Literature/ Language Arts

Poetry:  “A Bird Came Down the Walk,” by Emily Dickinson,  “Casey at the Bat,” by Ernest Thayer, “The Eagle,” By Alfred Lord Tennyson, “I Hear America Singing,” by Walt Whitman, “A Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost, “The Snowstorm,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Stories and Speeches: Don Quixote, American Indian Legends, Little Women, The Gettysburg Address, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Chief Joseph “I will fight no more forever”, The Gettysburg Address

Sayings: Count your blessings….A penny saved is a penny earned….Time heals all wounds…….

Science

Classifying Living Things – how animals are classified by kingdom

Cell structures and Processes – plant cells, nucleus, organization of cells into tissues

Plant Structures and Processes – non-vascular and vascular plants, photosynthesis

Life Cycles and Reproduction – development of an organism from birth to growth, reproduction and death

The Human Body – the endocrine system, duct glands, pituitary glands, thyroid glands, pancreas, adrenal glands

Science Biographies – Charles Babbage, Galileo, Percy Lavon Julian, Ernest Just and Ada Lovelace

World Civilization and Geography

Climate Zones – Artic Circle, prime meridian, tropics, time zones

Formation of Lakes and Great Lakes of the World – Caspian Sea, Superior, Huron and Michigan

European Exploration and Trade – Spice Islands, “Ring of Fire,” the Middle Passage

Trade and Clash of Cultures, Portuguese, Spain, The Netherlands (Holland)

Meso-American Civilizations – Central America, South America, Brazil, Argentina, Amazon River, Andes Mountains

Russia Early Growth and Expansion – Volga, Siberia, Ural Mountains, Moscow

Japan – Sea of Japan, Tokyo, Pacific Rim, typhoons, earthquakes

Westward Exploration – Missouri & Mississippi Rivers, Oregon Trail, Erie Canal

The Renaissance – rebirth of ideas, da Vinci, Michelangelo

The Reformation – Martin Luther, John Calvin, The Counter Reformation

Feudal Japan – shoguns, Samurai, Buddhism, Shintoism, rigid class system

Russia – Ivan III (The Great), Ivan IV (The Terrible), Peter The Great, Catherine The Great

American Civilization and Geography

Westward Expansion – Daniel Boone, pioneers, Indian resistance, “Manifest Destiny”

The Civil War – Lincoln, Lee, Grant, Gettysburg, slavery, Appomattox, Bull Run

Reconstruction – Andrew Jackson, South in ruins, carpetbaggers, Freedmen’s Bureau

The West – Homestead Act, transcontinental railroad, Annie Oakley, Buffalo soldiers

Native Americans – Ute, Nez, Perce, Little Big Horn, ghost dance, Wounded Knee

Visual Arts

Perspective – Linear perspective, convergence of parallel lines towards a vanishing point; the horizon line

Art of the Renaissance – da Vinci, Donatello, Michelangelo, St. Peter’s in Rome

American Art in the 19^th Century – Currier and Ives, Matthew Brady photography

Art of Japan – great Buddha, landscape gardens

Selected Works – Raphael The Marriage of the Virgin, Botticelli The Birth of Venus, Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Michelangelo Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Music

Harmony – verse, refrain, play simple melodies while reading scores, octave, sixteenth notes

Jazz – improvisation, Scott Joplin, syncopation, ragtime, African-American origins

Selections by: Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Music from the Renaissance – “Greensleeves,” madrigals of Claudio Monteverdi, Mendelssohn

Physical Education

Sportsmanship, Fitness, Teams, Nutrition, Health, Basic rules and skills of volleyball, dance, basketball, gymnastics, softball, track and field

Virtues

Virtues such as responsibility toward friendship, patience, magnanimous, self-reliance, resolution, perseverance, empathy, integrity, and loyalty will be taught.

Stories:  John Henry, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Marie Curie, The Wright Brothers, The Boy Who Held Back the Sea, A Christmas Carol, The Gift of the Magi, The Good Samaritan

Library Skills

Reference tools, encyclopedia, World Almanac, biographical dictionary, charts, timelines, tables and graphs

Basic Christian Principles

Specific books of the Bible will be studied.  A question/discussion/answer approach will be used.

Virtues – Resolution, Integrity, Patience

Stories – “I Hear America Singing”, The Snowstorm, Daniel Boone, The Eagle, “To approach a problem with prejudice is to close the door to knowledge”, Ralph Waldo Emerson