St. Dominic Elementary School

Saint Dominic Elementary School’s curriculum focuses on preparing students for the New York state stan­dardized tests that 4th graders are required to take in math, language arts and science. The 4th and 5th grades share language arts and math teachers, who switch classrooms during these class­es and make students ready for 7th and 8th grade, when they will change classrooms. In language arts, students read a story a week and learn spelling words based on the story. At the end of the week, students take an essay-format test based on the story, incorporating spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension, plot sequence, cause and effect relationships and writing a summary.

In math, students learn to add and subtract decimals and demonstrate an understanding of fractions, mea­surements, geometry, beginning algebra and basic probability reasoning. New York State and Long Island history, world cultures, Earth’s resources and why we have laws features prominently in social studies. In science, student learn about a range of topics, including their local ecosystem, biological organization, the insect and reptilian world, structure of plants, the human body, climate, oceans and the scientific method.

Religion class continues to build knowledge of the Catholic church, focusing on the Beatitudes, Ten Com­mandments, Gospel values, the goodness of God, social justice, Lent and Confirmation.