Elementary Curriculum

Classroom instruction is based on the expectations identified in the Florida Standards. Classroom instruction is supported with the use of curriculum maps and Standards Focus Boards in all academic areas. The curriculum maps are a guideline for teachers that identify standards for each subject and are correlated to the curriculum and textbooks available to all students. 

It is the expectation that all lessons and daily instruction are aligned to the Florida Standards and follow the pacing guide set forth by our district. This provides teachers the ability to check progress towards mastery by completing required district assessments and to use this data to remediate or enrich students.

For more information regarding the Florida Standards please visit the FLDOE.org  FLDOE

Literacy: Our current English Language Arts (ELA) is Amplify Education Core Knowledge. Reading, grammar, and writing are combined within the Florida Standards.

Math: Our current math adoption is GO MATH! Florida.  This series has been aligned with the Florida Standards. 

Textbooks

Students following a regular curriculum use the Marion County adopted textbooks:

• CKLA - Core Knowledge Language Arts
• Go Math

Supplemental Materials

• Social Studies Weekly
• STEMscopes

Art

Students will:

• explore the great art, artist, and cultures of the world
• develop skills to understand and appreciate artwork
• participate in hands-on art activities
• develop critical thinking skills by studying their artwork and others’ artwork

Middle Grades Curriculum

The process for developing, implementing, and monitoring an Instructional Focus Calendar for reading, writing, mathematics, and science:

This process is set and accomplished at the District level where school-based staff and District staff collaborate to create the focus calendar. Each school is provided with a copies of the Focus Calendars at the start of the school year. It is expected that math and language arts teachers will plan their pacing and Curriculum Maps around the Focus Calendars. All other teachers are informed of the current instructional focus and are expected to integrate the skill within their subject area as appropriate

Determining which instructional Benchmarks will be given priority focus, based on need, for each content area (reading, writing, mathematics, and science):

In all subjects, the benchmarks which have been identified as a tested skill at each grade level are given priority. In addition, author’s purpose is included in every reading focus calendar assessment throughout the year in an attempt to give our students greater exposure to this skill since it has historically been a difficult skill for our students to master across the District.

The process to ensure instruction is based on individual students’ needs:

Focus Calendar Assessments are scored electronically and the data is available to both the District and school through INFORM. At Fort McCoy school, we print copies of data reports for teachers which indicate how their students did individually as well as by group. The grade level/subject area teachers meet in Data meetings at the end of each assessment to analyze their results. In this meeting, teachers collaborate on teaching strategies and skill development.

The information teachers gain through the data analysis is shared with the administration either in person or via a written summary. The administration monitors teacher lesson plans through formal and informal classroom observations throughout the year.

In addition, teachers use this data to determine which skills may need to be re-taught with individual students or classes or with the group as a whole.

How the school incorporates applied and integrated courses to help students see the relationships between subjects and relevance to their future:

Lesson plans are aligned at each grade level and subject area by vertical and horizontal alignment of the District Curriculum Maps. These maps are created collaboratively by the District teachers at that grade level and in that subject area. Individual teachers have the latitude to develop their own instructional strategies to deliver instruction within the confines of the Curriculum Map. All applied course instructors support the Focus Calendar skills by participating in school-wide initiatives such as WICOR strategies which are documented in their lesson plans.

How the school incorporates students’ academic and career planning, as well as promote student course selections, so that students’ course of study is personally meaningful:

Students have limited selections as they progress through the middle school curriculum in preparation for their high school career. However, during their eighth grade year, all students participate in a Career Planning course in order to explore career options and aptitudes in preparation for the course selection and ninth grade scheduling process which our students complete in the Spring of their eighth grade year.