The FOSS Science Program

    The FOSS (Full Option Science System) program is based on the belief that students will learn and appreciate science best by constructing ideas through their own questioning, investigating, and analyzing. In early elementary years, students learn science best from direct experiences in which they describe, sort, and organize observations about objects and organisms. Upper elementary students construct more advanced concepts by classifying, testing, experimenting, and determining cause-and-effect relationships among objects, organisms, and systems.  To learn more about FOSS, please click on the Fossweb sign or the link below.

                         www.fossweb.com

The Everyday Math Program

The Everyday Math Program, developed by the University of Chicago, is a comprehensive program designed to build upon and extend the knowledge of students year after year. Everyday Math includes the following mathematic strands in its curriculum: algebra and the use of variables, data and chance, geometry and spatial sense, measures and measurements, numeration and order, patterns, functions and sequences, operations and reference frames.  To learn more about Everyday Math, please click on the Everyday Math book or the link below.

everydaymath.uchicago.edu

Balanced Literacy

The Batavia Public Schools offers a balanced literacy approach to our Language Arts program.  The primary grades (kindergarten, first and second) work within a four-block framework.  These blocks are: Guided Reading, Independent Reading, Writing, and Word Work.  The intermediate grades work within a three-block framework.  These blocks are: Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Language/Word Study.
    The H.C. Storm staff works hard to develop the reading and writing skills for each child - meeting the child at his or her level and pushing to maximize individual abilities.
     The Word Work or Word Study block offers instruction in phonemic awareness (the sound of language), phonics, spelling, prefixes, suffixes, etc.
     Comprehension is also stressed in our reading program.  We teach the seven strategies of good readers: Make Connections, Question, Create Images, Infer, Determine What's Important, Synthesize, and Fix-Up Strategies.  These strategies are modeled by the Reading Specialist and by classroom teachers.  Students are expected to practice these strategies in guided and independent reading.