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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM
 The Language Arts program encourages students to develop a lifelong appreciation for the power and beauty of the written word, become insightful readers, active listeners, and individuals who can speak and write with increasing confidence and clarity. Language Arts consists of a variety of experiences in reading, writing and verbal communication. Reading is taught through a comprehensive literacy program with exposure to various forms of written language such as classical literature, poetry, and novels.  The building blocks of vocabulary, grammar, and spelling provide students with the skills to become more advanced and independent readers and writers.
Written expression begins in Kinder-
garten with a multi-sensory approach through story dictation and Writer’s Workshop. We strive to make language experiences joyful and respectful of each child’s developmental readiness. Students become published authors, demonstrating their knowledge of plot and character analysis, theme and sequence.
Students are exposed to a variety of genres in reading. In small groups they read and discuss literature.
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Beginning in kindergarten, Oakwood children learn that Mathematics is a language that helps us communicate with each other and understand the larger world.  Everyday Mathematics is currently used as the core program. Students utilize a multiplicity of models, diagrams and procedures as they learn to develop and share problem-solving strategies. This approach encourages flexibility and resourcefulness in thinking and helps students gain confidence and pride in their ability to meet daily challenges.  As their logical reasoning becomes more highly developed, children encounter more abstract mathematical concepts.
Students set up and operate a classroom market in which jobs such as cashier and consumer are taken
quite seriously. Role playing opportunities serve as a foundation for communication and critical thinking skills.
Fifth graders reinforce their learning of number concepts by participating in a
mathematical game called “Factor Captor.”
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The Social Studies curriculum helps students understand past events and issues as they were experienced by the people of the time. Through the study of history and culture, students discover the essential unity and oneness of the human species.  The Social Studies curriculum begins with an awareness of self. Children move toward an understanding of society’s interdependence and implications for the present and the future. Students gain an awareness of the world and the impact of environmental issues upon lives and upon the earth. Through active participation and simulation, first hand experience through field trips, literature and personal experience, children gain empathy and appreciation for diverse peoples past and present.
First graders learn about evolution by first researching their personal family histories.
They trace their individual time line, and then expand the responsibility from family to
community and the global environment. This notion of connectedness is pervasive in
the entire curriculum, K-6.
Third graders perform authentic Hopi rituals. Through the grades, the study of cultures helps us understand the universality of the human experience. We relate the significance of the past to our own lives, and in understanding the past we then recognize the issues of the present and the implications for the future.
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The Science curriculum promotes children’s natural curiosity about the world around them. Instructional units are designed and implemented to help students ask questions and construct meaning as they work to discover answers.  Questions and hypotheses lead to the scientific method and more systematic data collection and interpretation. Students explore physical, earth and life sciences using a hands-on, inquiry based approach both in the classroom and in the Science Technology Center. The variety of methodologies practiced include lectures, scientific reading materials, technology, student maintained laboratory notebooks, and relevant activities and experiments.  Children recognize that through the process of observation and attention to their environment, they continue to enrich their own insights and perceptions about how science impacts today’s modern life.
Sixth graders work in teams to design, construct and operate siphons that can transport liquids from one location to another.
Third graders observe and record data from their rain gauges. Students also collect additional data from an automated weather station located in the Science Technology Center. After reviewing and analyzing all of the information, children produce weekly weather broadcasts via the Internet.
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Our Music program is a rich and varied one, offering a combination of movement, dance and drama, as well as singing and active listening.  The Orff and Kodaly methods of instruction utilize children’s intuitive sense of rhythm and melody to facilitate an appreciation for the more subtle aspects of music including harmony, timbre, and dynamics. Music activities foster joy in making and listening to music as well as serve to develop a working knowledge of aspects of music theory.
Orchestra and chorus are offered to students in grades three through six.
All orchestra members and choral singers participate in winter and spring concerts.
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The Art curriculum involves students in a collaboration of skill building and creative expression. Children are encouraged to experiment with a variety of media to produce two and  three-dimensional projects. Guidance in the use of materials to create and view art is ongoing whether the piece is a student’s own rendition, a peer’s work, or a professional artist’s creation. The atmospheres of the studios cultivate the development and diversity of art as seen through a variety of peoples and cultures. Knowledge of basic principles, acquired skills and creative application promote synthesis and innovation. Teachers take great care to convey the value of process over product.
First graders learn to "read" the art of Georgia O’Keeffe. After surveying and viewing her beautiful oversized flowers, students work in sketchbooks creating their own renditions.
Third graders work with clay and discover the many qualities of this medium. These techniques
will enable the children to form bowls and create totem animal replications.
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Oakwood’s Physical Education program provides a balanced approach with quality experiences in motor development, physical fitness and social skills.  Classes are structured to provide skill acquisition and growth with the goal that student progress is enhanced at an individual’s own rate. Both team sports such as basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball, and individual physical pursuits build flexibility, muscular strength and endurance.  An environment is created that is conducive to group participation and fair play. Children are encouraged to enjoy athletics and value the benefits of physical activity as a way of life.
Beginning in the primary grades, students learn to play a variety of games that stress cooperation and teamwork. The perceptual-motor lab offers regular practice with static and dynamic balance, locomotor and manipulative skills, and body/space awareness.
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Computers are in use throughout the elementary school, in every classroom, the computer lab, the Science Technology Center, and the library.  Classrooms are outfitted with state of the art computers, high-speed online services, current software and computer tech support. The focus of the computer program is to provide students ongoing opportunities to build and enhance their knowledge of technology and its impact on the 21st century. In the computer lab, children learn the basics of keyboard function, word processing, Internet research, website design, and introductory programming.  Students come to appreciate the computer as a problem-solving tool.
The computer lab promotes a cooperative learning environment where technology skills are taught K-6.
Students in fifth grade use Excel to input and analyze data and produce graphs. Later, this information is used in PowerPoint and Hyper Studio projects and presentations.
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Oakwood Secondary School11600 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, California 91601-3015 Phone 818-752-4400 · Fax 818-766-1285
Oakwood Elementary School11230 Moorpark Street, North Hollywood, California 91602-2602 Phone 818-752-4444 · Fax 818-752-4466 Contact Oakwood's Webmaster
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