Elementary School Information

Elementary Math

Kindergarten through fifth-grade students in Oak Hills engage in an interactive and digital approach to covering the new state standards through the math program GO Math!.  The digital and print options offer adaptive and on-the-go instructional opportunities. Every student is supported through the universal access features of the program as they learn to think critically and apply their math knowledge. The program uses engaging videos, virtual manipulatives, and personalized instruction through the interactive student workbooks, the eStudent edition, and digital tools to benefit the individual student.

Information regarding the GO Math! curriculum

Elementary Science

Students in kindergarten, first, and second grades are introduced to science concepts using lessons from Picture Perfect Science. Picture-Perfect Science lessons are published by the National Science Teachers Association and help teachers and students deepen their content knowledge and integrate science and reading in a meaningful way.  Using the 5-E Instructional Model, students explore Ohio’s learning standards for science. This learning cycle model allows students to construct their own understanding of scientific concepts as they cycle through the 5 phases: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate.  Picture-Perfect Science integrates lessons for teaching science that include reading comprehension strategies embedded in each learning experience.  These essential strategies can be modeled throughout while keeping the focus of the lessons on science.  

Information regarding the Picture Perfect Science series

Students in grades three, four, and five experience an inquiry-based science program called FOSS. The FOSS program materials are designed to meet the challenge of providing meaningful science education for all students in diverse classrooms and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. Development of the FOSS program was, and continues to be, guided by advances in the understanding of how youngsters think and learn.

Science is an active enterprise, made active by our human capacity to think. Scientific knowledge advances when scientists observe objects and events, think about how they relate to what is known, test their ideas in logical ways, and generate explanations that integrate the new information into the established order.  The scientific enterprise is both what we know (content) and how we come to know it (process). The best way for students to appreciate the scientific enterprise, learn important scientific concepts, and develop the ability to think critically is to actively construct ideas through their own inquiries, investigations, and analyses. The FOSS program was created to engage students in these processes as they explore the natural world.

Information regarding the FOSS curriculum

Elementary Social Studies

Students in kindergarten through third grade are introduced to Social Studies themes and concepts through participation in their core Language Arts program. The high-interest stories, articles, and activities draw from the Social Studies content area. Teachers supplement the content at these levels with materials and experiences designed to enhance the integrated Social Studies content learning.

In addition to the exposure to Social Studies curriculum through their core Language Arts program, fourth and fifth-grade students receive explicit instruction in Social Studies content. The current instructional program pulls from a variety of materials and resources and is designed to develop the student’s mastery of the Ohio Revised Standards in Social Studies.

IOWA and CogAT Testing

The IOWA is a series of standardized achievement tests used to assess student achievement in reading and mathematics. The CogAT assessment is an assessment of cognitive abilities that includes verbal, quantitative and nonverbal reasoning. Oak Hills uses IOWA and CogAT results to reliably measure skills and abilities important for academic success, help plan effective programs for students, and screen students for placement into special programs.  These tests are administered to students in grades 2, 4, and 6 in early February of each year. 

Universal Screening Assessments

As part of a comprehensive intervention process at Oak Hills Local School District, our schools have a process for identifying at-risk learners with a research-based, universal screening process in the areas of Reading and Mathematics.  When students are identified early, interventions can be delivered, and teachers can respond with effective instructional strategies in a timely manner.  Many forms of assessments, such as Acadience, Aimsweb, and STAR assessments, are used by the teachers and staff at Oak Hills for the purpose of identifying at-risk students for possible intervention services.  All students in grades K-5 are assessed three times per year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) with brief, curriculum-based assessments for Reading and Math. If students are in need of interventions in grades K-5 or 6-8, they are then progress monitored using Acadience, AIMSweb, or STAR which uses a web-based tracking system that allows students, parents, and teachers to visually analyze the student’s growth with progress monitoring reports.  Acadience, AIMSweb, and STAR data are always used in conjunction with other assessments that are gathered at the various grade levels in support of the curriculum.  Please contact your child’s teacher, school psychologist, or school counselor to discuss universal screening results at any time of the year.

For more information about the Acadience systems, visit: www.acadiencelearning.org, AIMSweb systems, visit: www.aimsweb.com or STAR Reading at Renaissance Learning.