions exist in the world to improving the use of water throughout the world?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will know that civilization depends on having ready access to water.
Students will know how humans deal with getting water has been essential to determining whether communities will thrive.
Students will know economic decisions about the use of water affects the well-being of societies.
Students will know human interaction with the environment impacts people as well as geography.
Students will know clean water supply is a current and growing concern for humans to not only survive, but thrive.
Unit 2: Defining Regions
Essential Questions:
How did early civilizations organize themselves?
What role do written laws/government play in providing rights and equality to people?
How are Western societal, political, and economic structures today a product of Western Europe’s past?
How do borders (natural or created) impact the civilization and citizens within them?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create graphic representation of various physical, cultural, social, political, and economic regions.
Students will evaluate cultural, social, political, and economic characteristics that may define a region.
Students will analyze and summarize from primary and secondary sources.
Students will evaluate and judge conflicting solutions to world issues.
Students will create arguments and defend them using appropriate sources.
Students will cite evidence using MLA format.
Students will debate and evaluate arguments for creating a more sustainable society.
Unit 3: Accessing Education
Essential Questions:
What is the purpose of education?
How does education help people thrive in the world?
How do historians recognize past problems and apply their understanding to present issues?
What barriers exist today limiting access to education around the world?
What can be done to lessen the inequalities in the access and quality of education throughout the world?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will create graphic representation of various physical, cultural, social, political, and economic regions.
Students will compare and contrast different ideas about the purpose of education.
Students will assess how the availability of resources impacts educational opportunities.
Students will assess how crises impact the education of children.
Students will analyze the economic and cultural reasons for discrimination in education.
Students will evaluate how the history of an area impacts the educational opportunities available to children.
Students will analyze educational opportunities between “developed” and “developing” nations.
Students will analyze and summarize primary and secondary sources.
Students will create and defend arguments using appropriate sources.
Students will analyze the education students are receiving in Norwich Public Schools and identify an area of possible improvement.
Unit 4: Holocaust and Genocide
Essential Questions:
What classifies a tragedy as a genocide?
What is the world’s responsibility to the victims, punishing those responsible, and preventing from happening again?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will define a tragedy and genocide.
Students will argue the world's responsibility to the victims.
GRADE 8
Unit 1: Revolution and the New Nation
Essential Questions:
Was the American Revolution inevitable?
How did the early American experience and the founding documents shape and define American values and the American Dream?
How did the colonial economy and the relationship with Great Britain evolve and change over time?
What was Connecticut’s role in the American Revolution and the early Republic?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will analyze the causes of the American Revolution and the ideas and interests involved in forging the revolutionary movement.
Students will analyze the reasons for the American victory in the Revolutionary War.
Students will evaluate the impact of the American Revolution on politics, economics, and society.
Students will analyze the institutions and practices of government created during the Revolutionary era and how they were revised between 1787-1824 to create the foundation of the American political system based on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Students will identify interpretations of the Constitution and explain how they influenced attitudes toward how the government should operate.
Students will identify the basic plan for the structure of the United States government as set forth in the Constitution.
Unit 2: Expansion and Reform: 1792 - 1861
Essential Questions:
How was the United States able to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from the Canadian border to the Mexican border?
Was territorial and economic expansion justified by Americans and what impact did it have on various groups?
How did Westward Expansion reinforce, and contradict, the American identity of the United States as a land of opportunity?
How did Westward Expansion affect the American identity?
How was democracy both expanded and restricted in the United States during this era?
How did the institution of slavery evolve, and in what ways was it challenged?
During the early 1800’s how and why was democracy expanded for some and limited for others?
How did entrepreneurship, new technologies, and innovation affect people’s standard of living in the United States during the early 1800s.
How did technology and innovation affect people’s lives in the early 1800’s?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will analyze United States territorial expansion between 1792 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans.
Students will examine how the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions.
Students will assess the competing forces of expansionism, nationalism, and sectionalism.
Students will access the extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800.
Students will evaluate the cultural and social reform movements in the antebellum period.
Students will describe two ways the United States acquired land after the Revolutionary War (Louisiana Purchase, Gadsden Purchase, Adams-Onis Treaty, Mexican American War, Texas Annexation, Guadalupe-Hidalgo).
Students will describe one way the U.S. acquired land from indigenous nations. (Trail of Tears, Indian Removal Act, Manifest Destiny).
Unit 3: A Nation Divided
Essential Questions:
How can we use evidence to understand how the Civil War affected freedom and equality for Americans?
What caused the American Civil War?
In what ways did the abolition of slavery indicate progress, or decline, for the life for African Americans?
What were the major effects of the American Civil War?
How did American conceptions of freedom and equality change during and just after the Civil War period?
How were American perceptions of freedom and equality changed during the Civil War period?
Was the Reconstruction a success or failure?
What were the benefits and problems of the Reconstruction?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will describe the different economies and cultures of the North and South in the early 19th century.|
Students will evaluate various long-term and short-term reasons for conflict between the North and the South.
Students will identify on a map Union and Confederate States at the outbreak of the war.
Students will analyze the roles and policies of various Civil War leaders and describe the important Civil War battles and events.
Students will provide examples of the various effects of the Civil War.
Students will evaluate the ways that African American life in the South changed during the Reconstruction era and ways that it stayed the same.
Students will analyze reasons that the Reconstruction era could be seen as a success and reasons that the Reconstruction era could be seen as a failure.
Unit 4: Social Movements of the 1960s and 1970s
Essential Questions:
What is a social movement?
Did the civil rights movement of the 1960s cause a change in the government’s role in promoting freedom and equality for Americans.
Have social movements from the 1960s and 1970s positively affected people’s political participation in America?
When and how should people protest government policies?
Goals of the Unit:
Students will analyze the causes and methods of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Students will analyze the role of the federal government in supporting and inhibiting various 20th century civil rights movements.
Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the civil rights movement in improving political, economic, and social conditions for African Americans in the United States.
Students will investigate the occurrence of racial and religious conflict in different regions of the United States.
Students will analyze other social reform movements from the 1960s and 1970s such as opportunities for women, other ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented groups, as well as movements related to peace and the environment.
Professional Learning & Evaluation
Professional Development and Evaluation
All Norwich Public Schools educators and leaders have the opportunity for continuous learning and feedback, to develop and grow, both individually and collectively, through the educator and leader evaluation and support system so that all Connecticut students experience growth and success.
The Norwich Public Schools Professional Development and Evaluation Committee (PDEC) is comprised of several certified teachers and administrators that meet to collaboratively define a shared vision and establish collective responsibility for the development, evaluation and updating of a local comprehensive professional learning plan and participation in the development or adoption of the district educator evaluation and support program. The PDEC designs and regularly updates a comprehensive plan that clearly describes how professional learning is developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated within a district.
2024-2025 Norwich Public Schools Leader and Teacher Evaluation Plan
Social Emotional Learning
- What is Social and Emotional Learning?
- 5 Casel Standards of SEL
- How does SEL improve overall well-being?
- How can parents incorporate SEL lessons at home?
- How can adults incorporate SEL into their self-care routine?
What is Social and Emotional Learning?
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.
5 Casel Standards of SEL
5 Casel Standards of SEL
Norwich Public Schools abides by the national standards of CASEL, a framework of social and emotional learning standards. CASEL is built upon evidence-based social and emotional learning, which is rapidly becoming an integral part of education from preschool through high school across the United States.
Self-Awareness- The ability to recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts and values and how they influence behavior, understanding strengths and challenges and developing confidence and self worth.
Self-Management- The ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors in different situations - effectively managing stress, controlling impulses and motivating oneself.
Social Awareness- The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and recognize family, school and community resources and supports.
Relationship Skills- The ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors in different situations - effectively managing stress, controlling impulses and motivating oneself.
Responsible Decision Making- The ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors in different situations - effectively managing stress, controlling impulses and motivating oneself.
How does SEL improve overall well-being?
How can parents incorporate SEL lessons at home?
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Encourage children to use belly breaths when they need to calm their body.
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Ask your child to rate feelings on a scale of 1-5. How does their body feel when they are experiencing that emotion- frustrated, sad or disappointed? Etc.
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Ask your child to help make their favorite dish by following your directions, one at a time. Make sure to say “please” and “thank you” and acknowledge all of their efforts. This will not only help them learn about the art of listening, but teach them about the importance of being polite to others, especially while working on group projects.
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Encourage your child to think about other people’s perspectives. How might another person feel in this situation?
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Use social stories for teachable moments and encourage kids to talk about what decisions your kids should make if they were the character.
How can adults incorporate SEL into their self-care routine?
- Self-care involves recognizing our own strengths and vulnerabilities and using wellness strategies that work for us. Self care can be integrated into our daily routine, helping us balance our jobs and our lives outside of work. Some examples include:
- Adequate rest or sleep
- Exercise
- Healthy eating habits
- Hobbies