Kindergarten
English Language Arts
EL Education is the provider of the OUSD ELA curriculum for grades K-5,.* The curriculum is standards-based, and relies heavily on fiction and nonfiction trade books. This curriculum is open access, and full materials are available to view and at the EL Education website.
* OUSD Dual Language schools use the Benchmark Education curriculum for language instruction.
Fall
Toys and Play
What can we do to make playing together fun? What makes toys fun? Which classroom toy do we prefer and why?
Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney
Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
Toys Galore by Peter Stein
Playing with Friends by Rebecca Rissman
Winter
Weather Wonders
What is weather? How can I be prepared for any type of weather? What is weather like around the world? How does weather affect people? How can I write a story that teaches my reader about weather?
Umbrella by Taro Yashima
Brave Irene by William Steig
On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World’s Weather by Marilyn Singer
Weather (National Geographic Readers) by Kristin Baird Rattini)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Six per Classroom)
Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse
Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
Spring
Trees Are Alive
What do all living things need to live and grow? What do researchers do? How do we know that something is living? How do living things depend on trees to meet their needs?
The Tree in the Ancient Forest by Carol Reed-Jones
What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Are Trees Alive? by Debbie Miller
Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber
Math
Eureka Math2 (Eureka Math "Squared") is the adopted OUSD curriculum for elementary schools. The curriculum is aligned to California Common Core standards, which describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade.
Science
For elementary science instruction, OUSD uses FOSS (Full Option Science System), a research-based science curriculum developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. This curriculum emphasizes hands-on activities and is aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The order of the three modules varies from school to school, depending on the rotation of physical science kits at each school site.
Physical Science
Materials and Motion
What is made of wood, paper, and fabric, and how are the properties of those materials useful to us?
How can we change the motion of an object?
Investigations:
Getting to Know Wood
Getting to Know Paper
Getting to Know Fabric
Getting Things to Move
Earth Science
Trees and Weather
What do trees need to live and grow?
How does weather affect trees?
What changes do trees cause in their surroundings?
Investigations:
Observing Trees
Observing Leaves
Observing Weather
Trees through the Seasons
Life Science
Animals Two by Two
How are animal structures similar and different?
What do animals need to live and grow?
Investigations:
Goldfish and Guppies
Water and Land Snails
Big and Little Worms
Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs