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Middle Elementary

Grades 2-4

As students progress through grades, our curriculum evolves to match their developing abilities and interests. 

During the middle elementary years, students build on the strong foundation established in the early grades as they engage with increasingly complex concepts across disciplines. They become more independent thinkers, strengthen their ability to analyze and solve problems, and make connections across subjects.

Pivotal to our Village’s middle elementary program is a strong focus on Social-Emotional Learning. Students are supported by a dedicated social-emotional learning program that helps them develop healthy relationships, navigate conflict, and build self-awareness. Family Circles, Community Circles, and Councils enable students to develop individual agency and practice leadership skills, active listening, problem-solving, and consensus-building. These SEL skills are intentionally woven into our academic curriculum as early as first grade, where students complete a year-long study of accessibility in Los Angeles public parks. 

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Learning in Action

Design Thinking Through Game Design
Design Thinking Through Game Design

Fourth graders progress through their Game Design course in the DREAM Studio, where they learn to design and debug video games using Gamestar Mechanic. They then put the technology aside to create their own DIY board games, which they share with parents in the spring.

The Foundations of Animation
The Foundations of Animation

Second graders study animation in the DREAM Studio by designing and creating their own DIY flipbooks. Their animated stories range from bouncing balls and squiggly lines to imaginative scenes like alien abductions, all brought to life page by page. Students then build on these skills as they move into claymation studies and projects.

Interdisciplinary Learning Through Arts & Letters
Interdisciplinary Learning Through Arts & Letters

As part of Arts & Letters, third graders read Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca and annotate textual evidence to examine how the many individuals behind the Apollo 11 mission worked together to achieve a historic goal. Arts & Letters is an interdisciplinary literacy program that weaves together reading, writing, history, science, and the arts, enabling students to build knowledge and make connections across disciplines.

Exploring Numbers and Place Value
Exploring Numbers and Place Value

Second graders played Sort and Find the Value, a math game where they matched base-10 diagrams to equations. As they played, students practiced problem-solving and mental math strategies to strengthen their understanding of place value.

From Book to Build: The Gnome Project
From Book to Build: The Gnome Project

Second graders are working on a cross-curricular project between the DREAM Studio and Performing Arts. After reading No, No, Gnome! by Ashlyn Anstee, students began building gnome homes out of cardboard and wood. They made doors with real hinges, painted and decorated, added gardens and pools, crafted furniture and tiny gnomes, and finished with fairy lights. In Performing Arts, students learned the song “No, No, Gnome” to accompany the book. Through this project, they build creativity, design thinking, collaboration, and fine motor skills, which help prepare them for more advanced design and performing arts projects in the future.

Exploring Forces Through Mini Golf
Exploring Forces Through Mini Golf

Third grade scientists study forces and motion with a hands-on mini golf challenge. Students learn to designed and build their own courses, exploring how strength of force and direction can influence a golfer's experience.