Skip To Main Content

District

Content Areas

English and Mandarin Language Arts

At Field Elementary, our teachers are trained in Balanced Literacy and to implement workshop model in English and Mandarin/Simplified Chinese. Balanced Literacy is a framework designed to help all students learn the skills to read and write effectively, become independent, and last but not least to develop a love for reading and writing. We teach the Common Core English Language Arts standards through the structure of Balanced Literacy

Here are some components of Balanced Literacy and workshop model: 

  • Reading Assessments
  • Read Aloud
  • Reading Workshop
    • Mini-lesson
      • Students are taught specific reading and writing skills through “mini-lessons” where a teacher teaches a skill explicitly and with modeling for no longer than 15 minutes.
    • Independent Reading
    • Share
  • Small Group Instruction
  • Literacy Stations
  • Phonics/Word Study
  • Writing Workshop

Below are resources and programs we utilize at Field to teach English Language Arts: 

  • Lucy Calkin's Units of Study for Phonics, Writing, and Reading
  • Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction
  • Scholastic Leveled Reading Library

Below are resources and programs we utilize at Field to teach Mandarin Language Arts: 

  • Better Chinese (Kindergarten)
  • Better Immersion (1st and 2nd grade, 3rd grade: PinYin)
  • Mei Zhou (3rd - 5th grades)
  • Level Chinese (Kindergarten to 5th grade)
  • iChineseReader (Kindergarten to 5th grade)

Math

From Kindergarten to fourth grade, Math is taught in Mandarin. In fifth grade, Math is taught in English. In the past, we have used Pearson's EnVision. Starting the 20/21 school year, we have transitioned into using Ready Classroom Mathematics as it provides the rigor and aligns with the Math Common Core State Standards that requires students to undertand and explain their thinking rather than to simply compute. 

Students learn to:

  • Make sense of the problem
  • Show and explain their thinking
  • Persevere through difficult tasks and highlight difficult approaches to solving the same problem
  • Share problem solving strategies even when mistakes are made which provides an opportunity to learn that revision in math is part of the process

Science

We teach according to the Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) through the 5 E Model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Using Stemscopes, an online resource, our teachers are able to guide students through the 5 E Model. The PUSD Science department provides hands-on materials so students can really Engage and Explore what they are learning. 

Social Studies

PUSD has adopted “Social Studies Alive!” by TCI for grades K-5 which gets students students moving, thinking, and asking big questions.