Elementary School Curriculum

English Language Arts

In Ballet Tech’s Elementary School ELA classes, students practice the skills necessary for becoming close readers, strong writers, clear speakers, and active listeners—the foundation for New York State’s Next Generation Learning Standards college readiness goals. Students read challenging literature, news articles, and other sources of information to broaden their perspectives and grow their vocabularies. They are expected to understand and clearly summarize what they have learned from readings and classroom discussions, engaging in writing tasks that require critical thinking and careful planning. They learn to communicate effectively and respectfully, holding each other accountable for their answers and explanations. Students also learn to listen attentively, considering not merely what teachers say but what is said by their fellow classmates.

Some of the activities that help foster these habits and skills include but are not limited to:

• Comparing and contrasting stories that deal with similar themes or topics
• Explaining how authors use reasons and evidence to support their points or ideas
• Drawing on information from multiple books, articles, or online sources to locate an answer or to solve a problem quickly
• Learning and using new words, including words related to specific subjects (such as science words)
• Participating in class discussions by listening, asking questions, sharing ideas, and building on the ideas of others
• Writing research or opinion papers over extended periods of time

Our teachers use curricula developed by Wit & Wisdom to teach English in grades 4th & 5th. Wit & Wisdom is an English language arts curriculum that brings the rich content everyone loves into your child’s classroom.  We believe that classrooms are places where students and teachers encounter wit, wisdom, wonder, rigor, and knowledge and that literature, history, art, and science all have a place in ELA instruction. Wit & Wisdom helps your student meet the expectations of the new standards while celebrating the joy of reading and writing. 

Mathematics

For students in the 21st Century, having a solid foundation in mathematics is essential to future success in school and in our modern, technologically complex world. In order to build such a foundation, students add, subtract, and multiply fractions, including fractions with unlike denominators. They continue to expand their geometry and measurement skills, learning the concept of volume and how to measure the volume of a solid figure. In 5th grade students develop their understanding of the place value system by working with decimals up to the hundredths place.

Our 4th grade teacher utilizes curricula materials from Singapore Math Program and our 5th grade teacher utilizes Illustrative Mathematics to teach the major math concepts and skills that New York State’s Next Generation Learning Standards focuses on at each grade level. 

Students often collaborate in small groups or pairs to share ideas, develop strategies, and solve problems based on real-world situations. This provides a strong setting for students to develop their math vocabulary as well as their speaking and listening skills.

Units of study incorporate these mathematical practices:

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Attend to precision.
• Look for and make use of structure.
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Social Studies

The aim of Social Studies is to understand the relationships between people, cultures, and society. Our 4th and 5th grade students pursue this aim by engaging in a Social Studies program that is designed to help them make sense of the world in which they live. We strive to teach this content area in a way that allows our students to make connections between the major ideas explored in class and their own lives outside of school. We want to instill in them an understanding and vision of themselves as active members of a global community. Teachers design lessons that require students to think like historians, raise questions, think critically, consider many perspectives and gather information to draw conclusions. Some topics explored by our fourth and fifth graders include:

• Native Americans: First Inhabitants of New York State
• Colonial and Revolutionary Periods
• European Exploration
• Comparative Case Studies of Western Hemisphere Cultures

Science

Children possess a natural curiosity that leads them to explore and question the world around them. Our Elementary School science classes take this natural curiosity and direct it into an environment that emphasizes a hands-on and minds-on approach to learning. By providing students with the opportunities to acquire knowledge by actively engaging in the discovery process, often working in small groups or pairs, our students make connections between what they already know and the scientific principles that guide and govern our world. Through this work students develop and strengthen the following science related skills:

• Classifying – arranging or distributing objects, events, or information representing objects or events in classes according to a method or system
• Communicating – giving oral explanations, written descriptions, and graphic representations of observations
• Comparing and Contrasting – identifying similarities and differences between or among objects, events, data, systems, etc.
• Creating Models – displaying information, using multisensory representations
• Gathering and Organizing Data – collecting information about objects and events which illustrate a specific situation
• Observing – becoming aware of an object or event by using any of the senses (or extensions of the senses) to identify properties
• Predicting – making a forecast of future events or conditions expected to exist

Spanish

In Ballet Tech’s Elementary School ELA classes, students practice the skills necessary for becoming close readers, strong writers, clear speakers, and active listeners—the foundation for New York State’s Next Generation Learning Standards college readiness goals. Students read challenging literature, news articles, and other sources of information to broaden their perspectives and grow their vocabularies. They are expected to understand and clearly summarize what they have learned from readings and classroom discussions, engaging in writing tasks that require critical thinking and careful planning. They learn to communicate effectively and respectfully, holding each other accountable for their answers and explanations. Students also learn to listen attentively, considering not merely what teachers say but what is said by their fellow classmates.

• Some of the activities that help foster these habits and skills include but are not limited to:
• Comparing and contrasting stories that deal with similar themes or topics
• Explaining how authors use reasons and evidence to support their points or ideas
• Drawing on information from multiple books, articles, or online sources to locate an answer or to solve a problem quickly
• Learning and using new words, including words related to specific subjects (such as science words)
• Participating in class discussions by listening, asking questions, sharing ideas, and building on the ideas of others
• Writing research or opinion papers over extended periods of time

Our teachers use curricula developed by Expeditionary Learning to teach close reading skills that support our students as they read and analyze grade level texts. This program provides the necessary balance of fiction and non-fiction reading to meet the Next Generation Learning Standards while at the same time engaging our young readers. As well, the 5th grade ELA curriculum incorporates components from Columbia University’s Teachers College Reading and Writing Program’s Units of Study in Writing. During these “writer’s workshop model” lessons, students analyze grade level mentor-texts, receive instruction on the craft of writing, and develop their writing skills during independent writing time. Students refine and revise their pieces as they confer with their peers and teacher to receive and implement meaningful feedback. Students’ published writing pieces are often celebrated during class publishing parties attended by other classes and parents.

Visual Arts

Ballet Tech’s Visual Arts program is deeply committed to both the artistic and academic development of each student.

In the Elementary School, the primary focus is to introduce students to a wide variety of art materials and techniques. 

4th grade students develop art practices in figure drawing, portraiture, paper sculpture, collage, and design. This is taught through artist-based projects: Keith Haring, Pablo Picasso, Betye Saar, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Alexander Calder. 

The 5th grade art curriculum focuses on visual storytelling and the 3 act story structure. Students learn to visualize literary techniques such as onomatopoeia and anthropomorphism. Their main projects for the year are comic books and stop motion animation. 

At the end of each year, there is an annual Student Art Exhibit which celebrates the artistic achievement and collaborations of all students in the school.

Ballet Technique

At Ballet Tech, students in Ballet I are in the 4th Grade (age 9-10) and students in Ballet 2 are in the 5th grade (age 10-11).

The focus of Ballet I and II is to help students learn primary vocabulary, and, once they have achieved a certain level of proficiency, begin to introduce them to how the primary vocabulary progresses to more advanced ballet movements. Throughout the Ballet I and II training years, students will learn how to put two or more of the primary vocabulary movements together to make combinations, adding more advanced movements as they progress.

Students continue to develop their understanding of the 8 classical positions in ballet and the use of èpaulement during exercises. The use of port de bras and the coordination between the arms and legs is strongly emphasized as they continue to deepen their sense of musicality and explore creative movement concepts.

Creative Movement

In 4th grade, our students also take Creative Movement. Creative Movement is a type of dance improvisation class, delivering prompts for dancers to explore through various styles of movement. This dance class aids in developing physical skills, energy, self-confidence, and communications through the body. There is no “wrong” way to move in a Creative Movement class – instead, students focus on making clear, creative choices and developing their own physical voice.

In 5th grade, emphasis is placed on putting steps together while changing weight and direction, and increasing the variety of rhythms. The concept of reversing simple exercises is introduced. More attention is placed on developing strength for jumping and sustaining positions, while emphasizing a continued development of épaulement.

Summer Session

Each summer, Ballet Tech Foundation offers its incoming and continuing students a 4-week summer dance program. Participation in the Summer Session is recommended, but not required.

In addition to their regular dance classes, students take classes that are not offered during the academic school year.

The 2025 Summer Session is scheduled for July 7 – August 1.