Curriculum
Elementary Curriculum in the Independence School District is designed to build a strong foundation for every student during their earliest years of learning - academically, socially, and emotionally - while fostering curiosity and a love of learning.
Students engage in core subjects such as reading, writing, math, science, and social studies through engaging, hands-on learning experiences. The curriculum focuses on foundational skills, creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving while supporting the whole child. Through a nurturing and supportive environment, students develop the confidence and independence they need to continue growing and succeed in the years ahead.
Learning Resources
Leader in Me
Leader in Me is a school-wide framework that helps students develop leadership, responsibility, and strong character while building the skills they need for success in school and in life. Based on the principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, Leader in Me teaches students how to set goals, take initiative, work collaboratively, and make positive choices.
Through daily learning experiences, students practice leadership habits such as being proactive, working well with others, and thinking about solutions that benefit everyone. Classrooms focus on goal-setting, teamwork, and reflection so students learn to take ownership of their learning and behavior.
Leader in Me is implemented districtwide, meaning every ISD elementary student has opportunities to develop leadership skills, build confidence, and discover how they can make a positive impact in their classroom, school, and community.
Family Literacy Choice Boards
Family Choice Boards provide students and families with flexible ways to extend learning beyond the classroom. Each board includes a variety of engaging activities that allow students to explore concepts, practice skills, and apply their learning in creative ways.
Students can choose activities that match their interests and learning style while reinforcing important academic skills. Choice Boards encourage curiosity, independence, and problem-solving, helping students stay engaged with learning at home while supporting the work happening in the classroom.
Phonemic Awareness
Play with the sounds you hear in spoken words. No letters or writing are needed.
Sound Hunt
Choose a sound. Take turns naming things around you that begin with that sound. For example, try /m/: mug, mat, milk.
- Getting started: Give two choices: Does map begin with /m/ or /s/?
- Challenge: Find words with the sound at the end or in the middle.
Rhyme Match
Say a word. Take turns saying words that rhyme. Real and silly words both count.
- Getting started: Offer a pair and ask if the words rhyme: cat and hat.
- Challenge: Create a short rhyme using two or more rhyming words.
Blend the Word
Say a word slowly, one sound at a time. Your child blends the sounds and says the word. For example, /s/ /u/ /n/ becomes sun.
- Getting started: Begin with two-part words: /m/ /e/ or sun-shine.
- Challenge: Use words with blends or more sounds: /s/ /t/ /o/ /p/.
Tap the Sounds
Say a word. Tap, clap, or move one small object for each sound you hear. For example, fish has /f/ /i/ /sh/, three sounds.
- Getting started: Use words with two or three sounds, such as me, sun, or map.
- Challenge: Use longer words, then name the first, middle, and last sounds.
Change a Sound
Say a word and change one sound to make a new word. For example, change the /m/ in map to /t/ to make tap.
- Getting started: Tell which sound to change and provide the new sound.
- Challenge: Remove or add a sound: say smile without /s/; add /s/ to top.
Watch this video for a quick reference on how to pronounce sounds.
Phonics
Connect sounds to letters and spelling patterns in printed words. Ask your classroom teacher for word lists as needed.
Letter Sound Search
Choose a letter or spelling pattern. Find it on packages, signs, books, or mail. Read the letter or pattern and say its sound.
- Getting started: Search for one familiar letter and name its most common sound.
- Challenge: Search for a spelling pattern such as sh, ai, oa, or igh and list the words.
Build and Read
Write letters on small pieces of paper. Arrange them to build a word, then point to each part and read the word.
- Getting started: Build a two- or three-sound word from letters you provide.
- Challenge: Build a longer word with consonant blends, digraphs, vowel teams, or more than one syllable.
Word Sort
Collect words from a book or write your own. Sort them by a feature you notice, such as beginning sound, consonant blends, digraphs, vowel pattern, or word ending.
- Getting started: Provide two categories and help read each word before sorting.
- Challenge: Let your child choose the sorting rule and explain why each word belongs.
Word Change Chain
Build one word. Change one letter or spelling pattern at a time and reach each new word: map, mop, top, stop.
- Getting started: Say the new word and identify the letter that should change.
- Challenge: Include consonant blends, digraphs, vowel teams, or two-syllable words.
Word Part Builder
Choose a base word and add a beginning or ending word part: help, helpful, unhelpful. Read each word and discuss how its meaning changes.
- Getting started: Use common endings such as -s, -ed, or -ing.
- Challenge: Use prefixes, suffixes, Greek roots, or Latin roots and explain each part.
Vocabulary
Learn, discuss, and use interesting words during everyday conversations and reading.
Name and Describe
Choose an object. Name it and describe its color, size, shape, texture, use, and parts.
- Getting started: Use a sentence frame: The ___ is ___ and ___.
- Challenge: Choose precise words and compare the object with something similar.
Interesting Word Hunt
While reading or talking, notice one interesting or unfamiliar word. Say it, repeat it, and talk about what it might mean, then look up the meaning of the word.
- Getting started: The adult chooses the word and explains it with a familiar example.
Challenge: Use clues in the sentence, in the word, or nearby pictures to infer the meaning.
Show the Word
Choose a word and show its meaning by acting it out, drawing it, or giving an example. Have someone guess the word.
- Getting started: Use familiar action or describing words.
- Challenge: Show an abstract word such as patient, enormous, or investigate.
Word Connections
Choose a word. Name a synonym, an antonym, a category, or a related word. Explain the connection.
- Getting started: Work with one relationship, such as opposites: hot and cold.
- Challenge: Build a word web with several relationships and explain subtle differences.
- For example, Frigid: cold, icy, chilly, brisk, freezing
- Frigid is colder than cold; cold is colder than chilly, and chilly is colder than brisk. Is frigid colder than freezing?
Word Part Detective
Look for meaningful parts in a longer word. Use the base word, prefix, suffix, or root to help explain the word.
- Getting started: Begin with familiar endings: jumped means it happened in the past.
- Challenge: Use Greek and Latin roots, then find other words that share the same root.
Fluency
Read accurately, smoothly, and with expression so the words sound like natural speech.
Echo Read
An adult reads one sentence with smooth phrasing and expression. The child reads the same sentence in the same way.
- Getting started: Echo a short phrase instead of a whole sentence.
- Challenge: Discuss why the reader paused, changed volume, or emphasized a word.
Read it Again
Choose a short, familiar passage, poem, joke, song, or set of directions. Read it aloud two or three times and notice improvement.
- Getting started: Read together on the first attempt.
- Challenge: Set a goal for accuracy, smoothness, or expression instead of speed.
Scoop the Phrases
Use a pencil or finger to group words that belong together. Pause at punctuation and read each group as one meaningful phrase.
- Getting started: The adult marks the phrases before reading.
- Challenge: Let the child mark phrases and explain how phrasing supports meaning.
Character Voices
Read dialogue from a story. Change your voice to match each character's feelings and the punctuation.
- Getting started: Choose one short line and name the character's feeling first.
- Challenge: Read several parts and use clues from the text to defend each voice choice.
Perform and Reflect
Practice a short text, then read it for someone or record it. Name one strength and one goal for the next reading.
- Getting started: The adult gives one specific compliment and chooses one goal.
- Challenge: Compare two readings and cite evidence of improved accuracy, phrasing, or expression.
Comprehension
Think, talk, and write about meaning before, during, and after reading or listening.
Preview and Predict
Before reading, look at the title, pictures, headings, or cover. Predict what the text may be about and explain why.
- Getting started: Offer two predictions and let your child choose one.
- Challenge: Revise the prediction while reading and point to evidence that changed your thinking.
Retell in Order
After reading, retell the most important parts in order. For a story, tell the beginning, middle, and the end. For information, tell the key ideas.
- Getting started: Use pictures or the prompts first, next, and last.
- Challenge: Include the problem, response, resolution, or main idea and supporting details.
Ask and Answer
Take turns asking questions about the text. Answer each question and show the words or pictures that helped.
- Getting started: Ask who, what, and where questions.
- Challenge: Ask how and why questions that require evidence or an inference.
Main Idea Match
State what the text or section is mostly about. Choose two or three details that best support that idea.
- Getting started: Choose the main idea from two options.
- Challenge: Explain why some details are important, and others are interesting but less central.
Compare and Think Deeper
Connect the text with another book, an experience, or something you know. Explain one similarity, one difference, and why the connection matters.
- Getting started: Compare two characters, pictures, or facts.
- Challenge: Compare themes, viewpoints, authors' choices, or evidence across two texts.
Letter Patterns
Digraphs
Two letters make one sound. In ship, s and h work together to make the sh sound.
sh: ship
ch: chin
th: thin, this
wh: when
ph: phone
ck: duck
ng: ring
Blends
Hear each sound. In stop, you can hear both the s and the t.
bl: black
cl: clap
fl: flag
gl: glad
pl: play
sl: slide
br: brown
cr: crab
dr: drum
fr: frog
gr: green
pr: prize
tr: tree
sk: skip
sm: smile
sn: snow
sp: spot
st: stop
sw: swim
Blends can also come at the end of a word, as in:
nd: hand
nt: tent
mp: lamp
st: nest
ft: gift
Vowel Teams
Letters work together to make a vowel sound. In rain, ai makes the long a sound, like the letter's name.
ai: rain
ay: play
ee: tree
ea: eat
ey: key
ie: pie
oa: boat
oe: toe
ow: snow
oo: moon
ou: out
ue: blue
ew: grew
au: haul
aw: saw
oi: coin
oy: boy
Some teams make different sounds in different words. For example, oo sounds different in moon and book.
Science of Reading
What is the Science of Reading?
The science of reading refers to the study of how the brain learns to read and to research-based teaching methods. The National Reading Panel (2000) identified five fundamental components of reading that can be found in instruction. These are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
To support student literacy, over 150 Independence staff members are participating in LETRS training based on Missouri's priority to build knowledge and skills to deliver systematic reading instruction.
Learn more about Missouri's literacy trainings.
What is Word Study?
Word study is a foundational reading skill. It involves studying the relationship between sounds and written language.
Word study focuses not on memorization, but on helping students see the regularities, patterns, word origin, and meaning of words.
Word study teaches students how to use word knowledge strategically to:
-
Support their writing
-
Help them decode unknown words
-
Understand word parts
Students work with weekly patterns during their word study block.
What are Heart Words?
Heart Words are words that do not seem to fit a regular pattern.
Examples of heart words are said, are, and where.
Some part of the word will have to be learned by heart. When we teach this way, readers are no longer asked to memorize the whole word but rather to pay attention to the parts that make sense and the parts that do not make sense.
See Heart Words in action with this video.
What is Morphology?
Morphemes are the smallest meaningful parts of words. Morphology is the study of those meaningful parts.
When we focus on morphemes, we learn prefixes, root words, and suffixes. We also learn Greek and Latin roots to explain the way words are spelled and how roots affect their meaning.
For example, the word intersection:
-
The prefix inter means between.
-
The Latin root sect means to cut.
-
The suffix tion makes the word an action word.
How do Students Learn Vocabulary?
Vocabulary is vital to the development of reading comprehension. Vocabulary refers to understanding words in the context of reading.
Students learn new words through:
-
Reading
-
Listening to read-alouds
-
Having conversations
How do Students Develop Fluency?
Fluency includes accuracy, rate, and expression when reading.
Students need to be able to decode words automatically and with expression. Fluency is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.
How is Comprehension Developed?
Comprehension is how readers understand what they read. This is the ultimate goal for all readers.
Oral language and background knowledge and experiences help younger students grow as they work on word recognition at the same time.
Reading Assessments by Grade
| Grade | Time Frame | Assessments |
| Kindergarten | Fall, Winter, Spring | STAR Early Literacy, Letter Sounds, Phoneme Segmentation, LETRS Spelling Screener |
| 1st Grade | Fall, Winter, Spring | STAR Early Literacy, Phoneme Segmentation, Fluency, LETRS Spelling Screener |
| 2nd-5th Grades | Fall, Winter, Spring | STAR Reading, Fluency, LETRS Spelling Screener |
Helpful Links and Resources
Literacy
- UFLI
- Phonics and Spelling Through Phoneme Grapheme Mapping
- Units of Study - Writing
Mathematics
- McGraw Hill Reveal Math
Science
Social Studies
- Integrated into literacy
Proficiency, Grading, and Progress Reports
Proficiency Score Guide
Proficiency scores are not and cannot be related to a traditional grade. When a parent sees proficiency scores on a report, they should consider that the goal of that report is to provide them with information on their student's performance measured against content standards, not against other students.
Meets (M)
Meets grade-level priority standard:
- Consistently meets requirements of proficient work.
- Independently demonstrates an acceptable level of knowledge and understanding.
Approaching (A)
Approaching grade-level priority standard:
- Meets some requirements for proficient work.
- Demonstrates some knowledge and understanding.
Emerging (E)
Emerging grade-level priority standard:
- With support, beginning to meet some of the requirements for proficient work.
- Demonstrates little knowledge and understanding.
Below Expectation (B)
Below grade-level priority standard:
- Unable to meet requirements for proficient work, even with support.
- Demonstrates little or no knowledge and understanding.
Grading
Grading Philosophy and Learning Beliefs
ISD is committed to ensuring that every student learns and succeeds.
- Learning is our core purpose.
- Trusting relationships and commitment to our core values will foster learning at all levels.
- Effective teaching is the most essential factor in student learning.
- Effective leaders support continuous learner growth at all levels.
Non-Academic Grades
Non-academic factors such as effort, attitude, participation, and behavior will be reported separately from your child's academic grade. You can find grades reported for these skills in the "Behaviors that Promote Learning" section of your child's progress report.
Final Progress Report Assessments
Teachers use a variety of formative and summative assessments that play into your child's grade. Students who are not meeting proficiency on the intended standard or learning goal will have the opportunity to relearn and reassess until they gain a solid understanding of the grade-level standard.