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Art
In each unit in Kindergarten, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, printmaking, and color theory.
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English Language Arts
Early literacy work includes an intentional focus on all five essential components of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics/word study, fluency, vocabularly, and comprehension. Students are encouraged to view themselves as readers and writers, actively engaged in reading and writing within a workshop structure.
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Health
Kirkwood's K-5 health curricula have recently been revised and will be presented to the Board of Education in August. The proposed curriculum for kindergarten will be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year, pending Board approval. These curricula can currently be viewed under 2021-2022 meeting notes on the Curriculum Review Committee website.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the K-2 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they develop foundational skills in these areas. K-2 elementary students learn how the library is organized, where and how to find resources, how to identify and select appropriate texts, and how to use digital technologies in safe and responsible ways. Beginning research skills (such as accessing a database) are modeled and taught in a scaffolded manner and often in support of content area projects.
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Math
In kindergarten math, instructional time focuses on two critical areas: (1) representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; (2) describing shapes and space. More learning time in Kindergarten should be devoted to number sense than to other topics.
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Music
In each unit in Kindergarten, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, and iconic notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different occasions and celebrations.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science & Engineering
In kindergarten science, students learn to observe and describe natural phenomena to look for patterns. Students study how designers create and test solutions. They begin to develop an understanding of structure and function in the built environment and the natural world.
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Social Studies
In kindergarten, students engage in the study of themselves, their families, and their schools. They learn how to participate and use effective citizenship skills. They explore their families, their classrooms, and their schools alongside beginning history, civics, economics, and geography topics.
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Art
In each unit in first grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, printmaking, and color theory.
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English Language Arts
Early literacy work includes an intentional focus on all five essential components of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics/word study, fluency, vocabularly, and comprehension. Students are encouraged to view themselves as readers and writers, actively engaged in reading and writing within a workshop structure.
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Health
Kirkwood's K-5 health curricula have recently been revised and will be presented to the Board of Education in August. The proposed curriculum will be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year, pending Board approval. These curricula can currently be viewed under 2021-2022 meeting notes on the Curriculum Review Committee website.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the K-2 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they develop foundational skills in these areas. K-2 elementary students learn how the library is organized, where and how to find resources, how to identify and select appropriate texts, and how to use digital technologies in safe and responsible ways. Beginning research skills (such as accessing a database) are modeled and taught in a scaffolded manner and often in support of content area projects.
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Math
In first grade math, instructional time focuses on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; (2) developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones; (3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and (4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.
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Music
In each unit in first grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, iconic notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different occasions and celebrations and develop a personal program of music for a special event.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science & Engineering
In first grade, students investigate light and sound, including vibration from sound waves and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. Students use their understanding of light from the Light & Sound unit to understand why the sun, moon, and stars are visible. Students will explore the sequential nature of computer programs through hands-on activities both with and without a computer. The final unit focuses on animals and includes exploration of animal life cycles and survival needs. The concept of variation is introduced by learning that young animals are similar to but not exactly like their parents and that the needs of young animals are sometimes different that those of adults. Students will also explore the design concept of biomimicry - in which structures found in nature are used to design solutions to human problems.
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Social Studies
In first grade, students explore their place in the world around them building on their work in kindergarten and expanding perspective beyond themselves. Through comparison of family, school, and community, students will explore multiple perspectives from the past and today.
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Art
In each unit in second grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, sculpture, and color theory.
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Health
Kirkwood's K-5 health curricula have recently been revised and will be presented to the Board of Education in August. The proposed curriculum for second grade will be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year, pending Board approval. These curricula can currently be viewed under 2021-2022 meeting notes on the Curriculum Review Committee website.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the K-2 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they develop foundational skills in these areas. K-2 elementary students learn how the library is organized, where and how to find resources, how to identify and select appropriate texts, and how to use digital technologies in safe and responsible ways. Beginning research skills (such as accessing a database) are modeled and taught in a scaffolded manner and often in support of content area projects.
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Math
In second grade math, instructional time focuses on four critical areas: (1) extending understanding of base-ten notation; (2) building fluency with addition and subtraction; (3) using standard units of measure; and (4) describing and analyzing shapes.
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Music
In each unit in second grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, read, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, and music notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different occasions and celebrations and develop a personal program of music for a special event.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science and Engineering
In second grade, students will build upon their understanding of the basic needs of plants and animals developed in Kindergarten and First Grade. They will explore materials science and investigate and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color, texture, and heat conduction. They will explore computer science combining mathematics and computers and investigate numerical relationships while learning about the sequence and structure required in computer programs. Students will learn that in nature, some changes happen slowly and others happen quickly. They will learn about the water cycle and water’s effect on the Earth’s surface.
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Social Studies
In second grade, students engage in the study of geography as it relates to various characteristics of the regions of both Missouri and the United States. This approach supports in-depth inquiry through the examination and evaluation of multiple sources and allows students to explore various regions through the disciplines of history, civics, government, and economics. The study of these disciplines prompts students to consider questions such as the essential questions listed below.
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Art
In each unit in third grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture.
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Health
Kirkwood's K-5 health curricula have recently been revised and will be presented to the Board of Education in August. The proposed curriculum for second grade will be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year, pending Board approval. These curricula can currently be viewed under 2021-2022 meeting notes on the Curriculum Review Committee website.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the Grades 3-5 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they move towards independence in these areas. Students in Grades 3-5 read for both pleasure and purpose, selecting from a vast catalog of diverse fiction and non-fiction texts compiled from sources such as the Mark Twain, ALA, Dogwood Readers, Newbury, and Caldecott nominees and award-winners. Students learn how to review, recommend, and compare texts as well as how to independently select appropriate texts for varying purposes. In doing so, students learn how to navigate the library, using the online management systems and call numbers to find, select, and check out books.
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Math
In third grade math, instructional time focuses on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100; (2) developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); (3) developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.
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Music
In each unit in third grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, read, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, and music notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different occasions and celebrations and develop a program of music for a public event.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science & Engineering
In third grade, students will learn that scientists record patterns of the weather across different times and areas so that they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen next. Students will analyze data to determine how the motion of an object is changed by an applied force or the mass of an object. Starting with computer-free activities and progressing to programming in a blocks-based language on a tablet, students learn how to think computationally about a problem. Students make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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Social Studies
In third grade, students engage in a yearlong study of our state of Missouri. They analyze the impact of geography, economics, and governmental structures to study the historical, civic, and cultural characteristics of Missouri, both past and present. In their studies, students consider questions such as the essential questions listed below.
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Art
In each unit in fourth grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, fibers, and curation.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the Grades 3-5 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they move towards independence in these areas. Students in Grades 3-5 read for both pleasure and purpose, selecting from a vast catalog of diverse fiction and non-fiction texts compiled from sources such as the Mark Twain, ALA, Dogwood Readers, Newbury, and Caldecott nominees and award-winners. Students learn how to review, recommend, and compare texts as well as how to independently select appropriate texts for varying purposes. In doing so, students learn how to navigate the library, using the online management systems and call numbers to find, select, and check out books.
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Math
In fourth grade math, instructional time focuses on three critical areas: (1) developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; (2) developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; (3) understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.
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Music
In each unit in fourth grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, read, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, and music notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different cultural celebrations and develop a program of music for a public event.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science & Engineering
In fourth grade, students identify the conversion of energy between forms and the energy transfer required to move energy from place to place. They will develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude or wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. Students will identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. In this exploration of how computers work, students are encouraged to make analogies between the parts of the human body and parts that make up a computer. Students are introduced to the structures of plants and animals - with an emphasis on their functions.
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Social Studies
In fourth grade, students engage in the study of events early in United States history ranging from indigenous peoples here prior to colonization through the American Revolution. An emphasis is placed on analyzing and evaluating a variety of documents, sources, and perspectives. The survey of early American history requires that students consider questions such as the essential questions listed below.
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Art
In each unit in fifth grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, sculpture, and color theory.
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Health
Kirkwood's K-5 health curricula have recently been revised and will be presented to the Board of Education in August. The proposed curriculum for second grade will be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year, pending Board approval. These curricula can currently be viewed under 2021-2022 meeting notes on the Curriculum Review Committee website.
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Library Media
The K-5 Library/Media curriculum assists students in Navigating Library Resources, Text Appreciation, Research, and Digital Citizenship & Technology Literacy. In the Grades 3-5 curriculum, district librarians provide guidance and assistance to students as they move towards independence in these areas. Students in Grades 3-5 read for both pleasure and purpose, selecting from a vast catalog of diverse fiction and non-fiction texts compiled from sources such as the Mark Twain, ALA, Dogwood Readers, Newbury, and Caldecott nominees and award-winners. Students learn how to review, recommend, and compare texts as well as how to independently select appropriate texts for varying purposes. In doing so, students learn how to navigate the library, using the online management systems and call numbers to find, select, and check out books.
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Math
In fifth grade math, instructional time should focus on three critical areas: (1) developing fluency with addition and subtraction of fractions, and developing understanding of the multiplication of fractions and of division of fractions in limited cases (unit fractions divided by whole numbers and whole numbers divided by unit fractions); (2) extending division to 2-digit divisors, integrating decimal fractions into the place value system and developing understanding of operations with decimals to hundredths, and developing fluency with whole number and decimal operations; and (3) developing understanding of volume.
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Music
In each unit in fifth grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of musical forms. They imitate, echo, read, and create music and learn to use musical vocabulary to describe and respond to music. Students will explore with dance, rhythm, vocal music, instrumental music, and music notation. Students will consider what musical forms and dances are appropriate for different cultural celebrations and develop a program of music for a public event.
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Physical Education
Physical education is a school-based instructional opportunity that provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. The outcome of a quality physical education program is a physically literate individual who has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy physical activity.
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Science & Engineering
In fifth grade, students will take a deeper, more advanced dive into matter, energy, and their relationship with ecosystems and environments. They will study the characteristics and motion of objects in our solar system and examine how relative distance in space impacts light. Students will end their year with a unit on robotics and automation, developing skills needed to build and program an autonomous robot.
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Social Studies
In fifth grade, students engage in the study of events, documents, movements, and people emphasizing the time period between 1800 and 2000 in America with a focus on inquiry into the continuing development of the United States as a nation. This survey of U.S. History between 1800 and 2000 requires that students consider questions such as the essential questions listed below.
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Encore/Electives
The Association for Middle Level Education notes that exploratory courses are a key component of successful middle schools, offering regularly scheduled, short-term enrichment experiences in which students can investigate chosen areas of knowledge and interest. Nipher and North Kirkwood Middle Schools each offer students a number of encore/elective classes, as extensions of other curricular areas and/or as opportunities to explore new areas of interest. Courses range from several weeks to a full year, depending on the grade level, school, and purpose of the course.
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English Language Arts
Sixth Grade English Language Arts encourages students to reflect on the power of the individual. Students will look inward as they reflect on their own lives, writing about powerful narrative moments that have helped shape the person they are today.
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Library Media
Library skills at the middle school build upon information literacy skills from the elementary level but begin to go beyond locating and noticing to seeking and creating. Library skills are not taught in isolation but rather integrated throughout all of the subject areas and courses students take throughout middle school.
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Math 6
In this course, instructional time should focus on four main areas: (1) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems; (2) completing the understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers; (3) writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and (4) developing understanding of statistical thinking.
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Physical Science
In the first unit of Physical Science in Sixth Grade, students will work toward formulating an answer to the question, “How do atomic and molecular interactions explain the properties of matter that we see and feel?” by building an understanding of what occurs at the atomic and molecular scale. In unit two, students will work toward formulating an answer to the question, “How can energy be transferred from one object or system to another?” In unit 3, students will work toward answering the question “What are the characteristics and properties of waves and how can they be used?” In unit 4, students will develop an understanding of why some objects will keep moving, why objects fall to the ground and why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not.
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Social Studies: Geography, Culture and Citizenship
Through the study of geography, culture, and citizenship, students will study develop mental models of what the world looks like physically and culturally and develop initial understandings of how people connect with various forms of governments around the world. Students will practice the historical thinking skills of perspective taking, comparison and contrast and change over time. They will craft arguments using claim, evidence, reasoning, to back their positions and findings about the places, cultures, peoples and governments around the world and they connect/compare/contrast their learning from around the world to Kirkwood/St. Louis, Missouri. Utilizing the framework of Change Makers, students will evaluate the impact individuals have on their communities, countries, regions and the world.
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Encore/Electives
The Association for Middle Level Education notes that exploratory courses are a key component of successful middle schools, offering regularly scheduled, short-term enrichment experiences in which students can investigate chosen areas of knowledge and interest. Nipher and North Kirkwood Middle Schools each offer students a number of encore/elective classes, as extensions of other curricular areas and/or as opportunities to explore new areas of interest. Courses range from several weeks to a full year, depending on the grade level, school, and purpose of the course.
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English Language Arts
Seventh Grade English Languages Arts offers a wide variety of units that focus on examining society and how it influences who we are as individuals. The units of study for the school year include but are not limited to poetry and creative writing, dystopian literature, memoir and storytelling, and propaganda and persuasion with an emphasis on student selected texts.
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Library Media
Library skills at the middle school build upon information literacy skills from the elementary level but begin to go beyond locating and noticing to seeking and creating. Library skills are not taught in isolation but rather integrated throughout all of the subject areas and courses students take throughout middle school.
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Life Science
In the first unit of Life Science in Seventh Grade, students will work toward formulating an answer to the question, “How can one explain the ways cells contribute to the function of living organisms?” and “How humans impact the growth and development of organisms and organization for matter and energy flow in organisms?” In unit two students will work toward formulating an answer to the question, “How does a system of living and non-living things operate to meet the needs of the organisms in an ecosystem?” and “How humans impact interdependent relationships in ecosystems, cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems, and ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience?” In unit three, students will work toward formulating an answer to the question, “How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the next?” and ”How humans impact inheritance of traits and variation of traits?”
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Math 7
In this course, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of and applying proportional relationships; (2) developing understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations; (3) solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and working with two- and three-dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and (4) drawing inferences about populations based on samples. Students engage with relevant mathematical contexts to make math meaningful. As students encounter challenging problems, and practice asking for help and a willingness to learn from others, they build the social emotional learning competencies of self-management, self awareness, relationship skills, and social awareness.
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Social Studies: US History to 1877
Students will study the history of the United States from early settlements in North America through the American Civil War/Reconstruction. Our goal is to foster the development of “historical understanding” in our students by offering them opportunities to engage with history. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, students will learn to ask good questions about the past, make connections between a variety of sources of information, and recognize and consider alternate points of view and purpose, infer meaning as to how social context shapes events as well as ways in which our history is relevant today.
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Algebra I
Algebra 1 provides a bridge from the study of patterns and relationships in previous grades to the study of functions, algebraic relationships, and the development of advanced mathematical reasoning skills. This course will help prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world by involving students in exploring and discovering math concepts, connecting algebra to the real world and to other subjects, and by integrating technology as a problem-solving tool.
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Earth Science
In the first unit of Earth Science in Eighth Grade, students will work toward showing best practices as a scientist through mastering inquiry-based practices, shifting to understanding the “Why” of foundational Earth Science Practices, starting with heat and density. In unit two, students will work toward formulating an answer to questions such as: “What is Earth’s place in the Universe, What makes up our solar system and how can the motion of Earth explain seasons and eclipses, and "How do people figure out that the Earth and life on Earth have changed through time?” In unit three, students will work toward formulating an answer to several essential questions.
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Eighth Grade Math
In this course, instructional time should focus on three critical areas: (1) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations; (2) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships; (3) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.
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Encore/Electives
The Association for Middle Level Education notes that exploratory courses are a key component of successful middle schools, offering regularly scheduled, short-term enrichment experiences in which students can investigate chosen areas of knowledge and interest. Nipher and North Kirkwood Middle Schools each offer students a number of encore/elective classes, as extensions of other curricular areas and/or as opportunities to explore new areas of interest. Courses range from several weeks to a full year, depending on the grade level, school, and purpose of the course.
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English Language Arts
Eighth Grade English Language Arts encourages students to examine themselves, their society, and most importantly, the role they play within the world. Students will analyze text through personal reflection, small group discussion, and whole class activities.
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Library Media
Library skills at the middle school build upon information literacy skills from the elementary level but begin to go beyond locating and noticing to seeking and creating. Library skills are not taught in isolation but rather integrated throughout all of the subject areas and courses students take throughout middle school.
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Social Studies: World History to 1450
Students will build their conceptual understanding of change and continuity while they trace the impact of ancient cultures on modern world issues. Students will look at human origins, ancient civilizations, the rise of empires, and the development of world religions.