Lower School
Grades 1-5
Thought-provoking, Engaging & Fun: Perfect Stepping Stones for Growth
Episcopal School of Nashville’s Lower School is full of engaging, thought-provoking activities that help to educate the whole child and give them a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning.
Students’ days are filled with exploring, creating, and joyful learning.
Each class meets in the morning as a group to build community and social-emotional skills before beginning academic work. Our teachers foster independent thinking, problem solving, and self-expression.
We provide a foundation of high academic achievement through our curriculums and intentional differentiation.
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Building community and social and emotional awareness frames every moment of the day as first graders learn and play together.
Students are encouraged to ask questions, explore, and bring new ideas to the learning community through collaboration and meaningful discussion.
Our first graders learn reading skills with a balanced literacy approach that is embedded into all subjects. The primary phonics program we use is Fundations, helping kids explore reading skills through a hands-on approach. Each student receives individualized support for reading growth through collaborative and small group learning.
Students explore writing topics in a workshop model and enjoy collaborating to build authentic writing skills. This developmentally appropriate approach allows for students to have freedom to write what they are passionate about while practicing important foundational skills. Math time is similarly collaborative and hands-on, with students discussing and exploring concepts to build a flexible, deep understanding of mathematics that is also relatable and applicable to the real world.
Students also hone their social and collaborative skills through science, social studies and spiritual growth throughout the year.
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Develops a love of reading
Continues the development of phonemic awareness and fluency skills through a hands on approach
Develops vocabulary through weekly book studies that provide students a meaningful context of the words
Examines both fiction and nonfiction texts when reading aloud and independently to gain understanding and appreciation using comprehension strategies
Builds on the Kindergarten foundations to dig deeper and make text to self, text to world, and text to text connections.
Begins to develop a sense of student’s own voice and creativity through the use of descriptive language and sentence structure
Develops strategies for spelling
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Develops their foundational number sense
Represents and solves problems involving addition and subtraction
Counts to 120 by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s
Adds and subtracts within 20
Counts on from any number within 120
Understands place value and begins to use it to solve addition and subtraction problems
Measures length through both standard and nonstandard units
Tells and writes time using an analog and digital clock
Represents and interprets data through graphing
Identifies and describes attributes of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes
Identifies coins and their value
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Explores and develops appreciation of cultural traditions through comparison and connection
Develops an understanding of:
“Community”
“My Community”
“How Do I Impact My Community?”
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Develops their understanding of the scientific process through observation and hands on experiments in three units of study
Investigates animal and plant traits and their unique survival methods
Explores the patterns of day and night
Investigates light and sound waves
Grade 1
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Our second grade students spend their day immersed in differentiated instruction and hands-on activities.
Their awareness of the classroom and school community is growing, so we focus on respect, resilience, and independence. Throughout the year, students will be introduced to and master a variety of academic skills.
Our students love teaching each other math techniques, reading to a partner, working in student-led small groups to analyze books and poetry, and daily story writing. Monthly artist studies (coordinated with the school's art program) are unique to the second grade curriculum.
The class spends time each week researching an artist, recreating their work, and writing an artist biography, culminating in an end-of-year art show. We believe that learning happens not just through listening, but through games, discussion, modeling, reading, drawing, and movement.
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Explores and comprehends multiple genres
Identifies main idea and details, determines cause and effect in literature, explores author's purpose, determines sequence of events, makes inferences, and considers character traits when reading
Grows as an independent reader by practicing reading fluency and expression
Builds strategies for generating writing ideas
Writes within a variety of genres (narrative, informational, persuasive/opinion, poetry)
Uses proper mechanics in writing
Understands and effectively uses the basic parts of speech
Studies word patterns and applies them in writing
Increases phonics and vocabulary through daily practice
Studies an artist each month and writes a nonfiction piece on the artist
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Demonstrates perseverance and critical thinking skills while problem solving
Communicates mathematical ideas clearly and logically
Adds and subtracts within 20 fluently
Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction
Adds and subtracts using regrouping
Works with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication and division
Measures and estimates length in metric and standard units.
Counts money and solves problems involving money
Demonstrates an understanding of fractions
Tells time and solves problems involving time using hands-on activities
Demonstrates an understanding of geometry
Represents and interprets data through graphing
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Demonstrates how to read/use a timeline
Explores a variety of cultures and their traditions
Understands the importance of community
Develops mapping skills
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Asks questions, analyzes data, makes observations, and communicates findings and solutions
Uses a drawing or model to illustrate a concept, represent a relationship, or solve a problem
Reads non-fiction books on life science topics
Compare and contrast animal habitats, life cycles, and environments
Differentiate between facts and opinions
Grade 2
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Third grade students spend their day immersed in engaging lessons and activities as they become independent and responsible learners.
Reading and writing instruction is integrated with social studies and science through a variety of projects. These projects encourage learners to ask questions, research, create, write, and collaborate.
Daily literacy lessons provide students with meaningful and engaging activities that provide opportunities to increase vocabulary, discuss ideas, make connections, and grow as learners.
Math instruction encourages conceptual understanding and real-world application. In third grade, there is a focus on the importance of respect, persistence, and critical thinking about the community and world around them.
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Explores a variety of genres
Reads and discusses selected literature as a class and in small groups that supports Science and Social Studies content
Builds fluency, strengthens comprehension, and develops confidence as a reader
Builds vocabulary, both content-specific and everyday language
Identifies key ideas and details, determines meaning through text and illustrations, analyzes characters, determines central message, and identifies author’s point of view when reading
Compares and contrasts a variety of stories and texts with similar content
Writes within a variety of genres (narrative, informational, persuasive/opinion, poetry)
Develops strategies for generating writing ideas
Learns how to use well-written paragraphs in writing with topic sentences and supporting details
Uses proper mechanics in writing
Understands and effectively uses the basic parts of speech
Studies word patterns and applies them in writing
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Fluently adds and subtracts within 1,000
Represents and solves problems involving multiplication and division
Understands properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division
Multiplies and divides within 100
Solves two step word problems involving the four operations
Uses place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100, add and subtract, and multiply and divide whole numbers
Recognizes equivalent fractions, represents fractions on a numberline, expresses whole numbers as fractions, and compares fractions with the same numerators or denominators.
Tells and writes time to the nearest minute
Measures and estimates liquid volume and masses
Understands concepts of area and perimeter
Represents and interprets data in multiple formats
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Understands the scientific process through observations and experiments
Investigates ocean habitats and interactions
Describes how living organisms depend on each other for survival
Describes animal adaptations that help them live in different environments
Develops an understanding of the geological features of the earth
Collects and records weather data and draws conclusions based on weather patterns
Investigates air pressure, wind, and the water cycle
Understands the solar system and Earth’s relationship with other planets and bodies in the solar system
Understands that objects in the sky have patterns of movement
Understands that most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion
Explores recycling and describes the need for renewable resources
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Understands concepts of city, state, and country
Makes connections about people, places, and events throughout history
Researches presidents, inventors, and other American leaders
Gains an understanding of westward expansion, immigration, the Civil Rights Movement, and Native American cultures in North America
Engages in a community service project to positively impact the Nashville community
Grade 3
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Grade 4 is focused on responsibility, independence and choices.
Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning which fosters independence, and there are many opportunities for making choices. Through student-led projects, students research topics of interest, gain deeper knowledge and share their knowledge with peers through presentations and projects.
Throughout the curriculum students are engaged in a variety of ways to satisfy their natural curiosity: through novel studies in English, solving real world word problems in Math, hands-on experimentation in Science, research projects in Social Studies, and a year-long cursive handwriting program.
Technology is used to deepen student knowledge through research, to record science data, practice math skills, learn coding skills and more.
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Reads for a variety of purposes while exploring a variety of genres
Explores literature as an expression and record of human experience and thought
Applies the skills of a good reader including clarifying, questioning, connecting, summarizing, predicting, and inferring
Uses nonfiction sources to understand text features and make meaning from text, understands opinions and facts, draws conclusions, and questions
Studies character, setting, and plot
Writes effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences
Uses the writing process to create meaningful text in a variety of modes: expository, narrative, persuasive, and poetry
Develops content, organization, style, and conventions to proofread, edit, and refine writing
Accesses, selects, evaluates, and effectively uses information from a variety of sources
Communicates effectively, listens critically, and responds appropriately in a variety of situations
Engages effectively in a wide range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners building on others’ ideas while clearly expressing their own
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Uses the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems
Generalizes place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers less than or equal to 1,000,000
Gains familiarity with factors and multiples
Uses place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic
Solves problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit
Geometric measurement: understand concepts of angle and measure angles
Generates and analyzes patterns
Extends understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering
Generates and analyzes patterns
Builds fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers
Understands decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions
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In Grade 4 students begin building and revising knowledge about the natural world based on evidence in a collaborative and equitable culture.
We work together in the same ways that scientists do to figure out interesting phenomena and solve design problems we encounter in our everyday lives. We seek out innovative curriculum to field test with local and national research partners and citizen science projects to participate in. Topics of study have included:
Energy transformation
Waves and ocean structures
Stormwater engineering
Earth’s changing surface
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Includes research, reading, writing, discussing and student-led projects and presentations.
Regions of the United States
Growth and the Civil War
Reading maps and globes
How our government works
The nation’s economy
Grade 4
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Grade 5 marks a significant turning point in a child's academic journey. In Grade 5, students show an increased sense of self and responsibility for their learning as they transition into more in-depth exploration of subject-area concepts.
Students in Grade 5 learn how to manage time and academic expectations, identify their own learning styles, and dive deeper into their own academic interests through project based learning on topics of their choosing. For example, if a student is learning a certain topic, they may choose to share what they have learned by writing a song, creating a diorama, or presenting a research paper. If the student gets to create something in which they are interested, they will have a deeper understanding and gain more knowledge on that particular subject.
Students in Grade 5, as lifelong learners and problem solvers, are expected to be active and critical thinkers, work cooperatively with their peers, and continue to develop their academic stamina in preparation for Middle School. As the leaders of the Lower School, students in Grade 5 will have access to different enrichment/elective options and they will have opportunities to lead Lower School assemblies, take charge of projects, and more.
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Explores a variety of genres through different book studies during the year, as well as a Poetry Cafe
Reads with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support grade level comprehension, as well as reading with purpose
Determines a theme and compares and contrasts stories in the same genre.
Uses knowledge of language and its conventions, as well as determines the meaning of unfamiliar words from a range of strategies
Produces clear writing to inform, support an opinion, and to share a narrative
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Understands the place value system
Performs operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths
Converts like measurement units within a given measurement system
Writes and interpret numerical expressions
Applies and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions
Represents and interprets data
Applies and extends previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions
Geometric measurement: understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition
Classifies two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.
Analyzes patterns and relationships
Graphs points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems
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Students focus on the understanding that science builds coherently
Investigates what happens to our garbage with the key concepts gained relating to the particle nature of matter and gas, observations of the weight of the garbage materials, conservation of weight of matter, on chemical reactions, and decomposers in the environment
Explores, using models, that the organisms in an ecosystem are interrelated with each other and physical components of the ecosystem. Key concepts gained relate to interdependent relationships in ecosystems, plants and energy, ecosystems and the cycle of matter and energy in ecosystems, and human impacts on ecosystems
Examines Earth systems: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. A blind taste test comparing tap water and bottled water leads to identifying the properties of the tap water and bottled water with students’ questioning the sources of the tap water and bottled water. Models are developed to use as a thinking tool to describe the interaction of the hydrosphere with the geosystem. Key concepts gained relate to Earth materials and systems, the roles of water in Earth’s surface processes, human impacts on Earth systems, defining and delimiting engineering problems, developing possible solutions, and optimizing the design solution
Analyzes and creates models to explain falling stars. Key concepts gained relate to the structure and properties of matter, the universe and its stars, Earth and the solar system, and types of interactions
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Understands a variety of primary and secondary resources to communicate arguments, organize data, and develop historical awareness
Develops geographical awareness
Gains an understanding of Industrialization, the Gilded Age, and the Progressive Era
Examines and summarizes the events from World War One and World War Two and America post war and the Civil Rights Movement
Explores early Tennessee and into Statehood.
