Welcome to the Moorhead Elementary Schools!

Course Description and Planning Guide

2018-19

“Kid, you’ll move mountains!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So get on your way!”

                                                                Dr. Seuss

Moorhead Elementary Schools - Where dreams will get you on your way!

Welcome to Moorhead Schools!

District Mission and Core Values

Our Guiding Philosophy

The guiding philosophy of Moorhead Area Public Schools is continuous improvement.

Our Mission

The mission of Moorhead Area Public Schools is to develop the maximum potential of every learner to thrive in a changing world.

Our Vision

Moorhead Area Public Schools will be a progressive school district recognized for excellence at all levels. The district will work collaboratively with the community to provide a premier education for every learner to achieve success while providing a safe and nurturing environment that celebrates diversity and practices mutual respect.

Our Core Values

Moorhead Area Public Schools is committed to the education and well-being of each student. As such, the district is committed to:

• creating a positive learning environment that values children and youth.
• supporting all learners.
• holding high standards and expectations for all learners.
• making research-based, data-driven, collaborative decisions inclusive of stakeholder perspectives.
• seeking continuous improvement and planning for the future.
• advocating for children and youth within our community and district.
• celebrating students and staff.
• promoting pride in the Moorhead community and schools.

Accent on Excellence

Moorhead Area Public Schools offers a wide range of opportunities to help each student and family in chasing its hopes and dreams. Moorhead has four elementary schools, and each one is dedicated to affirming every student and helping students prepare for their future. At the same time, Moorhead teachers understand that learning is not the memorization of facts but the growth of skills that enable future growth. To that end the teachers in Moorhead seek to nurture the development of the following:

• Self-directed Learner – The ability to be responsible for one's own learning
• Community Contributor – The understanding that it is essential for human beings to work together
• Complex Thinker – The ability to demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving
• Quality Producer – The ability to recognize and produce quality performance and quality products
• Effective Communicator – The ability to communicate effectively
• Effective and Ethical User of Technology – The ability to use a variety of technologies effectively and ethically

Moorhead has dedicated itself to making these statements a reality through the placement of a number of systems and a curriculum that is both guaranteed and viable.

                             The goal is to nurture a lifelong learner!

Reading Well By Third Grade

Moorhead Area Public Schools is committed to improving academic achievement for all students. Our teachers and staff members work together to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to be college and career ready. The cornerstones of our strategic plan focus on teacher effectiveness, consistent standards-based curriculum, and literacy. The Reading Well Plan supports our strategic priorities by outlining actions to ensure literacy success for all students.

Through a collaborative process involving representatives from across the district, Moorhead Area Public Schools has developed its Reading Well by 3rd Grade Plan, which follows the guidelines provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.

According to MN Statute 120B.12, school districts must adopt local literacy plans to have every child reading at or above grade level no later than the end of grade 3. Plans must include a process to assess students' level of reading proficiency, notify and involve parents, intervene with students who are not reading at or above grade level, and identify and meet staff development needs. Once approved, literacy plans must be posted on the district website.

The Minnesota Department of Education provides the following information about the importance of literacy:

Reading well by third grade is one of many developmental milestones in a child's educational experience. Literacy development starts at an early age and is the basis for all academic success. Reading well by grade three ensures that students have a solid foundation of literacy skills to continue to expand their understandings of what they read, make meaning, and transfer that learning across all subject areas. Instruction that provides the basis for all students to read well by third grade and beyond will help close the achievement gap and ensure all students are ready for the demands of college and the workplace. From cradle to career, a sustained effort to create quality literacy environments in all of our schools and programs from birth through grade 12 promotes academic success.

Moorhead Area Public Schools invites feedback from all stakeholders on the K-3 Literacy Plan. Input will be sought through building Parent Teacher Advisory Councils (PTACs), the district's Instruction and Curriculum Advisory Council (ICAC), the district website at www.moorheadschools.org and via email to info@moorheadschools.org. The district's annual report will provide information about the plan and feedback process. The feedback from all stakeholders will be used to enhance the usefulness of this document and refine the effectiveness of the process. Review the Moorhead Area Public Schools Literacy Plan.

English Learners (EL)

The Moorhead elementary schools provide small group and individual instruction in speaking, reading and writing English for our students whose first or primary language is not English. The EL program assists limited English proficient students in the acquisition of English proficiency and content area skills necessary for successful participation in the academic curriculum. The EL program provides specialized instruction in the oral communication and literacy skills of English. Listening comprehension, pronunciation, functional usage, vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, spelling and nonverbal language are all included in the program. A more complete description of the program can be viewed in the English Learner Plan of Service.

Guidance / Counseling

Our elementary guidance and counseling program offers classroom guidance instruction, small group experiences and short-term individual counseling. An elementary counselor is at school full time. Students can make an appointment to see a counselor and parents/guardians or teachers can recommend or request an appointment for a child.

The Elementary Guidance/Counseling Program has two major components: preventive guidance and individual counseling. Preventive guidance involves classroom instruction, which helps children in the areas of self-esteem, alcohol and drug awareness, decision making, problem solving, bullying and social interaction. Individual counseling is designed to help parents, students and teachers with issues that may surface at some point during normal development. These include achievement, alcohol, behavior, death, divorce, fears / phobias, illness, siblings, etc.

What is PBIS?

PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) is a process for creating safer and more effective schools. PBIS is a systems-approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to educate all children by developing research-based, schoolwide, and classroom discipline systems. The process focuses on improving a school’s ability to teach and support positive behavior for all students. Rather than a prescribed program, PBIS provides systems for schools to design, implement, and evaluate effective school-wide, classroom, non-classroom, and student-specific discipline plans. PBIS is a proactive approach for creating and maintaining safe and effective learning environments in schools. PBIS Minnesota trains, facilitates, and monitors programs across the state.  

PBIS includes school-wide procedures and processes for:

• ALL students, ALL staff, in ALL settings;
• Non-classroom settings within the school environment;
• Individual classrooms and teachers;
• Individual supports for the 5% of students with the most challenging behaviors.

PBIS is used nationally. If you would like to learn more about PBIS access the PBIS website.

Bullying/Intimidation – the site has additional links on the right side

An act of bullying, by either an individual student or a group of students, is expressly prohibited on school district property or at school-related functions. “Bullying” means intimidating, threatening, abusive or harming conduct that is objectively offensive and an actual or perceived imbalance of power exists between the student engaging in the prohibited conduct and the target of the prohibited conduct, and the conduct is repeated or forms a pattern; or materially and substantially interferes with a student’s educational opportunities or performance or ability to participate in school functions or activities or receive school benefits, services or privileges.

The term “bullying” specifically includes cyberbullying, which means bullying using technology or other electronic communication, including, but not limited to, a transfer of a sign, signal, writing, image, sound, or data, including a post on a social network Internet website or forum, transmitted through a computer, cell phone, or other electronic device. The term applies to prohibited conduct which occurs on school premises, on school district property, at school functions or activities, on school transportation, or on school computers, networks, forums, and mailing lists, or off school premises to the extent that it substantially and materially disrupts student learning or the school environment.

If a student has been bullied or knows of other students being bullied or intimidated, the student should contact an adult staff member for help. Refer to the discipline procedures section in the elementary handbook and to School Board Policy 578 on the school district website or in the school office.

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Spanish Immersion Program 
The Spanish Immersion (SI) program offers children an opportunity to learn to read, write and speak Spanish. At Ellen Hopkins Elementary and Horizon West (grades K-6), students are immersed or completely engaged in a second language while learning all subject areas including reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. Using the identical elementary curriculum used by the other Moorhead elementary schools, Spanish Immersion teachers instruct in Spanish rather than English.

The Spanish Immersion students may work in multi-age classes that are integrated into the full school community. Multi-age educational practices are grounded in a philosophy that every child can learn at his or her own pace and that learning is a continuum rather than a series of steps. The multi-age classroom creates a nurturing community where students begin to take responsibility for their own education, and it supports the acquisition of language and academic growth.

Besides learning the regular school curriculum, the students will become fluent writers, readers and speakers of Spanish. Students also are exposed to the cultures of Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and around the world. Along with the recognized benefits of being bilingual/biliterate, recent brain research highlights many other advantages to learning a second language at an early age in a program like Moorhead's K-6 immersion program.

A full description about the program and the processes to enter the program may be found by reading the Spanish Immersion brochure. A video about the program is available by request through the Hopkins office at 218-284-4300.

World’s Best WorkForce

The Minnesota Legislature passed the World's Best Workforce bill in 2013 to ensure every school district in the state is making strides to increase student performance. The School Board must establish goals and align strategic plans and budgets to achieve world-class student achievement by 2027.

World’s Best Workforce (WBWF) is focused on the goals of having all students meet school readiness goals and be ready to start kindergarten, having all third-grade students achieve grade-level literacy, closing the academic achievement gap between all subgroups (ethnic, special education, poverty), having all students graduate from high school, and having all students attain college and career preparedness. The legislation is frequently updated during sessions of the state legislature.

World’s Best Workforce Annual Report on Curriculum Instruction and Student Achievement for Moorhead Area Public Schools.

Gifted/Talented Program - Discovery of one’s self and of one’s interests!

Moorhead Area Public Schools provides learning conditions that support academic achievement for all students. A gifted and talented coordinating teacher provides a continuum of services for high-potential students in grades 3-8. Students in grades 9-12 participate in Honors and Advanced Placement classes. In addition grade 9 students can participate in weekly informational sessions that address college and career readiness. The goal of the Gifted and Talented program is to be a period of discovery as students learn more about their distinctive talents and areas of interest.

The elementary and middle school Gifted and Talented Program provides identified students in grades 3-8 with discovery opportunities to expand and enhance 21st century skills while also developing individual gifts and talents in student interest areas. The program is assessed by the 4C’s of communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. All subject areas can be utilized through project-based learning (PBL). Each project starts with an essential question or problem to solve and ends with a presentation to an audience. Students work the 4C’s in the middle, and the element of choice is granted so students are choosing the direction for their learning. Emphasis on organization, responsibility, speech delivery, and social/emotional needs are woven into the ongoing curriculum. All gifted and talented services are called Discovery since time spent within the program is meant for students to learn more about their distinctive talents and interests through an investigative, curiosity filled, and choice-based way. Review the district’s comprehensive plan for Gifted and Talented.

The first stage of identification for the Gifted and Talented Program is nomination. Principal, parent, teacher or self-nomination may be accepted and may be submitted to the respective elementary school office.

Special Education Services

Moorhead Area Public Schools learner support services provides a continuum of special education services that are in effect from early childhood through age 21. The district will provide qualifying students support in the transition toward independent living (community participation), employment, and postsecondary training. Students must meet state disability criteria and demonstrate a need for specialized instruction to be eligible for these programs. Read about the special education referral process.

After a referral has been made, case managers, parents/guardians, school staff and students will work together to provide services and supports that meet individual student needs. The goal of learner support services is to provide support for students’ to ensure their academic, social/emotional, functional and self-sufficiency needs are met. Student progress will be reviewed annually to ensure an appropriate individualized education plan is developed and followed.

Moorhead schools offer a range of services from support in the general education classroom to full-day programming in a special education classroom. Placement for services is always based on the needs of the individual student. A listing of possible services is as follows:

Physical Therapy                                                Audiology Services

Occupational Therapy                                                Interpreting Services

Speech Language Pathology                                        Transportation Services

Social Work Services                                                Orientation and Mobility Services                        

Assistive Technology Services                                Autism Consultant Services

Counseling                                                        Behavior Analyst Consulting Services

Children’s Therapeutic Support Services (CTSS)

At the same time services are provided for specific disabilities as follows:

Speech/Language Impaired                        Physically Impaired

Specific Learning Disability                        Deaf/Hard of Hearing

Emotional Behavioral Disorders                Visual Impairment

Other Health Disabilities                        Deaf-Blind

Development Delay                                Autism Spectrum Disorders

DCD Mild Moderate                                Traumatic Brain Injury

DCD Severe                                        Severely Multiply Impaired

In addition, extracurricular activities and clubs are offered through the school. Support may be provided to a student with a disability if the student meets the prerequisite requirements for the activity and the support doesn’t change the integrity of the activity.

Read the detailed description of special education services and procedures.

Other Supplemental Programs

At the elementary level, the district also offers programs that provide extra help and instruction in reading, writing and mathematics. These include literacy support for students. Title I support is available at Ellen Hopkins and Robert Asp Elementary Schools. Our schools have tutors to assist students in the area of reading through the Minnesota Reading Corps. The America Reads program provides Minnesota State University Moorhead education majors to assist students with reading. The elementary schools use an after-school and summer Targeted Services program called EXCEL to give students extra help in reading, writing and mathematics.

Students who are performing below their grade level and are recommended by their teacher will be considered for these programs. Parents/guardians who have questions about any of these programs, should contact their student's classroom teacher. If you wish to volunteer, contact a teacher or principal.

Family Advocate and Behavior Interventionist

Behavior interventionists are an integral part of the school support system. The behavior interventionists coordinate and implement small groups utilizing the Zones of Regulation curriculum. Groups are held to assist students in learning self-regulation and social skills. Behavior interventionists also facilitate the Check In Check Out (CICO) program. CICO is an effective research-based intervention that provides students with positive interactions. The goal of the program is to assist students to be more successful in school academically, socially and behaviorally. As part of the program, the behavior interventionists assists in writing behavior plans, communicating with parents, and providing resources to outside mental health agencies.

School Social Worker

The school social worker is an integral part of each school’s support team, addressing academic, home and mental health areas for students at-risk of being identified as having a disability and those identified as having a disability. They focus on the relationships and interactions between students and others with the purpose of supporting students and reducing barriers and problems that impede student learning. School social workers work together with parents, teachers and other school personnel to support the academic and personal/social development that interferes with learning, and ensure students receive needed support and services through proper referral and follow-up. School social workers advocate for students to ensure needed supports and work with families to access those supports when community agencies are important for the success of the students.  

Library Media Center

In Moorhead Area Public Schools, library media instruction is an essential part of the education of elementary school students. All curricular areas are dependent upon library media services for the support necessary to meet many outcomes in the various disciplines. In addition, the rapid change in communication technology requires quality library media programs with a variety of resources and skills, enabling students to access, evaluate, interpret, and apply information from print and non-print materials. The elementary school library media centers provide appropriate resources and professional personnel, which are key components to student success. Library instruction is offered to all students in grades K-4. The elementary library media specialists are provided with an Information Literacy program that meets library media standards and concepts for elementary students. Media specialists are trained in the utilization and assessment of 21st century skills, preparing our students with the skills necessary for life and work in the 21st century. The elementary school administrators, library media specialists and classroom teachers are encouraged to become knowledgeable of the standards and concepts that are identified for the elementary school library media program. Elementary library media specialists and classroom teachers are strongly encouraged to plan together for cross-curricular integration. This serves as an effective and useful strategy to direct library media teaching and student learning. Review the complete listing of grade-level media instruction.

Transportation

Moorhead Area Public Schools provides free bus service for students who live within their attendance area and who live one mile or more from the school. Transportation is not provided to Spanish Immersion students outside the Ellen Hopkins attendance area. Information concerning bus routes is mailed to families prior to the start of school or may be obtained by checking PowerSchool or calling the school district transportation office at 284-1410. Please understand that it is considered a privilege to ride the bus and not a right. Should you have any concerns about your student riding the bus contact the transportation office at 284-1410.

Health Services

Moorhead Area Public Schools provides a wide range of health services to our students in the district. Health assistants are available in every building and licensed school nurses cover each building as well. Health services includes:

• Hearing and vision screenings for grades K, 1, 3, 5 and 7 students and all new students to the district.
• Flu shot clinics for students, their families, and staff members during fall parent/teacher conferences.
• Educating grade 4 students on growing up, changes related to puberty, and the importance of hygiene. Parents of grade 4 students will receive a letter notifying them before the presentations occur and giving parents the option of excluding their child from the program.  Parents also may view the video online prior to the program. Read a copy of the recent letter and access the video.
• Educating on different health subjects as requested by staff or teachers.
• Monitoring any medications given at school, including communication with physicians and parents.
• Collaborating with other staff members to promote student health and well-being.
• Determining any special medical condition among all students in the district.  
• Training staff members on different health procedures to ensure an optimal learning environment for the students and all health needs are being met.
• Providing referrals to different community resources.

Food and Nutrition

Moorhead Area Public Schools teaches healthy eating habits by introducing students to a variety of food choices. All menus meet nutrition requirements established by the USDA. The weekly menu can be found through SPUDS Landing / PowerSchool. The application for free and reduced lunch may be completed annually through PowerSchool Registration, completed electronically through PowerSchool to ensure faster processing or by submitting the paper form: Application for Educational Benefits (read instructions).

Students can eat breakfast and lunch daily. School breakfast is available beginning at 7:15 a.m. and costs $1. Students have a thirty-minute lunch period. For 2018-19, lunch costs $2.30 at the elementary schools and includes milk. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch are also eligible for free breakfast.

Moorhead Area Public Schools uses a computerized lunch program. Students must prepay for meals and milk. Parents/guardians are asked to deposit enough money for a week or more of meals. Students may put money in their account before school or during their noon hour. Parents may also use PayForIt, an online payment processing system, to pay for school meals online. Parents/guardians may check their student's' meal account balance and transactions through PowerSchool.

Students may have milk as part of a snack break. Milk charges are taken from the meal account. Milk also is available to children who choose to bring their lunch. Milk for lunch and for snack break is sold for a reasonable price. There are no free or reduced arrangements for morning milk. Milk break snacks may be purchased through a student's meal account if interested.

All prices are subject to change on an annual basis as determined by the school board and the United States Department of Agriculture (USA). Contact food and nutrition services at 218-284-3325 with questions.

School and Family Partnership

The teacher of your student(s) realizes your family is in a partnership with the teacher. Your family is always invited to communicate with the teacher regarding the cognitive and affective growth of your child. Truly, the teachers want your son or daughter to have the best possible experience at school. To aid in this process several opportunities are scheduled.

There will be back-to-school opportunities for students and parents to visit their classrooms and teachers prior to the beginning of the school year.

Conferences are held during the school year to provide an exchange between the teachers and the families.  It is a valuable time to learn about growth and to exchange thinking about helping each student to grow as much as possible both emotionally and academically.

Another great opportunity is for parents to get involved in each building’s Parent Teacher Advisory Council (PTAC). PTAC groups meet monthly to discuss pertinent school issues, coordinate school activities such as school events, book fairs, and others, and raise funds that help provide equipment, student rewards, counseling materials and more. It is a chance for parents to share successes and concerns with the building principal.

Curriculum

While attending the Moorhead elementary schools, students will have instruction in:

Language arts                        Health

Science                        Mathematics

Social studies                        Music

Art                                Physical education

Media / technology                Spanish (option)

Each subject covers standards-based content, with an emphasis upon cultivating students’ 21st century skills such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and innovation. The education of each student becomes individualized as the staff work to move each student to higher levels of performance. All staff tap every possible resource to respond to a student’s level of readiness and performance. Resources outside of the classroom can be tapped to help students as needed.

Elementary Schools

Elementary curriculum focuses on providing children with skills needed to read, communicate, solve math problems, use technology and apply this knowledge to everyday situations. In addition a solid curriculum in science and social studies is defined by the state of Minnesota. Students experience one-on-one, small-group and whole class learning opportunities with teachers who know the needs of individual students. Specialists provide instruction in art, music, physical education, health, media and technology to further enrich the curriculum.

The Moorhead elementary schools operate on a system of cycle days. The system is used to schedule classes such as art, physical education, health, music, technology, etc. so students receive consistent programming.

As a result of this schedule, our classroom teachers and specialists are able to:

• Provide equitable and enriched learning experiences for all students;
• Have protected teaching time during core instruction with the goal of a minimum of 90 minutes of reading instruction and a minimum of 30 minutes of writing instruction daily;
• Provide a protected daily block of minutes for mathematics instruction that varies with grade level;
• Provide intervention or enrichment according to individual needs;
• Address students' varying learning styles with small groups; and
• Have regular opportunities for classroom teachers to meet during the day and without the use of substitute teachers to review students' reading and math data, behavior data and plan corresponding instruction.

Music, art and physical education/health will be offered periodically based on the number of sections needed.  Every student will have access to the content of those areas on a regular schedule.

Curriculum Overview

Social Studies:

Students will be introduced to skills in geography, economics, government, civics and history. Students will use these skills at progressively more challenging levels while developing solid background information and critical vocabulary skills. Social studies is the interdisciplinary study of citizenship and government, economics, geography, history, and other disciplines in the social sciences and humanities in which students develop the content, concepts, skills, and dispositions necessary to be informed and engaged citizens in the contemporary world.

Reading and Language Arts:

The ability to read and write is the bedrock of all learning. Moorhead elementary schools dedicate 90 minutes a day to reading instruction and 30 minutes per day to instruction in writing. The goal of Moorhead Area Public Schools is to ensure all students are grade-level proficient in reading. However, although meeting grade-level standards is one of the measurable goals for reading, the ultimate goal is for all students to be able to utilize literacy skills for reading, writing, speaking, and listening throughout their lifetimes to enrich their opportunities and enhance their contributions to society. Since research has shown that students who are not reading at or above grade level by third grade have difficulty ever catching up, it is with a great urgency that Moorhead Area Public Schools works to identify and implement highly effective, research-based literacy instruction for all students. More information is available in the Moorhead Local Literacy Plan.

Science (state standards are at the bottom of the linked page):

Science is the active study of the natural and man-made world, including processes, structures, designs, and systems. Science students use their senses and tools to observe, record and analyze data about the world and to make conclusions based on evidence. Scientifically literate young people can understand basic science concepts, use skills for doing scientific investigations, solve technical problems, and design technologies for today’s world. Moorhead schools follow the state-defined science standards for grade-level instruction.

Mathematics (state standards are at the bottom of the linked page):

Mathematics is a discipline whose basic ingredients are numbers, shapes, and algebraic relationships. Logical reasoning is used to study the properties of these objects and to develop connections between them. The results can be used to understand and analyze a vast array of phenomena arising in all of the sciences, in engineering, and in everyday life. For this reason, mathematics is often called the "language of science.”

All students need to learn important mathematical concepts, skills, and relationships with understanding. The standards describe a connected body of mathematical knowledge students learn through the processes of problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation. The standards are grouped by strands: 1) Number and Operation; 2) Algebra; 3) Geometry and Measurement; 4) Data Analysis and Probability.

These are the process skills that help students to THINK mathematically and  to become lifelong learners:

Math instruction across grade levels will develop the following practices necessary for success in mathematics:

• Choose strategies for solving a problem and checking answers.
• Represent math problems in a variety of ways and think about what the problems mean.         
• Share ideas, explain thinking, and analyze others’ ideas.        
• Solve math problems using models, labeled sketches, expressions, and equations.
• Decide when and how to use math tools, pictures, and models to help solve problems.
• Be mathematically precise and describe ideas clearly.         
• Use the structure of a number, shape, or model to solve problems and show thinking.
• Can make generalizations about numbers and facts and come up with strategies to solve similar problems.

Health / Physical Education:

It is the role of quality physical education programs to help students develop health-related fitness, physical competence in movement activities, cognitive understanding, and positive attitudes toward physical activity so they can adopt healthy and physically active lifestyles. Quality programs also are important because they provide learning experiences that meet a student’s developmental needs, which in turn helps to improve the mental alertness, academic performance, readiness, and enthusiasm for learning.

According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) guidelines, a high-quality physical education program includes the following components: opportunity to learn, meaningful content, and appropriate instruction. Quality physical education programs should provide the student with the following benefits:

Skill development – Develops motor skills that allow for safe, successful, and satisfying participation in physical activities.

Regular, healthful physical activity – Provides a wide range of developmentally appropriate activities for all children and youth. It encourages young people to choose to be physically active and aware of the benefits.

Improved physical fitness – Improves the health-related components of physical fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition).

Support of other subject areas – Reinforces knowledge learned in/across the curriculum and serves as a laboratory for application of content in science, math, and social studies, communication skills, and literacy.

Self-discipline – Facilitates development of responsibility for personal health, safety, and fitness.

Improved judgment – Influences moral development, and students assume leadership roles, cooperate with others, and accept responsibility for their own behavior.

Stress reduction – Physical activity becomes an outlet for releasing tension and anxiety and facilitates emotional stability and resilience.

View the national physical education standards.

View the national health standards.

Music:

The Moorhead Schools elementary music program (Grades K-4) provides balanced, comprehensive and sequential experiences for children to perform, create, and respond to music. Through singing, playing instruments, moving to music, and creating music, children acquire musical literacy skills and knowledge by doing. In keeping with the national music standards and the Minnesota music standards, the goals of this hands-on program are to have children create, perform, and participate in music-making, to know and use musical materials and resources, read and perform music notation, and to appreciate, respond to, and analyze music they hear. In addition, through experiential learning, students will understand their own historical and cultural heritage and those of others within their communities and beyond.

Students receive a minimum of 60 minutes a week of instruction (two out of three days in the rotation), taught by specialists who are specifically trained and certified as music teachers. Children learn the language of music through the playing of Orff instruments, ukuleles and recorders (beginning in grade 3), active movement, and singing songs using proper vocal techniques. Throughout the school year, there are opportunities for the children to perform within their own building. Public performances begin in grade 3, and grade 4 students participate in a district-wide concert.

View the national music standards.

View the Minnesota music standards.

Students in grades 1-6 in Moorhead Area Public Schools experience a fine arts performance each year sponsored by Learning Bank (a nonprofit organization that partners Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead school districts). These Learning Bank experiences encourage young people to become life-long learners and well-informed consumers of the arts. In addition to experiencing the art form, students also learn appropriate social etiquette to utilize when attending performances.

• Grade 1 – MSUM Fuego Tropical Steel Drum Band
• Grade 2 – Ukrainian cultural presentation by Cultural Kaleidoscope
• Grade 3 – Concordia College Percussion Ensemble
• Grade 4 – Fargo-Moorhead Symphony
• Grade 5 – Fargo-Moorhead Kicks Jazz Band
• Grade 6 – Russian cultural presentation by Cultural Kaleidoscope

Art:

The Moorhead Schools elementary art program provides a variety of art experiences for grades K-4. Students learn about art through art making, art observing and artistic literacy. Students use a variety of tools and media through art exploration and experimentation. The program encourages the students to use the elements and principles of art through creating, performing and participation. Students also learn and understand that art has cultural and historical influences from around the world with different styles.

The students receive 60 minutes of art each week taught by certified art specialists. Students have the opportunities to showcase their artwork at school or in the community.

Curriculum Guides by Grade

Elementary Schools                                Horizon Middle School West Campus

Kindergarten                                         Grade 5

Grade 1                                         Grade 6                                        

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4