Cascadia Curricular Information

Students at Cascadia work on accelerated curriculum one to two grade levels above their same age peers. We align to Common Core State Standards in Math and English Language Arts (ELA), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Science, and Washington State GLE’s for Social Studies.

In grades 4 and 5 teachers specialize in a subject area and students rotate through the teachers for each subject. Most years we have teams where one teacher teaches ELA and Social Studies and the other Math and Science.

Cascadia offers Visual Arts and Physical Education as part of the core curriculum. Students in 1st and 2nd Grade work with the STYLE program for music instruction. Students in 3rd grade work closely with a Garden Teacher in our school garden. Students in 4th and 5th grade are also able to access Instrumental Music.

English Language Arts

The Center for Collaborative Classroom (CCC) instructional materials build on the foundation of Balanced Literacy and Workshop Model that our teachers have been using. CCC combines mini-lessons where the teacher engages students directly in learning, with independent or collaborative work. The CCC curriculum has a focus on working together and explicitly teaches students how to engage each other in learning.

At Cascadia students will be working one grade level above their same age peers. All grades will be using the Being a Writer Curriculum and the Making Meaning (reading) Curriculum. Being a Writer includes workshop model instruction, genre studies using mentor texts and integrated language skills.

Making Meaning includes reading comprehension and vocabulary, authentic read-alouds, and individualized Daily Reading. Our 1st graders will also be receiving direct phonics and phonemic awareness curriculum called Being a Reader, which includes foundational reading skills, differentiated reading groups, word study, fluency and handwriting.

More information on the Collaborative Classrooms website.

Handwriting

1st and 2nd graders study printing, and 3rd graders study cursive. All three grades use the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.

Mathematics

Students work two grades above their same age peers in mathematics at Cascadia. In grades 1-3 students use the Math in Focus curriculum. The curriculum is based on the Singapore method of math instruction where students learn math concepts from concrete-pictorial-abstract progression.

The Seattle School District Math department and our teachers have worked to modify the scope and sequence of the curriculum to meet the needs of students and ensure alignment to the Common Core State Standards. This means your child may not work from beginning to end of the workbooks. Grades 1-3 also follow a walk-to-math model of math instruction to better meet the needs of students.

In Grades 4 and 5 students will be using the enVisionmath2.0 accelerated two grades above.

enVision math 2.0 addresses the Common Core State Standards through problem solving, interactive experiences, and visual learning. Personalized math practice, built-in interventions, and customizable content deepen understanding and improve achievement.

Physical Education

“You are the boss of your body”

What does that look like through the lens of elementary PE? It means that you are in control of your movements, keeping yourself and classmates safe. You take responsible risks. You listen to your body when you need a break, a challenge, water, or a modification. You challenge yourself and strive for personal improvement and growth in every class. You find joy in all activities – whether they are something you are already skilled in, something that you have never tried before, seems intimidating, boring, or incredibly exciting.

Welcome to Cascadia Physical Education, Dragons! My name is Erica Collis and I am excited to be at Cascadia. Our focus is one of wellness, rather than sport-based competition. Class goals for every Cascadia student are:

1. Feeling comfortable and safe in their own body – attaining movement competency in a wide variety of activities
2. Lifetime fitness – setting the stage for students to want to be active outside of PE class through movement, exploration, and enjoyment
3. Personal bests and individual improvement

Movement can bring such joy, stress relief, pride, and growth. Let’s work together to make PE a place where all those things can happen for each learner.

Yours in wellness, Coach Collis

PE Contact Information:

Coach Collis
eccollis@seattleschools.org

Science

Science at Cascadia aims to be hands on and engaging. We use the Amplify Science curriculum that is aligned to the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The new standards ask students to be able to engage in science and engineering practices like design, building, and observation. It asks them to understand crosscutting concepts like cause and effect and energy and matter and how they work across all the domains in science.

It also asks students to understand key concepts in the core domains:

• physical sciences
• life sciences
• earth and space sciences
• engineering, technology and applications of science