Elementary School

Our 1st-4th grade elementary program focuses on developing and expanding upon foundational skills that promote success both now and for the future. Students thrive in a self-contained classroom where they receive Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Art classes with their homeroom teacher. Students receive Spanish, Honduran Social Studies, PE, Music, and Technology classes with a subject specialist. Through the use of hands on learning centers, whole class, small group and individual learning, and ongoing assessments, students engage in the content while also developing socially and emotionally. Elementary classrooms are focused, fun, collaborative, and promote the mastery of learning.

Our elementary division focuses on fostering a love of learning through engaging, fun, and focused lessons. Our curriculum is adapted to our school needs and follows the Common Core State Standards for Math and Language Arts, the Next Generation Science Standards, the Virginia Social Studies Standards, and the Honduran Ministry of Education.

The school utilizes the approach to lesson planning based on our curriculum consultant, Dr. Jane E. Pollock’s research that focuses on establishing specific learning goals for each lesson. Our elementary curriculum prioritizes the building of foundational skills, specifically in reading and mathematics as these subjects are integrated across subjects.

Each grade builds upon the previous learning and extends the depth and application of knowledge and skills at a developmentally appropriate levels that promotes critical thinking, creative thinking, and ownership in learning.

An overview of the curriculum for each grade level can be found below.

The Association of Bilingual Schools of Honduras (A.B.S.H.) Language Arts festival took place this past weekend, February 18th, at La Ceiba Bilingual School. Joining 27 total schools from all over Honduras, many of our students participated in this event, taking part in the Spelling Bee and Deletreo, as well as in the Speech and Oratoria Festival

The Spelling Bee and Deletreo participants faced a new challenge started preparing, as the structure of the spelling bee had been changed and this year there were no official lists from which to study. Each school was tasked with developing a list of words that began with a certain letter to bring to the contest. During the contest, these words were chosen at random for the students to spell. Despite this new challenge, and considering the large amount of students participating, our students did very well. Brianna Vasquez from 5th grade and River Barnett from 7th grade each received a well deserved Third Place award for their category.

The Speech and Oratoria participants also demonstrated their hard work and made Mazapan School proud! With the assistance of their teachers in preparation, they wrote their own speeches, which they memorized and performed for an audience. During the competition, they showed the Pelican Spirit and were commended by several judges who shared with Mrs. Canahuati how impressive our students were in their speech delivery!

Curriculum

1st Grade

Language Arts
With prompting and support, developing foundational skills in the reading of literature and informational text through an emphasis on print concepts and phonological awareness, fluency, and word recognition. Language development is focused on learning the conventions of the English language as well as vocabulary development and application. Writing emphasizes the different text types, sharing of ideas, and an application of vocabulary. Opportunities for speaking and listening in the English language are integrated throughout the subject areas.

Math
Math foundations are developed with a focus on:
(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; and compare double digit numbers.
(3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and interpret data.
(4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.
(5) Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.

Science
Life Science: Living and Nonliving
Make observations and compare young plants and animals.
Identify parts of a plant and how their functions help with growth and survival.
Develop understanding of the needs of plants in order to survive.
Health: Healthy Me.
Developing healthy choices and behaviors that that affect their health throughout their life.
Recognize behaviors that will reduce health risks through their life.
Develop understanding of the basic functions of the body and how it relates to their health.
Earth Science:
Observe, describe and predict motion of the sun, moon, and stars.
Observe and describe seasonal patterns throughout the year.
Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance
Physical Science:
Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.

Social Studies
Learning is focused on character development and communities. Students will develop map skills, identify community members and their jobs, heroes in the community both past and present and how location affects a community.

Spanish
En el programa de Español de 1er grado se le da énfasis a las destrezas de la comunicación, lectura y escritura. Aplican la gramática del idioma al leer y escribir. Demuestran comprensión de la lectura, escriben textos cortos, utilizan vocabulario y oportunidades de expresarse oralmente. Leen textos fluidamente de acuerdo a su nivel.

Estudios Sociales
Conocen la comunidad donde viven, incluyendo el pasado, presente y futuro. Comprende los aspectos relacionados con el ser humano, su vida, su organización social en relación con el ambiente. El conocimiento de sí mismo y nuestra identidad. Formación ética y cívica. Las relaciones interpersonales y a convivir en armonía.

Art
Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and feelings in original works of art.

P.E.
The students will learn basic locomotor skills as well as changing directions and pace. Students will also how to strike stationary objects and bounce objects using two hands.

Music
The students learn to experience and love the music through different activities developed in the music room, which include reading and playing music notes, play music games, and sing a diverse repertoire among others.

Technology
Students learn essential computer terminology and how to use it. Skills include recalling usernames and passwords, independently logging into computers, navigating the internet using web browsers.

2nd Grade

Language Arts
Students continue the development of foundational skills, word recognition, fluency, and vocabulary The emphasis is more on independent reading,at school and at home, .The reading will be longer, and for some students it will include age-appropriate chapter books. Language development will focus on oral, listening, and writing skills.Dramatizations and retelling of stories will help develop their oral and listening skills. Through story development: beginning, middle, end, they will write longer and more complex sentences.

Math
(1) extending understanding of base-ten notation;represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction, add and subtract within 20, work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.
(2) building fluency with addition and subtraction; understand place value, use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
(3) using standard units of measure; and measure and estimate lengths in standard units, relate addition and subtraction to length, work with time and money, represent data.
(4) describing and analyzing shapes, reason with shapes and their attributes.

Science
Health Science:Students learn to choose foods that will keep them healthy
Life Science: Diversity of Living Things, What Plants Need, Animal and Plant Dependence
Earth Science: Properties and States of Matter, Quick Changes to The purpose of the Second Grade Social Studies curriculum is to introduce the concept of communities, which is defined as a collection of families and individuals who work, live, and play in a particular area. Students will learn to identify communities as groups in the urban, suburban, and rural settings. Through a study of communities the students will learn ideas and skills that can be used to compare their communities with communities throughout the United States and the world.Land, Slow Changes to Land, Mapping our World, Effects of Wind and Water, Forms of Water on Earth.
Physical Science: Purposes of Properties, Building Blocks of Matter, Changes from Heat, Properties and States of Matter

Social Studies
The purpose of the Second Grade Social Studies curriculum is to extend upon the concept of communities, Students will learn to identify communities as groups in the urban, and rural settings. Through a study of communities, the students will learn ideas and skills that can be used to compare their communities with communities throughout the world.

Spanish
En el programa de Español de 2do grado se le da énfasis a las destrezas de la comunicación, lectura y escritura. Aplican la gramática del idioma al leer y escribir. Demuestran comprensión de la lectura, escriben diferentes tipos de texto, utilizan vocabulario y oportunidades de expresarse oralmente. Leen textos fluidamente de acuerdo a su nivel; utilizan con diversos propósitos textos narrativos, descriptivos, expositivos y persuasivos, tanto literarios como funcionales e informativos, de varias fuentes como libros, medios masivos de comunicación.

Estudios Sociales
Conocen el departamento donde viven, incluyendo el pasado, presente y futuro. Los hechos geográficos del municipio y departamento. Relación con su medio social y natural Comprende los aspectos relacionados con el ser humano. Las relaciones interpersonales y a convivir en armonía. Reconocen su identidad y comprenden el sentimiento de pertenencia hacia Honduras, sus tradiciones, cívicas, valores, próceres y símbolos patrios. Descubren el impacto ambiental, social y económico que provocan las actividades que realiza la población de su departamento.

Art
Students explore Art through free expression and technique based projects..

P.E.
Students will be able to identify and respect personal space. Correct locomotor movements will also be identified and performed at varying speeds. Students will also continue to develop simple skills behind a variety of sports.

Music
Students learn to experience and love the music through different activities building up the skills and abilities required to perform a melodic instrument. In the Music Room we keep reading and playing music notes, play music games, and sing a diverse repertoire among others.

Technology
Students learn intermediate computer terminology and logging into school computers. Building upon the importance of internet privacy and password protection, students learn to navigate to web-based programs and login to their personal accounts. Students begin to identify home row keys, correct typing posture, and using 10 fingers for typing.

3rd Grade

Language Arts
Students develop their independence as they master their foundational reading and writing skills. They are exposed to more complex texts and are beginning to use more critical thinking as they dive deeper into the texts. Students are beginning to use informational texts to research topics and present information. They are growing their reading stamina at home and at school and participating in daily discussions about their reading in large and small groups. In writing, students are developing their grammar as well as analyzing the structure of a paragraph and how to use paragraphs effectively in their writing.

Math
(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.

Science
Health Science: Students learn about healthy life choices and how to make plans to improve their diets and exercise habits
Life Science: Adaptation/Animals groups
Earth Science: Weather/climates and natural disasters
Physical Science: Forces

Social Studies
Geographical Features of the world (Continents/Oceans/Maps)
Explorers
Ancient Rome/Ancient Greece
Ancient Mali

Spanish
En el programa de Español de 3er grado se le da énfasis a las destrezas de la comunicación, lectura y escritura. Aplican la gramática del idioma al leer y escribir. Demuestran comprensión de la lectura, escriben diferentes tipos de texto, utilizan vocabulario y oportunidades de expresarse oralmente; análisis e interpretación de lo leído. Leen textos fluidamente de acuerdo a su nivel; utilizan con diversos propósitos textos narrativos, descriptivos, expositivos y persuasivos, tanto literarios como funcionales e informativos, de varias fuentes como libros, medios masivos de comunicación e internet.

Estudios Sociales
Conocen la historia de nuestro país Honduras y los hechos geográficos. Relacionan su medio social y natural. Reconocen su identidad y comprenden el sentimiento de pertenencia hacia Honduras, sus tradiciones, cívicas, valores, próceres y símbolos patrios. Comprenden y reconocen la organización social y política del entorno inmediato, identificando las funciones de las principales autoridades nacionales. Participación ciudadanía e importancia de la democracia. Descubren el impacto ambiental, social y económico que provocan las actividades que realiza la población.

Art
Art is integrated with most subjects. Some topics include pointilism, lines, shape, shades, warm/cool colors, texture as well as artist studies of Seurat, Picasso, Van Gough and many more.

P.E.
The students will be striking different moving objects as well as demonstrating balance on stationary objects. The students will learn basic strategies behind traditional sports.

Music
Students learn to read and play music notes, but from this school year on, they apply this knowledge by playing the soprano recorder. We still sing, play games and implement other different activities and techniques along the year.

Technology
Students learn touch typing using 10 fingers, home row, and keyboard covers to promote key memorization.

4th Grade

Language Arts

Students learn the components of the writing process, practice writing in paragraphs, with a concentration on developing detailed opinion and persuasive writing techniques. Students will learn to use multiple strategies to improve reading comprehension, such as: summarizing, making inferences, visualizing, and analyzing cause and effect. Using more precise words to expand detail and improve writing styles is a central focus on 4th grade Language Arts.

Math
(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.

Science
Health Science:Students learn the the functions of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, muscular, and skeletal systems, recreate them, and analyze why they are important through experiments and activities.
Life Science:Students learn how animals have survived through adaptation and natural selection. Students learn how plants survive through pollination and photosynthesis, and conduct experiments/activities to see it’s importance.
Earth Science: We do not focus on earth science
Physical Science: Students conduct experiments to analyze the effects of gravity, force, wind, and wave amplitude

Social Studies
States and Regions of the United States

Spanish
La asignatura de Español contribuye al desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas de los estudiantes a través del abordaje de contenidos conceptuales, procedimentales y actitudinales. En cuarto grado, se realizan actividades como: lectura, análisis y redacción de textos informativos, narrativos, dramáticos y líricos; también dramatizaciones, declamaciones y presentaciones para el desarrollo de la expresión oral y la escucha.

Estudios Sociales
Demuestran habilidades sociales básicas para el diálogo, establecer acuerdos y solucionar conflictos. Describen las características geográficas más sobresalientes de Centroamérica, interpretan los períodos de la evolución histórica como elementos para comprender y trascender el presente; análisis de las características multiculturales de Centroamérica. Adquieren la capacidad para argumentar y practicar la Democracia Participativa como forma de vida y gobierno. Reconocen y describen los valores cívicos, símbolos patrios y personalidades que representan nuestra nacionalidad.

Art
Students develop skills such as, processing and analyzing, to respond to sensory Information through the language that is unique to the visual arts.
Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning thus perceiving and responding to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.

P.E.
The student will be able to demonstrate warm up and cool down activities. Students are working on cooperation through varied games and activities. Students will be able to demonstrate appropriate body position when during game play.

Music
Students learn to read and play music notes, with new and more difficult positions on the soprano recorder. We still sing, play games and implement other different activities and techniques along the year.

Technology
Students complete the intermediate typing program and, in second semester, begin learning to precise instructions, which can be understood by a computer, to complete a given task.

Elementary School

About the School

Our Partners

Address and phone numbers

Search