CHCA Statement of Curriculum

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MISSION, VISION, STANDARDS, BENCHMARKS AND ASSESSMENTS A Statement of Curriculum CINCINNATI HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Edyth B. Lindner Campus Otto Armleder Memorial Education Center Founders’ Campus Martha S. Lindner Campus Rev. 6/2017

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Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy K-12 comprehensive curriculum statment showing links in each content area to the school's mission and core values. Each content area is referenced to the national standards documents.

Transcript of CHCA Statement of Curriculum

Page 1: CHCA Statement of Curriculum

MISSION, VISION, STANDARDS,

BENCHMARKS AND ASSESSMENTS

A Statement of Curriculum

CINCINNATI HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

Edyth B. Lindner Campus

Otto Armleder Memorial Education Center

Founders’ Campus

Martha S. Lindner Campus

Rev. 6/2017

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Rev. 6/2017

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“I applied my heart

to know, and to search,

and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things…”

Ecclesiastes 7: 25

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Rev. 6/2017

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy…Unleashing a passion to learn, to lead, to serve

VISION

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy will unleash each student’s God-given gifts through Christ-centered

academic excellence. We are devoted to developing the whole person, and instilling a lifelong passion for

learning, leading and serving.

MISSION

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy is a Christ-Centered, Non-Denominational, College Preparatory Academy

that exists to prepare students intellectually and spiritually for success in higher education and to impact and

influence the world according to their unique gifts and talents. This will be accomplished by lCreating an

environment that encourages students, faculty, staff and families to develop and live out their relationship in

Jesus Christ; lDeveloping a passion for lifelong learning that leads to thoughtful, effective service through

excellent, intentional curriculum and extra-curricular offerings; lEmpowering outstanding Christian faculty

and staff to fully use their passions and expertise to create engaged critical thinkers;lFostering an exceptiona l

environment that develops students’ gifts and talents in the arts, athletics, leadership, and additional extra-

curricular opportunities for God’s purposes;lBuilding an engaged school community – encompassing faculty,

staff, students, families, alumni, and donors – that reinforces the school’s vision, mission, and core values.

CORE VALUES

We Believe In

Christ-Centeredness: ~ Following how Christ himself led, served, taught, loved, and lived; we strive to base all

we do on His word.

Academic Excellence: ~ Reflecting we are an academy of learning, it is our primary, but not exclusive goal to

prepare our students academically for college and beyond.

The Whole Person: ~ Recognizing all are gifted by God in unique ways, we believe in developing all forms of

those spiritual, intellectual, artistic and athletic gifts in each student to their fullest potential.

Servant Leadership: ~ Believing in the power of servanthood, servant leadership will be taught, modeled and

encouraged to all students, staff and parents so that all are equipped for the situations in life that God calls them

to lead.

Outreach/Service: ~ Modeling Christ in all we do, we will provide opportunity daily and through special events

for students, staff, and parents to share Christ’s love through service and witness to others.

Stewardship: ~ Acknowledging we are blessed in many ways, we as a school will model strong fiscal stewardship

and will encourage, train and expect students, staff and parents to be wise and generous stewards over their time,

talents, and money.

The Value of Each Person: ~ Demonstrating biblical equality, we will embrace each individual as a distinct

creation of God, ensure an emotionally, socially and physically safe and nurturing environment and intentionally

enroll a student body, faculty and staff that reflect the socioeconomic and racial make-up of the community in

which we live.

A Vibrant Sense of Community: ~ Acting intentionally, we will foster a vibrant, connected culture of caring,

fellowship and respect among students, staff and parents.

Accountability: ~ Holding ourselves and each other to the highest standards of integrity, excellence and to

constant measurable improvement.

A Joyful Spirit: ~ Having an attitude of gratitude for God’s blessings that are lived out in every day smiles,

laughter, and by celebrating demonstrated character and unique achievements. This results in a contagious joy

that connects at the heart-level.

(Board Approved 6/6/06 & 8/17/06)

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CHCA CURRICULUM

This comprehensive statement of curriculum contains fourteen curricular areas. The Curriculum

Council comprised of lead teachers from each division and each curricular area has now produced the third

iteration to the original document. The core values of “academic excellence” in a Christ-centered environment

charge the entire teaching and learning community to offer meaningful, engaged, and effective learning

integrated with Christian principles.

Meaningful learning allows students to build understanding by instruction explicitly linking new

learning to prior knowledge or experiences or to build understanding through direct experience where multiple

senses and multiple modes of expression reinforce and strengthen the learning experience. Engaged learning

sees students actively representing their understanding through words, writing, movement, visual

representations, or a combination of these. It encourages students to gather information from various sources,

to work independently and collaboratively, and to practice foundational skills to achieve fluency and

automaticity. Engaged learning leads students to exhibit self-confidence, to be academic risk-takers, to

demonstrate creative and analytical thought, and to support their peers. Effective learning stands up to

measurement: performance assessment and standardized assessment, measures that demonstrate student

academic performance against classmates and beyond the school to the state, nation, and the world.

CHCA academic programs reflect high standards of congruency, alignment, and integration.

Academic programs are congruent with our mission and core values, congruent with the best of published

national standards in the academic disciplines, and congruent with current research in pedagogy and in child

development and informed by neuroscience. Academic programs are aligned both vertically PK-12 and

horizontally across disciplines. Academic programs are integrated with current technology used in the

education setting, information literacy, and skills widely identified to advantage students in the 21st century.

Integrated within each discipline are the theological principles that mark our uniqueness and call as a school.

Our world view is Christian and our academic programs reflect this in a vital and systemic manner.

Faculty teams consulted national standards documents and Ohio Department of Education Standards

as well as exemplary curriculums, educational best practices, current research and pedagogy from each field,

and sound statements of child development theory and recent findings about learn ing from neuroscience. Then

Standards were set down for each discipline stating what a CHCA student will know and be able to do in that

area. These are both content and performance standards. The content area Vision statements are the

intersection of the CHCA Mission and Core Values with content area standards. The Vision statement for each

content area envisions the student exiting CHCA after thirteen years and states what that student who has

experienced this educational community will know, be able to do, and will value. Threshold Benchmarks then

delineate the standards in a more precise way: by the close of grades four, eight, and twelve. Further refining

these threshold level benchmarks are the grade level and course benchmarks and the teachers’ individ ual

course and grade level syllabuses which are companions to this document. Classroom assessment of benchmark learning reflects evaluation of massed skills and the student’s

ability to sequence and perform complex tasks. These assessments are comprehensive in that they call upon

learning of several benchmarks and are events that require the student to solve problems, to investigate a new

situation calling on past learning, to reflect on appropriate strategies, to synthesize information, and to apply

knowledge and skills to new scenarios. Traditional measures of student learning through norm-referenced or

criterion-referenced standardized testing also inform instructional practice and measure student performance in

a larger context.

The faculty, in constructing this Mission, Vision, Standards, Benchmarks and Assessments document,

has set forth the statement of an excellent academic program in a Christ-centered environment. Institutions live

because they change and this document, too, testament to a vital inst itution, will serve as a catalyst for

excellence, will cause change, and will itself continue to be a work in progress.

Karen Smeltzer

Executive Assistant to the Head of School for PK-12 Academics

June 2011

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Rev. 6/2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHRISTIAN STUDIES 1

Writing Team: *T. Bacon, J. Treadway, A. Daniel, C. Bond

LANGUAGE ARTS 4

Writing Team: *P. Dinkelacker, B. Pritchard, M. Barron, C. Schaffner

MATHEMATICS 15

Writing Team: *Dr. Nancy Schaefer, N. Anderson, E. Steitz, E. Brunk

SCIENCE 21

Writing Team: Dr. Lu Taylor, M. Myers-Shiveley, C. Cepress, T. Null

SOCIAL STUDIES 31

Writing Team: *K. Gilbert, C. Montgomery, M. Wright, D. Baker, J. Petersen

SPANISH LANGUAGE 38

Writing Team: *L. McGeehan, *P. Fite, N. Foster, J. Prado

CLASSICAL LANGUAGES 45

derived from Standards for Classical Language Learning” companion document to “Standards for Foreign Language Learning,” 1997, American Classical League, Oxford, OH

MANDARIN CHINESE LANGUAGE 49

Writing Team: *R. Weston, S. Lin

HEALTH 53

Writing Team: *N. Buckman, J. Dietrich, S. Collins, N. Runion

PHYSICAL EDUCATION 55

Writing Team: *J. Dietrich, , *S. Zwarg, N. Runion

MUSIC FINE ART 57

Writing Team: *K. Smeltzer, K. Cassity, D. Grantham, M. Warner

VISUAL FINE ART 61

Writing Team: T. Hilderbrand, N. Buckman, V. Swallen, G. Varner, A. Eberhardt

TECHNOLOGY 64

Writing Team: *B. Bodley, J. Bremer, J. Rice

INFORMATION LITERACY 67

Writing Team: E. Miller, S. Hall, D. Hansee, M. Rauch

* denotes lead

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CHRISTIAN STUDIES

VISION

At the heart of our Christian faith is the belief that God is a personal God who reveals to humanity His nature,

His redemptive purpose in history, and His love for all creation. Also central to our faith is the crucified and

risen Jesus Christ and our belief that the “son of God became a man so that humanity could become children of

God” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity). It is our conviction that in understanding the incarnate God we come to

understand our own nature and purpose, for we are created in God’s image. Given these core convictions, the

purpose of the Christian Studies curriculum is to create an environment in which we listen to God speak to us

through the words of Scripture, encourage a love of learning and the exercise of reason, gain wisdom from the

historic voices and traditions of the Church, and seek to understand our own human experience within this

world. The goals of this curriculum are therefore to (i) develop the student holistically; (ii) allow students to

articulate a distinctly Christian world view; and (iii) encourage students to pursue excellence in order to

engage God’s world.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Christian Studies:

• Explain God’s love for humanity and a desire for a relationship which yields a life lived in imitation

and service to Christ.

• Explain God’s purpose in restoring humanity and creation into right relationship and humanity’s

participation in building the Kingdom of God.

• Explain the role and value of Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience in theologically forming a

Christian world view.

• Explain the nature of the triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

• Explain the unique nature of Christ as fully divine and fully human.

• Explain the tools and steps in the responsible reading and interpretation of Scripture and its

application to life.

• Explain the nature of humanity as made in the image of God yet fallen.

• Explain God’s redemptive work through Christ for salvation.

• Explain the importance of spiritual formation through classic spiritual disciplines including prayer,

meditation, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance

and celebration.

• Explain the relevance of Church history and historical theology in the formation of faith and

appreciation for the diversity of God’s Kingdom.

• Explain the importance of applying a theologically formed Christian world view into ethics, service

and every aspect of vocation and life.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

• Identify major groupings and key characteristics of the biblical narrative: patriarchs, matriarchs,

judges, kings, prophets, and apostles.

• Recognize the contribution persons within these groupings made to the biblical narrative.

• Recount in speaking and writing the purpose of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

• Apply to one’s own life lessons biblical characters learned from their experience with God.

• Relate from the Bible and one’s own life examples demonstrating God’s loving, generous, forgiving,

and creative nature.

• Write age-appropriate prayers of thanks, worship, petition, and intercession.

• Locate books of the Bible.

• Participate in service and outreach projects.

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• Find Bible verses and terms using a Bible dictionary and concordance.

• Articulate the religious significance of major Christian holidays and seasons.

• Study great Christian men and women of history from different denominations in the Christian

family.

• Memorize correlated biblical passages.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Journey to Jesus

2) Christmas Book

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade eight the student will: • Articulate God’s plan of salvation.

• Articulate content and meaning of Christian faith in his/her life.

• Set biblical text in historical context and apply truth of Scripture to his/her life.

• Recognize and discuss the broad scope of structure and historical sequence of the Bible’s story.

• Articulate God’s desire to have relationship with humanity by His interaction with it from creation

through the life of Christ.

• Gain an in-depth understanding of the Life of Christ as expressed through the New Testament

Gospels.

• Trace the biblical development of the church from the New Testament book of Acts through the

Church today as an expression of God’s desire to have relationship with humanity.

• Explore His creation and His word to see it as revealing God’s nature.

• Gain an appreciation for the Bible as a source of wisdom, practical for everyday life.

• Recognize the Apostle’s Creed as a benchmark of Christian orthodoxy and understand its language.

• Memorize topic-related biblical passages.

• Locate major sites of the biblical world using historical maps.

• Use a Bible dictionary to deepen his/her understanding of Scripture.

• Explain and practice a variety of classical Christian disciplines, including prayer, solitude, study,

service, and worship.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Use of tools for biblical study

2) Biblical content assessment

3) Christian doctrine assessment

4) Articulation of personal Christian worldview

5) Content Evaluation

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade twelve the student will:

• Articulate the role and value of Scripture, reason, tradition and experience in theologically forming a

Christian world view.

• Express theologically the Christian faith’s core doctrines and practices including:

The Nature of God; The Nature and Uniqueness of Christ; The Nature of Scripture; The Nature of

Humanity; The Nature of Salvation; Spiritual Formation; The History of Christianity; and Praxis:

Ethics and Service.

• Explain the genres, major plot line, characters, and themes in Scripture with a sensitivity to God’s

covenantal relationships with humanity.

• Explain and have experienced the classic Christian spiritual practices including prayer; meditation;

fasting; study; simplicity; solitude; submission; and service.

• Explain the relevance of Church history and historical theology in the formation of faith and

appreciation for the diversity of God’s Kingdom.

• Explain the tools and steps in the responsible reading and interpretation of Scripture and its

application to life.

• Explain the relationship between faith and culture and how faith and theological ideas can be

explored through cultural mediums such as literature and media and demonstrate critical thinking

skills in order to engage such mediums in a thoughtful, theological and relevant manner.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade twelve:

1) Bible History Timeline: Emphasis on the general flow of the biblical narrative and God’s covenantal

relationship from creation through the resurrection

2) Ancient Near East Culture Presentations: Understanding of cultural milieu of Old Testament

including cultures, history and geography of Ancient Near East

3) The United Monarchy in Ancient Israel: Emphasis on its historical and theological significance

4) New Testament Exegetical Research Paper

5) Church Project: Exploration of diversity of Traditions/Denominations within Christianity

6) Spiritual Discipline Journal: Practice and exploration of one Classic Spiritual Discipline

7) Senior Research Paper: Substantive Research Paper within content area of Ethics, World Religions,

Theology or Biblical Studies

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LANGUAGE ARTS

VISION

As a result of a CHCA Language Arts education, students recognize language is a gift from God and as such

should be used to glorify and serve Him. Students are encouraged to develop a lifelong love of learning through

reading, study, and applying scriptural principles to these studies. Growing from these studies is an appreciation

of the diversity of human experience, culture, and values and an ability to evaluate spoken, written, and media

messages for truth. Students apply analytical skills in reading, thought, writing, study, and discussion to realize

their unique, God-given gifts and their place in the world. Students pursue research with confidence using a

familiarity with sources and their uses, and applying the aid that technology brings to learning. Students engage

competently in a variety of writing experiences, both academic and personal, demonstrating clarity, logic,

persuasiveness, creativity, and accuracy in the use of Standard Edited American English. Articulate, even

eloquent, language denotes a person whose ideas are worthy of consideration and respect; thus, an education to

raise up Christian leaders must provide for sound language arts training. CHCA students speak with confidence,

fluency, and precision in a variety of situations as well as work cooperatively and responsively in groups

demonstrating appropriate leadership and giving value to others’ work. Students receive academic challenge

and support in pursuit of success in language arts.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Language Arts:

Reading

• Demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process.

• Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of literary works of enduring quality and increasing

complexity including the truth of Scripture and its influence on literary forms and themes.

• Demonstrate competence in applying reading strategies to learn from literature and specific types of

informational and functional texts and digital sources.

Writing

• Demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process including

narration, exposition and persuasion.

• Write with a command of the grammatical, mechanical and usage conventions of Standard Edited

American English.

• Demonstrate competence in the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing.

• Gather and use information from a variety of print and digital sources for research purposes.

Speaking/Listening/Discussion

• Demonstrate competence in speaking, listening and viewing as tools for learning.

• Participate effectively in a range of interactions to communicate and collaborate

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

Reading

• Establish and adjust purposes for reading such as to gain knowledge, to understand, to interpret, to

enjoy and to solve problems that relate to world and human experience.

• Predict story events and outcomes.

• Decode words using phonetic and structural analysis.

• Apply word analysis skills by interpreting words and phrases as they are used in a text to extend

vocabulary.

• Reason the relationship of word pairs in analogies.

• Determine the meaning of unknown words using a glossary, dictionary, technology and textual

features.

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• Sequence a story after reading or hearing it.

• Construct meaning from text using contextual and syntactic cues.

• Apply self-monitoring strategies to clarify confusion about text and to monitor comprehension.

• Read orally with fluency and expression.

• Apply effective reading comprehension strategies including making connections, summarizing,

comparing and contrasting, using inference, creating a mental image and noting point of view.

• Identify the main idea or theme of a text with key supporting details.

• Select, create and use graphic organizers to synthesize and interpret textual information.

• Identify and analyze elements of literature, including setting, character, and plot.

• Distinguish between reality and fantasy, fact and fiction.

• Read and interpret a variety of thematic literature from different genres and multi-media sources.

• Interpret and analyze critically literary, informational, and functional texts.

• Apply biblical principles to text at an appropriate developmental level.

• Identify and utilize text features such as titles, visual aids and book parts to build text knowledge and

locate information.

Writing

• Express personal experiences through narratives and creative writing.

• Write opinion pieces supported by facts and details.

• Connect opinions and reasons using linking words and phrases.

• Conduct short research projects where evidence is drawn from literary and informational texts.

• Generate ideas and determine a topic suitable for writing.

• Apply the major phases of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing.

• Apply tools such as checklists, rubrics and feature lists to assess the quality of writing.

• Plan writing for different purposes and audiences.

• Use revision strategies to improve the coherence of ideas, clarity of sentence structure and

effectiveness of word choices.

• Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar and usage.

• Prepare writing for publication that is legible and follows an appropriate format.

• Spell grade-appropriate words correctly.

• Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work including commas, end marks,

apostrophes and quotation marks, and correct capitalization.

• Use grammatical structures to communicate ideas effectively in writing including various parts of

speech such as nouns, pronouns, and regular/irregular/past/present/future verbs, conjunctions and

interjections, adverbs, prepositions and prepositional phrases, objective and nominative case pro

nouns, subjects and verbs in agreement including irregular plural nouns.

• Demonstrate competence in writing narrative, descriptive, persuasive, reflective and informational

pieces, response to text and research projects.

• Write formal and informal letters that include important details and follow correct letter format.

• Apply vocabulary and appropriate voice to communicate messages clearly and precisely.

• Use print and digital resources to gather information on a particular topic.

• Use technology as a tool for publishing and creating multimedia reports.

• Acknowledge sources of information in writing thus avoiding plagiarism.

• Use charts, tables, and graphic organizers in prewriting and inclusion in reports.

Listening/Speaking/Discussion

• Demonstrate active listening strategies.

• Retell a story or experience in sequential order.

• Respond to questions and discussions with appropriate elaboration.

• Ask questions for clarification or for needed information.

• Deliver a variety of oral presentations.

• Participate effectively in a range of collaborative experiences.

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ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) “Night of the Notables: Living Museum”

2) Literature Log

3) Writing Portfolio Pieces

4) Standardized Test in Reading, Writing, and Language grades 1-4

By close of grade eight the student will:

Reading

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BENCHMARKS

• Establish and adjust purposes for reading, including to find out, to understand, to interpret, to enjoy

and to solve problems.

• Apply reading comprehension strategies, including: making predictions, comparing and contrasting,

recalling and summarizing, and making inferences and drawing conclusions.

• Summarize the information in texts; search for answers to construct meaning; predict and find

substantiating examples; make inferences, make critical comparisons across texts, electronic, and

visual media.

• Note author's style as well as literal and implied content of text.

• Select, create, and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information.

• Monitor own comprehension by adjusting speed to fit the purpose, or by skimming, scanning, reading

on, note taking, and looking back or summarizing what has been read so far in text.

• Use criteria to choose independent reading materials; read for various purposes.

• Define the meaning of unknown words by using context clues and the author's use of definition,

restatement and example, analyzing author's use of comparison, contrast, or cause and effect.

• Use context clues to determine the meaning of synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms, and

homographs.

• Apply the knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and roots and their various inflections to analyze the

meanings of words.

• Use knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots, prefixes and suffixes to understand complex

words and new subject-area vocabulary such as unknown words in science, mathematics, and social

studies.

• Use word origins, context, or aids to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases.

• Recognize and use words from other languages that have been adopted into the English language.

• Apply knowledge of connotation and denotation to determine the meaning of words.

• Identify analogies and other word relationships, including synonyms and antonyms, to determine the

meaning of words.

• Identify and interpret similes and metaphors; infer the literal and figurative meaning of words and

phrases, and discuss the function of figurative language, including metaphors, similes and idioms.

• Identify the meanings of abbreviations; identify symbols and acronyms and connect them to whole

words.

• Examine and discuss the ways that different events such as cultural, political, social, technological,

and scientific impact and change the English language.

• Describe the defining characteristics of literary forms and genres, including: fiction such as

adventure, science fiction/fantasy, historical fiction, mystery, myths, tall tales, and folk tales; drama;

and poetry.

• Explain how an author's choice of genre affects the expression of a theme or topic.

• Summarize stated and implied themes; look for universal themes, patterns, or symbols across genres,

authors, cultures, and time periods.

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• Analyze how a modern work draws on patterns found in traditional literature.

• Compare, contrast and appreciate authors' styles representing gender, ethnic, and religious diversity.

• Recognize scriptural application to elements in literature and nonfiction texts.

• Analyze the techniques particular to literature and what authors use to describe characters, including

narrator or other characters' point of view; a character's own thoughts, words, or actions.

• Explain how character motivation is revealed; identify plot sequence, climax, and plot features.

• Identify literary features including point of view; irony, suspense, humor, flashback, foreshadowing.

• Connect the author’s use of diction and figurative language to overall meaning, tone, mood, and

effect.

• Use informational text features, such as chapter titles, headings, and subheadings; parts of books

including the index, appendix, and table of contents; and online tools to locate information and

determine structure and purpose.

• Distinguish the characteristics of consumer materials; functional or workplace documents; and

public documents

• Analyze information found in maps, charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, cutaways, and overlays.

• Summarize information from informational text identifying author's intended audience and purpose

and by what organization and rhetorical methods the author achieves the purpose.

• Identify examples of bias and stereotyping, use of cause and effect, and identify fact versus opinion.

• Compare original text to a summary to determine the extent to which the summary adequately

reflects the main ideas, critical details, and underlying meaning of the original text.

• Compare and contrast the important details, treatment, and organization of ideas about the same topic

using different authors or time periods or mediums.

• Compare a fictional portrayal to historical sources to understand how authors use or alter history.

Writing

• Apply accurately the following writing conventions of Standard Edited American English:

mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling.

• Use correctly all eight parts of speech such as noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction,

preposition, and interjection; use clauses both main and subordinate and phrases such as gerund,

infinitive, and participial; use parallel structure for series and juxtaposition; use proper placement of

modifiers; maintain use of appropriate verb tenses; conjugate regular and irregular verbs in all tenses.

• Write routinely and legibly if in hand or use technology over both short and extended time frames

for a range of tasks.

• Respond to scripture by summary or paraphrase in age-appropriate language.

• Establish a thesis statement for informational writing or a plan for narrative writing.

• Determine a purpose and audience and plan writing and rhetorical strategies.

• Use vocabulary to sustain an objective tone for a range of audiences.

• Organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body, and a resolution of plot, followed by a

closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details.

• Group related ideas into paragraphs, including topic sentences following paragraph form, and

maintain a consistent focus across paragraphs, use parallel structures, proofread, and edit.

• Reinforce an essay’s focus through use of parallel structures across paragraphs; use resources and

reference materials.

• Apply tools such as a rubric, checklist, and feedback to judge the quality of writing then prepare for

publication.

• Use available technology to compose text, to publish and interact with others, using techniques such

as electronic resources and graphics to enhance the final product.

• Write narratives about real or imagined events that maintain a clear focus and consistent point of

view, using sensory details and dialogue to develop plot, characters, and setting.

• Write informational essays or reports, or business letter formats that may include research, organize

information with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Employ expository structures appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context such as cause-effect,

comparison-contrast, definition, classification, problem-solution.

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• Develop the topic with relevant facts, concrete details, examples, and explanations from multiple

sources, use appropriate transitions and varied sentence structures.

• Cite sources of information and include bibliographies.

• Write responses to literature including novels, stories, plays, and poems; support judgments with

specific references to text; use quotations from text to support assertions.

• Cite a range of evidence throughout the text to support analysis; use proper in-text citation format to

document quotations.

• Organize insightful interpretation around several premises or images and support with references to

other texts, authors, and prior knowledge.

• Use and maintain literary present tense.

• Include appropriate facts and details, and exclude extraneous details and inconsistencies.

• Write arguments and persuasive essays that establish a clear position and include organized and

relevant information to support ideas from credible sources.

• Introduce an opinion or claim about a topic, organize support and acknowledge alternate or opposing

claims.

• Demonstrate logical reasoning use transitions to connect claims, reasons, and evidence.

• Generate a topic, assigned or personal interest, and open-ended questions for both sustained and

shorter research projects, and develop a plan for gathering information.

• Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; use advanced search features.

• Recognize the difference between primary and secondary sources.

• Assess the usefulness, credibility, and accuracy of sources by identifying elements including

publication date, coverage, language, and point of view.

• Identify and analyze important information, and select appropriate sources to support central ideas,

concepts and themes.

• Take notes in efficient and useful ways.

• Paraphrase source findings in a systematic way; use quotations to support ideas; maintain the flow

of ideas while integrating quotations and citations.

• Define plagiarism and acknowledge sources of information; use style guides to format and give

proper credit to sources.

Speaking/Listening/Discussion

• Use a variety of communication techniques, including oral, visual, written or multimedia reports, to

present information.

• Summarize the main idea, make inferences, and draw conclusions from oral presentations and

multimedia sources.

• Identify the speaker's purpose in presentations and visual media such as to inform, to explain, to

persuade, or to entertain.

• Evaluate a presenter's claims and reasoning; determine the credibility of the speaker.

• Recognize fallacies of reasoning used in presentations and multimedia messages including begging

the question, ad hominem, hasty generalization, straw man, biased sample, and red herring.

• Identify persuasive techniques, both ethical and manipulative, used in presentations and multimedia

messages.

• Compare and contrast filmed, staged, or multimedia presentations to text versions.

• Adjust speaking content and style according to the needs of the situation, setting, and audience.

• Use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

• Adjust phrasing, voice modulation, and inflection to impact audience response; read aloud with

expression and accuracy.

• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks; Initiate and participate effectively in group

discussions of grade-appropriate topics and texts studied in class; cooperate with peers to set clear

goals and deadlines.

• Listen actively and respectfully to all group participants as a demonstration of Christian character,

and work to ensure a hearing for a range of positions on issues.

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• Deliver informational presentations using logical sequence, use relevant support, contain an

introduction, body, and conclusion, follow organizational structures, incorporate digital media,

draw from multiple sources both primary and secondary, if persuasive establish a clear position.

• Use technology to publish and interact with others about reading, writing, and oral presentations.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Standardized Test in Reading, Writing, and Language, grades 5-8

2) End-of-year writing portfolio, grades 5, 7

3) Argument-based, collaborative speech project, grade 6

4) Significant argument or persuasion-based research project by topic individual choice, grades 7, 8

5) Student-produced book of class writings, grade 8

6) Semester examinations, grades 7, 8

By close of grade twelve the student will:

Reading

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BENCHMARKS

• Acquire vocabulary by: defining unknown words through context clues and the author’s use of

comparison, contrast and cause and effect; using knowledge of Greek, Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots,

prefixes and suffixes to understand complex words and new subject-area vocabulary.

• Evaluate theme against personal beliefs.

• Determine the congruence of literature or nonfiction texts of increasing complexity to biblical

principles.

• Recognize and be conversant with a wide variety of writers who represent ethnic, religious, gender,

and age diversity and whose works also represent increasing complexity.

• Apply reading comprehension strategies, including making predictions, comparing and contrasting,

recalling and summarizing and making inferences and drawing conclusions.

• Answer literal, inferential, evaluative and synthesizing questions—in both short answer and extended

response form—to demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate print texts and electronic and

visual media.

• Analyze the rhetorical devices used in public documents, including newspaper editorials and

speeches.

• Analyze and critiquing organizational patterns and techniques including repetition of ideas, appeals

to authority, reason and emotion, syntax and word choice that authors use to accomplish their purpose

and reach their intended audience.

• Analyze the content from several sources on a single issue, clarifying ideas and connecting them to

other sources and related topics.

• Distinguish between valid and invalid inferences and provide evidence to support the findings,

noting instances of unsupported inferences, fallacious reasoning, propaganda techniques, bias and

stereotyping.

• Examine an author’s implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject.

• Evaluate the effectiveness and validity of arguments in public documents and their appeal to various

audiences.

• Analyze the structure and features of functional and workplace documents, including format,

sequence and headers, and how authors use these features to achieve their purposes and how these

features make information accessible and usable.

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• Apply the reading process to various genres of literature to include novels, short stories, nonfiction

and poetry by: analyzing the effect of setting, character, plot, and theme:

- recognizing the effect of figurative language and literary devices;

- comparing and contrasting motivations and reactions of literary characters confronting similar

conflicts such as in conflicts of an individual versus nature, freedom versus responsibility, an

individual versus society; using specific examples of characters’ thoughts, words and actions;

- analyzing the historical, social and cultural context of texts whose complexity, length and level

of abstraction, vocabulary and content are at developmentally appropriate grade levels;

- explaining how voice and narrator affect the characterization, plot and credibility;

- evaluating the author’s use of point of view in a literary text;

- analyzing variations of universal themes in literary texts;

- recognizing characteristics of sub-genres, including satire, parody and allegory, and explaining

how choice of genre affects the expression of a theme or topic;

- analyzing the characteristics of various literary periods and how the issues influenced the writers

of those periods;

- evaluating ways authors develop point of view and style to achieve specific rhetorical and

aesthetic purposes such as through the use of figurative language, irony, tone, diction, imagery,

symbolism and sounds of language; and citing specific examples from text to support analysis.

Writing

• Compose narratives that: sustain reader interest by pacing action and developing an engaging plot

such as tension and suspense; use a range of strategies and literary devices including figurative

language and specific narration; and include an organized, well-developed structure.

• Compose reflective compositions that: use personal experiences as a basis for reflection on some

aspect of life; draw abstract comparisons between specific incidents and abstract concepts; maintain a

balance between describing incidents and relating them to more general, abstract ideas that illustrate

personal beliefs; and move from specific examples to generalizations about life.

• Compose responses to literature that: advance a judgment that is interpretative, analytical, evaluative

or reflective; support key ideas and viewpoints with accurate and detailed references to the text or to

other works and authors; analyze the author’s use of stylistic devices and express an appreciation of

the effects the devices create; identify and assess the impact of possible ambiguities, nuances and

complexities within text; anticipate and answer a reader’s questions, counterclaims or divergent

interpretations; and provide a sense of sufficiency and closure to the writing.

• Compose informational essays or reports, including research, that: develop a controlling idea that

conveys a perspective on the subject; create an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience

and context; include information on all relevant perspectives, considering the validity and reliability

of primary and secondary sources; make distinctions about the relative value and significance of

specific data, facts and ideas; anticipate and address a reader’s potential biases, misunderstandings

and expectations; and provide a sense of sufficiency closure to the writing.

• Compose persuasive compositions that: articulate a clear position; support assertions using rhetorica l

devices, including appeals to emotion or logic and personal anecdotes; and develop arguments using

a variety of methods such as examples, beliefs, expert opinion, or cause-effect reasoning.

• Produce informal writings such as journals, notes and poems for various purposes.

• Conduct research by

- composing open-ended questions for research, assigned or personal interest, and modify

questions as necessary during inquiry and investigation to narrow the focus or extend the

investigation:

- identifying appropriate sources and gather relevant information from multiple sources which

may include traditional print sources, online databases, electronic resources and Internet-based

resources;

- determining the accuracy of sources and the credibility of the author by analyzing the sources’

validity for authority, accuracy, objectivity, publication date and coverage;

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- analyzing the complexities and discrepancies in information and systematically organize relevant

information to support central ideas, concepts and themes;

- integrating quotations and citations into written text to maintain a flow of ideas;

- using style guides to produce oral and written reports that give proper credit for sources and

include appropriate in-text documentation, notes and an acceptable format for source

acknowledgement;

- and using a variety of communication techniques including oral, visual, written or multimedia

reports to present information that supports a clear position about the topic or research question

and defend the credibility and validity of the information presented.

• Produce writing with few or no significant errors in grammatical, mechanical, or usage conventions

in Standard Edited American English including: use correct spelling conventions; use correct

capitalization and punctuation; purposefully use clauses, such as main and subordinate, and phrases

including gerund, infinitive, and participial; use parallel structure to present items in a series and

items juxtaposed for emphasis; use proper placement of modifiers; maintain the use of appropriate

verb tenses; achieve agreement between subject and verb as well as pronoun and antecedent.

• Respond to writing prompts both in timed and untimed writing assignments.

• Cite sources adhering to Modern Language Association, MLA, format in final draft work when

incorporating ideas or phrases not the student’s own.

• Apply tools such as checklists, rubrics and feature lists to judge the quality of writing.

• Develop an authentic voice that distinguishes his/her writing and uses diction both appropriate and

specific to the audience, purpose, and topic.

• Establish and develop a clear thesis statement during prewriting for informational writing or a clear

plan or outline for narrative writing; determine a purpose and audience and plan strategies such as

adapting formality of style, including explanations or definitions as appropriate to audience needs, to

address purpose and audience; and use organizational strategies such as notes and outlines to plan

writing.

• Organize writing using a draft to create a coherent whole with an effective and engaging introduction,

body and conclusion and a closing sentence that summarizes, extends or elaborates on points or ideas

in the writing; use a variety of sentence structures and lengths such as simple, compound and complex

sentences; parallel or repetitive sentence structure; use paragraph form in writing, including topic

sentences that arrange paragraphs in a logical sequence, using effective transitions and closing

sentences and maintaining coherence across the whole through the use of parallel structures; use

precise language, action verbs, sensory details, colorful modifiers and style as appropriate to audience

and purpose, and use techniques to convey a personal style and voice; and use available technology

to compose text.

• Revise to insure clarity of writing, consistency of point of view and effectiveness of organizational

structure; add and delete examples and details to better elaborate on a stated central idea, to develop

more precise analysis or persuasive argument or to enhance plot, setting and character in narrative

texts; rearrange words, sentences and paragraphs and add transitional words and phrases to clarify

meaning and achieve specific aesthetic and rhetorical purposes; and use resources and reference

materials including dictionaries and thesauruses to select effective and precise vocabulary that

maintains consistent style, tone and voice.

• Proofread writing; edit to improve conventions including grammar, spelling, punctuation and

capitalization; identify and correct fragments and run-ons and eliminate inappropriate slang or

informal language.

• Recognize errors in diction, grammar, sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, and wordiness so

as to correct these, such as on the College Board SAT test in writing.

• Address effectively and insightfully a timed writing task.

• Produce essays in timed writing tasks which are well organized, fully developed and employ clearly

appropriate examples to support ideas.

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• Display consistent facility in language use, variety in sentence structure and range of vocabulary in

timed writing tasks including the Ohio Graduation Test in Writing, the College Board SAT writing

test, and others.

Speaking/Listening/Discussion

• Accept opportunities to lead small group collaboration in which he/she must support and defend

ideas, respond to interpretive prompts/problems, lead the group to summaries, consensus, and to

structured arguments.

• Deliver before an audience self-prepared expository or persuasive speeches and/or multimedia

presentations.

• Engage in elective courses that require dramatic interpretation, competitive speech preparation in

various categories, and rigorous exercise in oratorical skills or that produce writing of a creative

nature.

• Apply active listening strategies; identify a speaker’s appeals to the audience; evaluate credibility of

speaker and any fallacies in reasoning.

ASSESSMENT

By the close of grade 12:

• Produce writing portfolios, grades 9, 10, and 11

• Produce a persuasive research paper, grade 10

• Produce a persuasive literary research paper, grade 12

• Ohio Graduation Test in Reading and Writing or its replacement

• PSAT/NMSQT in grade 11: critical reading and writing sections

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BENCHMARKS

By close of Advanced Placement Language and Composition the student will achieve all benchmarks listed

previously and in addition:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP English Course Description.

Reading

• Read a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods applying interpretive

skill to reading and writing.

• Analyze how diction affects a writer’s style.

• Evaluate connections between ideas at differing levels of specificity, including the adequacy of

evidence.

• Analyze major devices that control tone and structure and their relation to rhetorical purpose.

• Discern and articulate in appropriate vocabulary how stylistic devices result in voice.

• Recognize and be conversant with a wide variety of writers who represent ethnic, religious, gender,

and age diversity.

• Place a reading in historical context for works whose complexity, length, level of abstraction,

vocabulary and context are at college level.

• Apply known conventions of genres and time periods to identify authors, time periods, and

assumptions authors have made about their audiences.

• Apply reading strategies to learn from literature and informational texts to evaluate theme against

personal beliefs and biblical principles.

• Compare personal response to critical evaluation of texts.

• Access texts, research, primary and secondary sources, and media via online and digital technology,

cite properly using a style manual and MLA citation style and incorporate passages and synthesizing

one's own ideas with the presented arguments in various ways integrated with personal evaluation.

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Writing

• Write in informal as well as formal contexts to gain authority and learn to take risks in writing.

• Demonstrate in writing, discussion, and oral presentation an understanding of the defining features of

a wide variety of literary genres.

• Achieve stylistic maturity in prose, marked by the following: wide-ranging vocabulary used

appropriately and effectively; varying sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination

and coordination; logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such

as repetition, transitions, and emphasis; balanced generalization and specific illustrative detail;

effective use of rhetoric by controlling tone, maintaining voice, achieving emphasis through diction

and syntax.

• Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and personal experience.

• Move effectively through the writing process using inquiry, research, drafting, revising, editing, and

review to produce a final, polished product.

• Develop clear, focused responses to writing prompts both within time constraints and outside the

classroom.

• Produce a written piece with few or no significant errors in grammatical, mechanical, and usage

conventions of Standard Edited American English in timed writing settings and for out of class

assignments.

Speaking/Listening/Discussion

• Engage in discussions exhibiting analysis of literary devices that contribute to rhetorical effect and

theme.

• Exhibit support for group members in learning situations.

By close of Advanced Placement Literature and Composition the student will achieve all benchmarks listed

previously and in addition:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP English Course Description.

Reading

• Study for close analysis and familiarity texts originally written in English, some in translation,

written from the sixteenth century to contemporary times.

• Give evidence that literary tradition and imaginative literature builds in complex ways upon ideas,

works, and authors of earlier times.

• Focus on the poetic genre and how meaning is achieved through literary devices.

• Achieve the benchmarks stated for AP Language and Composition stated above.

• Study literature from both British and American writers, as well as works written in several genres

from the sixteenth century to contemporary times. The works selected for the course should require

careful, deliberative reading that yields multiple meanings

Writing

• Produce critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and persuasive essays in timed

writing settings and, to a lesser degree, expressive and creative pieces.

• The course teaches students to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is based on a careful

observation of textual details, considering the work's:

- structure, style, and themes

- the social and historical values it reflects and embodies

- such elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone

• The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses

and timed, in-class responses. The course requires:

- writing to understand which includes informal, exploratory writing activities that enable students

to discover what they think in the process of writing about their reading.

- writing to explain which includes expository, analytical essays in which students draw upon

textual details to develop an extended explanation/interpretation of the meanings of a literary text

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- writing to evaluate which includes analytical, argumentative essays in which students draw upon

textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's artistry and quality, and its social

and cultural values

• The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing assignments, both before and

after the students revise their work, that help the students develop:

- a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;

- a variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination;

- logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition,

transitions, and emphasis;

- a balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail;

- an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and

achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure.

Speaking/Listening/Discussion

• Students engage in discussion and collaboration to enhance their analytical and rhetorical skills.

ASSESSMENT

By the close of each Advanced Placement course:

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination

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CHCA derives its English language arts curriculum in part from the following: the National Governor's Association and

Council of Chief State School Officers international benchmarking work to produce the common core standards in

English Language Arts http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf Standards produced by the

National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association http://www.ncte.org/standards. Skills

tested on standardized tests including the Stanford Achievement Test grades 1-8, the Educational Record Bureau

Comprehensive Test grades 1-8, the PLAN, ACT, PSAT, SAT, and College Board Advanced Placement English

Language and Composition and English Literature and Composition examinations.

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MATHEMATICS

VISION

Mathematics is one tool by which we better understand God’s precise, orderly, and sometimes mysterious

creation. As a result of a CHCA mathematics education, students will value mathematics and develop

proficiency in the use of mathematics. Proficiency in mathematics learning refers to conceptual understanding,

procedural fluency, strategic competence, and adaptive reasoning. [Adding it Up, NRC, 2001] Students

experience instruction based on Standards for Mathematical Practice. [http://www.corestandards.org/the-

standards/mathematics] Students express an understanding of concepts using a variety of methods and media.

Developmentally appropriate instruction challenges and supports students.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Mathematics K-4: Demonstrate understanding by

applying concepts to problems in the following:

• Operations and Algebraic Thinking.

• Number and Operations in Base Ten.

• Number and Operations—Fractions.

• Measurement and Data.

• Geometry.

By the close of Pre-Algebra: Demonstrate understanding by applying concepts to problems in the following:

• Ratios and Proportional Relationship.

• The Number System.

• Expressions and Equation.

• Functions.

• Geometry.

• Statistics and Probability.

In courses Algebra I and beyond: Demonstrate understanding by applying concepts to problems in the

following:

• Number and Quantity.

• Algebra.

• Functions.

• Geometry.

• Statistics and Probability.

• Modeling.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

Theological Integration

• See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics.

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

Number and Operations in Base Ten

• Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.

Number and Operations-Fractions

• Develop understand of fractions and decimals as numbers and use ideas of equivalence to order,

compare, and represent fractions and decimals.

• Perform addition and subtraction with fractions, and multiply fractions by whole numbers.

• Identify coins, count money and make change in reference to value of goods and services.

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

• Represent and solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with

whole numbers.

• Demonstrative and use understanding of the relationship between addition and subtraction, and

multiplication and division.

• Generate and analyze patterns, such as patterns in addition or multiplication tables and factor pairs.

Geometry

• Indentify and describe two and three dimensional shapes.

• Reason with shapes and their attributes.

• Understand characteristics of lines and angles, and use those characteristics to classify other shapes.

Measurement and Data

• Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.

• Solve problems involving measurement and conversions of measurement for situations of time,

liquid, volumes, and masses.

• Represent and interpret data using a variety of types and graphs involving whole number and

fractional units.

• Use concepts of geometric measurement to study angle, perimeter, and area concepts.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics

• Use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God and His

creation.

By the close of accelerated math grade four all benchmarks by the close of grade four and the following:

Number and Operations in Base Ten

• Extend the understanding of place value to properties of operations involving decimals.

Number and Operations – Fractions

• Add, subtract, multiply and divide with fractions and with decimals.

Geometry

• Solve real world problems by representing situations in the coordinate plane.

• Classify two dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.

Measurement and Data

• Convert within a given measurement system, including the metric system.

• Use concepts of geometric measurement to study volume of solid figures.

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By close of grade four:

ASSESSMENT

1) Standardized test including mathematics, grades 1-4

2) Multiplication/Division Arrays Assessment

3) Mystery Coordinate System Assessment

4) Geometry Book Assessment

5) Graphing and Data Analysis Assessment

By close of Pre-Algebra the student will:

Ratios and Proportional Relationships:

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BENCHMARKS

• Analyze ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.

• Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

The Number System

• Add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

• Extend the real number system beyond rational numbers and use rational numbers to approximate

irrational numbers.

Expressions and Equations

• Solve real-world and mathematical problems using algebraic equations.

• Work with radicals and integer exponents.

• Analyze and solve linear equations and systems using graphical methods.

Functions

• Define, evaluate, and compare linear functions

Geometry

• Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and

volume.

• Understand congruence and similarity through the use of transformations.

• Understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem.

Statistics and Probability

• Use and understand random sampling to draw inferences about a population.

• Draw informal comparative inferences about two populations.

• Use linear models to describe patterns of association in data.

• Develop, use, and evaluate probability models.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12:

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics:

• Use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God and His

creation.

By close of Pre-Algebra:

ASSESSMENT

1) Standardized test including mathematics, grades 5-8

2) Linear functions performance assessment

3) Budgeting referencing use of integers

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BENCHMARKS

By close of four credits minimum for High School graduation 2014 and beyond consists of Algebra I,

Geometry, Algebra II, and a fourth course:

By the close of Algebra I the student will:

Modeling

• Analyze key characteristics of linear and quadratic functions such as zeros, maximum/minimums,

increasing/decreasing or constant behavior, average rates of change (slope) on given intervals, and

symmetry to solve situated problems.

Functions

• Graph translations and stretches of linear functions, absolute value functions in vertex form, and

quadratic functions in vertex form.

• Interpret representations (graphs, tables, and equations) to reveal desired characteristics of linear,

quadratic, absolute value, rational and exponential functions.

Algebra

• Apply symbolic manipulation methods to simplify expressions involving rational expressions and

exponential expressions and to solve linear and quadratic equations and inequalities.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics

• Use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God and His

creation.

By the close of Geometry and Geometry VT the student will:

Algebra

• Express geometric properties using equations, which include midpoints, distance and coordinate

geometry topics.

Geometry

• Develop and prove theorems about congruence and similarity of triangles and polygons, including

theorems about lines, parallel lines, angle bisectors, etc., through transformational geometry.

• Solve right triangle problems using sine, cosine, tangent, and the Pythagorean Theorem.

• Identify and describe relationships among parts of a circle, such as central and inscribed angles, radii,

chords, arcs, and sectors.

• Apply formulas and solve problems involving volume and surface area of right prisms, right circular

cylinders, right pyramids, cones, spheres, and composite.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics

• Use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God and His

creation.

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19

By the close of Algebra II and Algebra II VT the student will:

Modeling

• Analyze characteristics of quadratic and polynomial functions such as relative extrema, domain,

range, zeros, increasing and decreasing regions, and intersections of functions. These characteristics

are also applied to real world applications.

Functions

• Graph piecewise defined, quadratic, and trigonometric functions using transformations.

• Understand and use the unit circle in the coordinate plane to define the sine, cosine, and tangent

functions.

Algebra

• Solve quadratic, polynomial, radical and rational equations and inequalities using by using symbolic

manipulation methods.

Number and Quantities

• Apply the properties of complex numbers to the solutions of quadratic and polynomial equations.

In Standards of Mathematical Practice K-12

• Be mathematical problem solvers.

• Reason and construct mathematical arguments.

• Communicate mathematically.

• See connections both within mathematics and to other subject areas.

• Look for and make use of structure and patterns.

See God’s orderliness and mystery reflected in mathematics

• Use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God and His

creation.

ASSESSMENT

By close of required courses for graduation:

1) Ohio Graduation Test in math or its replacement

2) Semester examinations

3) PSAT/NMSQT in grades 11: mathematics section

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BENCHMARKS

By close of Advanced Placement Calculus AB:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Calculus AB Course Description.

• The course teaches all topics associated with Functions, Graphs, and Limits; Derivatives; and

Integrals as delineated in the Calculus AB Topic Outline in the Course Description.

• The course provides students with the opportunity to work with functions represented in a variety of

ways -- graphically, numerically, analytically, and verbally -- and emphasizes the connections among

these representations.

• The course teaches students how to communicate mathematics and explain solutions to problems both

verbally and in written sentences.

• The course teaches students how to use graphing calculators to help solve problems, experiment,

interpret results, and support conclusions.

• Students use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God

and His creation.

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By close of Advanced Placement Calculus BC:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Calculus BC Course Description.

• The course teaches all topics associated with Functions, Graphs, and Limits; Derivatives; Integrals;

and Polynomial Approximations and Series as delineated in the Calculus BC Topic Outline in the

Course Description.

• The course provides students with the opportunity to work with functions represented in a variety of

ways -- graphically, numerically, analytically, and verbally -- and emphasizes the connections among

these representations.

• The course teaches students how to communicate mathematics and explain solutions to problems both

verbally and in written sentences.

• The course teaches students how to use graphing calculators to help solve problems, experiment,

interpret results, and support conclusions.

• Students use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God

and His creation.

By close of Advanced Placement Statistics:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Statistics Course Description.

• The course provides instruction in each of the following four broad conceptual themes outlined in the

Course Description with appropriate emphasis on each:

- exploring data

- sampling and experimentation

- anticipating patterns

- statistical inference

• The course draws connections between all aspects of the statistical process, including design,

analysis, and conclusions.

• The course teaches students how to communicate methods, results, and interpretations using the

vocabulary of statistics.

• The course teaches students how to use graphing calculators and demonstrates the use of computers

and/or computer output to enhance the development of statistical understanding through exploring

and analyzing data, assessing models, and performing simulations

• Students use mathematics to organize and understand in a finite way the vastness and mystery of God

and His creation.

ASSESSMENT

By close of each Advanced Placement course:

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination

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CHCA derives its mathematics curriculum in part from the following: the National Governor's Association and Council

of Chief State School Officers international benchmarking work to produce the common core standards in mathematics.

http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/mathematics Skills articulated by National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics http://www.nctm.org/standards Skills tested on standardized tests including the Stanford Achievement Test

grades 1-8, the Educational Record Bureau Comprehensive Test grades 1-8, the PLAN, ACT, PSAT, SAT, and College

Board Advanced Placement Calculus and Statistics examinations.

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SCIENCE

VISION

Science is a method of inquiry founded upon the order of the natural world and the design of its Creator, and in

addition, science is an ongoing process that is limited as an investigative tool. Students become responsible,

independent, questioning, creative, and organized learners moving from curiosity to familiarity, then mastery

of scientific skills, processes, concepts, and theories. Students explore the various disciplines of science

through an organized progression of class presentations, hands-on activities, and laboratory investigations that

emphasize scientific processes and develop critical thinking skills. Students recognize that science integrates

with mathematics, technology, written language, consumer and career interests. Resulting from scientific

knowledge, students come to acknowledge personal responsibility as stewards to care for humanity and

conserve resources for the glory of God.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Science:

Scientific Inquiry and Application

• Observe and identify questions that can be investigated about the natural world.

• Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations using the scientific method, models,

mathematics, and appropriate technology.

• Distinguish scientific evidence from opinion and exhibit critical thought to distinguish between fact,

myth, and theory.

• Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge.

• Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.

• Practice safe and appropriate use of scientific instruments, materials, equipment, and procedures.

Physical, Life, Earth and Space Science

• Exhibit knowledge of the historical development in science.

• Understand the unifying concepts and processes of science: systems, organization, rules of evidence,

models, explanations, measurement, change, equilibrium, and structure-function relationships.

• Identify questions and apply skills, concepts and processes to construct further knowledge and

understanding using inquiry-based investigations.

Theological Integration

• Recognize that science plays a profound role in personal and social perspectives relating to natural

resources, environmental quality, health, hazards, and global challenges utilizing the biblical directive

to be good stewards from a scientific and Christian perspective.

• Recognize that science is a human endeavor where people interpret scientific knowledge and ethical

conduct based on historical context and their personal faith and beliefs.

• Understand God’s revelation in such verses as: “Ever since the creation of the world His invisible

nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been

made.” [Rom 1:19-20] As well: Gen.1,2; Job 38-41; Psalm 19:1-6; Psalm 24:1-2.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

Scientific Inquiry and Application

• Observe and ask questions about the natural environment.

• Plan and conduct simple investigations.

• Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.

• Use appropriate mathematics with data to construct reasonable explanations.

• Communicate about observations, investigations and explanations.

• Review and ask questions about the observations and explanations of others.

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• Work within a team.

• Identify various careers in science.

Physical Science

• Understand that all objects and substances in the natural world are composed of matter.

• Explore matter exists in different states, each of which has different properties.

• Sort and describe objects and materials by their properties.

• Observe then describe changes in properties of objects and materials.

• Understand the total amount of matter is conserved when it undergoes a change.

• Identify objects and materials that produce sound.

• Investigate various ways objects can be moved.

• Observe and describe forces changing the motion of an object.

• Investigate that heat, electricity, light, and sound are forms of energy.

• Explore how heat results when substances burn, when certain kinds of materials rub against each

other, and when electricity flows through wires.

• Identify and compare the characteristics of simple physical and chemical changes.

• Identify the structure of the atom: that an atom is made up of subatomic particles notably proton,

neutron, and electron and identify the charge, location, and mass of these three particles.

• Understand that atoms are the basic building blocks of all matter.

• Understand that all matter is made from specific elements.

• Explain that elements are collected and organized in a specific arrangement of the Periodic Table

of the elements.

• Understand the importance of this arrangement of elements in the Periodic Table to chemical

reactions and bonding.

Life Science

• Investigate how living things are different from nonliving things.

• Explore how living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.

• Describe how living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical

environment.

• Discuss ways living things cause changes on Earth.

• Observe evidence that offspring resemble their parents and each other.

• Explore how individuals of the same kind differ in their traits and sometimes the differences give

individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.

• Investigate plants and animal life cycles as part of their adaptations for survival in the natural

environment.

• Observe and explore how changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial to its

survival and sometimes harmful.

• Observe similarities and differences between fossils to one another and to present day organisms.

Earth and Space Science

• Identify long term and short term weather changes.

• Explore how long-and short-term weather changes occur due to changes in energy.

• Observe how the physical properties of water change.

• Explore and observe evidence that the atmosphere is made up of air.

• Investigate that water is present in the air.

• Observe and discuss that the moon, sun and stars are visible at different times of the day or night.

• Recognize that the sun is the principal source of energy on Earth.

• Investigate specific properties of Earth’s nonliving resources.

• Explore how Earth’s resources can be used for energy.

• Recognize that some of Earth’s resources are limited.

• Observe using various mediums that Earth’s surface has specific characteristics and landforms that

can be identified.

• Observe using various mediums that the surface of Earth changes due to weathering, erosion, and

deposition.

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Science and Technology

• Apply the interrelation of science with other curricular areas, such as mathematics, geography, and

technology.

• Use technology as a tool to gather, share, and present information.

• Describe ways technology affects human life.

• Illustrate the design process used in structures, circuitry, and models.

Theological Integration:

• Recognize that science plays a profound role in personal and social perspectives relating to natural

resources, environmental quality, health, hazards, and global challenges utilizing the biblical directive

to be good stewards from a scientific and Christian perspective.

• Recognize that science is a human endeavor where people interpret scientific knowledge and ethical

conduct based on historical context and their personal faith and beliefs.

• Understand God’s revelation in such verses as: “Ever since the creation of the world His invisible

nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been

made.” [Rom 1:19-20] As well: Gen.1,2; Job 38-41; Psalm 19:1-6; Psalm 24:1-2.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

Physical Science

Chemistry Experiment – Lindner ES Chemistry test solving the unknown - Armleder

Electrical Circuits - Armleder

Life Science

Rivers and Ponds Community – Lindner ES Ecosystems Study - Armleder

Microworlds Study - Armleder

Earth and Space Science

Genesis Chart / Wheel – Lindner ES Stream Table Study - Armleder

Rocks and Mineral Properties - Armleder

By close of grade eight the student will:

Scientific Inquiry and Application

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BENCHMARKS

• Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.

• Design and conduct a simple investigation.

• Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information.

• Analyze and interpret data.

• Develop descriptions, models, explanations and predictions.

• Think critically and logically to connect evidence and explanations.

• Recognize and analyze explanations and predictions.

• Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.

Physical Science

• Calculate the amount of change in movement of an object based on the weight of the object and the

amount of force exerted.

• Investigate light and sound as forms of energy that behave in predictable ways.

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• Use various means to investigate that all matter is made up of small particles called atoms.

• Explain changes of states of matter using a model of matter composed of atoms and/or molecules

that are in motion.

• Investigate two categories of energy: kinetic and potential.

• Describe an object’s motion by its speed and the direction in which it is moving.

• Investigate properties of matter determined by the arrangement of atoms.

• Describe how energy can be transformed from one form to another or can be transferred from one

location to another, but is never lost.

• Investigate how energy can be transferred through a variety of ways.

• Investigate how some forces between objects act when the objects are in direct contact or when they

are not touching.

• Experiment with force magnitude and direction.

• Investigate different types of potential energy.

Life Science

• Observe and research how organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.

• Understand that all of the processes that take place within organisms require energy.

• Explore and understand that cells are the fundamental unit of life.

• Explore how all cells come from pre-existing cells.

• Explain specific functions of cells that sustain life.

• Demonstrate understanding that living systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the

complementary nature of structure and function.

• Explain that matter is transferred continuously between one organism to another and between

organisms and their physical environments.

• Investigate how in any particular biome, the number, growth and survival of organisms and

populations depend on biotic and abiotic factors.

• Explore the theory that diversity of species occurs through gradual processes over many generations.

• Investigate fossil records which provide evidence that changes have occurred in number and types

of species.

• Understand reproduction is necessary for the continuation of every species.

• Explain that characteristics of an organism are a result of inherited traits received from parent(s).

Earth and Space Science

• Explain how the solar system includes the sun and all celestial bodies that orbit the sun. Each planet

in the solar system has unique characteristics.

• Identify the sun as one of many stars that exists in the universe.

• See predictability in most of the cycles and patterns of motion between the Earth and sun.

• Identify specific, quantifiable properties of minerals.

• Identify and classify igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks using their unique characteristics.

• Explain the various ways igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks form..

• Understand soil is made of unconsolidated material that contains nutrient matter and weathered rock.

• Identify practical and common uses of rocks, minerals and soils.

• Trace the hydrologic cycle as illustrating the changing states of water as it moves through the

lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

• Explore how thermal energy transfers in the ocean and the atmosphere contribute to the formation of

currents, which influence global climate patterns.

• Identify different properties of the atmosphere at different elevations and how the atmosphere

contains a mixture of gases that cycle through the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and

atmosphere.

• Explore the relative patterns of motion and positions of the Earth, moon and sun cause solar and lunar

eclipses, tides and phases of the moon.

• Explain the effect of the composition and properties of Earth’s interior in relationship to the behavior

of seismic waves.

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• Understand that Earth’s crust consists of major and minor tectonic plates that move relative to each

other.

• Explore the combination of constructive and destructive geologic processes that formed Earth’s

surfaces.

• Use the geologic record to show evidence of the dynamic changes of Earth’s surface through time.

Science and Technology

• Demonstrate and apply examples of relationships between science and technology.

• Operate within a Christian perspective and ethical framework to articulate ethical issues related to

technology use.

• Acquire, analyze, and communicate information using technology.

• Engage in problem-solving applying a design solution or build a product where constraints exist.

Theological Integration

• Recognize that science plays a profound role in personal and social perspectives relating to natural

resources, environmental quality, health, hazards, and global challenges utilizing the biblical directive

to be good stewards from a scientific and Christian perspective.

• Recognize that science is a human endeavor where people interpret scientific knowledge and ethical

conduct based on historical context and their personal faith and beliefs.

• Understand God’s revelation in such verses as: “Ever since the creation of the world His invisible

nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been

made.” [Rom 1:19-20] As well: Gen.1,2; Job 38-41; Psalm 19:1-6; Psalm 24:1-2.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

Physical Science

Roller Coaster - Armleder Roller Coaster - MS

Matter - Armleder Global Water Crisis Seminar - MS

Life Science

Investigation of Plants – Armleder Disease Research Project - MS

Microworlds - Armleder Introduced Species Project - MS

Earth and Space Science

Solar System – Armleder Erosion and Deposition Building Plan – MS

Catastrophic Events - Armleder Telling time: Planetary Motion and Seasons - MS

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BENCHMARKS

By close of the minimum science requirement required for High School graduation the student will:

Scientific Inquiry and Application

• Understand and perform scientific inquiry, utilize measuring devices, distinguish between observation

and inference, report data in appropriate units, and evaluate evidence and make determinations based

on evidence.

• Evaluate or design scientific investigations to formulate and/or revise scientific explanations and

models.

• Evaluate information derived from popular and technical sources to determine its scientific validity

in making evidence-based decisions.

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• Know and apply safe investigative techniques.

• Explain how and why a particular scientific theory or protocol may have changed over time.

• Develop classification systems, formulate scientific models, and evaluate those models from a

historical perspective.

• Discuss current social issues using scientific concepts and vocabulary.

Physical Science

• Describe matter by various classifications depending upon the characteristics that are observable

with/without magnification such as (a) pure substances vs. mixtures, (b) heterogeneous vs.

homogeneous mixtures, (c) elements vs. compounds, and (d) atoms vs. molecules

• Describe the identifiable physical properties of substances (e.g.,such as color, hardness, conductivity,

density, concentration, and ductilityy). Explain how changes in these properties can occur without

changing the chemical nature of the substance.

• Know that matter is made of minute particles called atoms and atoms are comprised of even smaller

components, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons.

• Explain the structure and properties of atoms and how variations in the arrangement and motion of

atoms and molecules form the basis of a variety of biological, chemical, and physical phenomena.

• Understand the connection between the periodic table of elements and atomic structure.

• Describe the role of subatomic particles and atomic structure on the properties of an element and

how the atom (of that element) will interact with other atoms. Students will know that:

- neutrons have little effect on how an atom interacts with other atoms, but they do affect the mass

and the stability of the nucleus.

- protons form the basis for the atom’s identity and the periodic properties of the elements. The

periodic table lists the elements in order of increasing number of protons and atomic number.

- electrons (valence electrons) are responsible for the bonding together of atoms to form and/or

rearrange molecules by losing, gaining, or sharing electrons in chemical reactions.

• Explain the periodic trends in atoms and elements such as atomic size, ionization potential,

electro-negativity as a function of atomic number and electron configuration.

• Know and apply principles of stoichiometry to balance chemical reactions, calculate limiting

reagents, calculate molar concentrations and concentrations of solutions, determine empirical and

molecular formulas.

• Explain the differences between acids and bases, identify common acids and bases, and determine

the concentration of hydronium and hydroxide ions.

• Recognize that some atomic nuclei (radioactive substances) are unstable and will undergo

spontaneous nuclear decay emitting particles and/or high energy wave-like radiation. Students will

know that:

- nuclear fission involves the decay of large nuclei into smaller nuclei with characteristic half-lives.

- nuclear fusion is the joining of nuclei into a larger nucleus, accompanied by the release of large

quantities of energy. Nuclear fusion in the stars creates all the elements in the universe beyond

helium.

• Describe how atoms and molecules can gain or lose energy only in discrete amounts as governed by

their electron configuration.

• Describe the motion of objects relative to a reference point in terms of position, displacement,

distance, speed, velocity, acceleration, and time.

• Know concepts of forces and energy and apply vector mathematics and conservation laws, such as

energy and momentum, to describe one- and two-dimensional motion such as projectile motion,

circular motion, and oscillating motion.

• Describe and predict effects of forces such as elastic, gravitational, electric, magnetic, tension and

compression on objects and on the motion of objects within a system.

• Apply Newton’s three laws of motion to describe why: (a) objects undergo uniform motion, constant

velocity, (b) objects accelerate, and (c) interacting objects experience equal and opposite forces.

• Apply Newton’s Laws to determine the net force on an object when: (a) forces are balanced and (b)

forces are unbalanced.

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• Describe collisions of objects as elastic or inelastic. Know that energy and momentum are conserved

in elastic collisions, but only momentum is conserved in inelastic collisions.

• Classify all the various forms of energy as either kinetic or potential.

• Explain how energy may change form or be redistributed but the total quantity of energy is

conserved.

• Demonstrate that waves such as light, (e.g., sound, seismic, and water have energy and that waves

can transfer energy when they interact with matter.

• Apply the measureable properties of waves, such as wavelength, frequency, velocity, and amplitude,

to describe mathematically the properties of materials, such as the index of refraction, reflectivity,

diffraction patterns.

• Calculate the wavelength of a wave as a function of the relative motion of the source and the

observer.

• Explain how Doppler Effect applies to the current understanding of the universe, redshift.

• Summarize the historical development of scientific theories and ideas within the study of physical

sciences.

Life Science

• Describe the composition, diversity, complexity, and interconnectedness of life on Earth.

• Apply classification systems to describe the vast diversity of organisms and their degree of

relatedness between them.

• Apply fundamental concepts of heredity and evolution to understand the living world, the physical

environment, and the interactions within and between them.

• Explain that cells are the basic unit of structure and function of living organisms, that once life

originated all cells come from pre-existing cells, and there are a variety of cell types.

• Know that all cells: (a) are covered by a cell membrane that controls which materials can enter/leave

the cell, (b) are composed of a small number of chemical elements—mainly carbon, but also

hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

• Describe the structure, function, and interrelatedness of cell organelles.

• Understand that the cell is a system that conducts a variety of functions associated with life as

materials enter and leave the cell through the cell membrane.

• Explain the characteristics of life as regulated by cellular processes, such as photosynthesis,

chemosynthesis, cellular respiration, and describe the process of cell division and differentiation.

• Relate the chemical basis of life to heredity, genetics, diversity, species survival, adaptations, and

extinction.

• Describe the mechanisms for biological evolution such as natural selection, genetic drift,

immigration, emigration and mutation.

• Relate the diversity of species to the theory of evolution, and the kinship between organisms or

species to the similarity in their DNA sequences.

• Know and apply the structure and function of DNA and RNA in cells to explain the genetic

mechanisms for cellular genetics, inheritance, and gene mutations. Students will know that

- genetic information is coded in DNA molecules, passed from parents to offspring, and provides

instructions for assembling protein molecules;

- the genetic code is virtually the same for all life forms;

- genes are segments of DNA molecules which can be altered via insertions, deletions, or

substitutions of DNA segments.

• Relate heredity of organisms to survival of populations.

• Explain how living things interact within an ecosystem and with the environment at large.

• Relate how biotic and abiotic global changes have occurred in the past and will continue to do so in

the future.

• Explain how human choices today will affect the quality and quantity of life on Earth.

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Earth and Space Science

• Relate internal and external sources of energy in the Earth system to processes and cycles including

water, rock and carbon cycles, dynamic processes and static conditions, and earth-changing effects

of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, erosion, deposition of sediment, plate tectonics, and others.

• Describe relationships among Earth, other planets, other objects in the solar system such as planets

and their satellites, meteors, comets, asteroids, and reference stars in other solar systems, or

relationships of gravity and orbital motion, gravity and tides, angle of sunlight and surface

temperature, axial tilt and seasons.

• Relate changes in form or distribution of matter to cyclic and finite nature of resources within the

closed Earth system including solar energy, fossil fuels, effects of human activity on natural, physical,

or chemical changes in atmospheric quality, hydrologic cycle, recycling of nutrients, generation of

soils.

• Describe the nuclear reactions whereby stars transform matter into energy, leading to the formation

of all the elements in the universe and the composition of the galaxies.

• Explain how the red shift provides evidence for the expansion of the universe and its age.

• Explain that humans are an integral part of the Earth’s system and the choices humans make today

impact natural systems in the future.

• Summarize the historical development of scientific theoriess and ideas and describe emerging issues

in the study of Earth and space sciences.

Science and Technology

• Evaluate scientific evidence critically and understand the relationship between science and

technology.

• Use technology to acquire, analyze, and communicate information.

• Predict how human choices today will determine the quality and quantity of life on Earth.

• Understand ethical issues related to technology use and operate within a Christian perspective and

ethical framework.

Theological Integration

• Recognize that science plays a profound role in personal and social perspectives relating to natural

resources, environmental quality, health, hazards, and global challenges utilizing the biblical directive

to be good stewards from a scientific and Christian perspective.

• Recognize that science is a human endeavor where people interpret scientific knowledge and ethical

conduct based on historical context and their personal faith and beliefs.

• Understand God’s revelation in such verses as: “Ever since the creation of the world His invisible

nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been

made.” [Rom 1:19-20] As well: Gen.1,2; Job 38-41; Psalm 19:1-6; Psalm 24:1-2.

ASSESSMENT

By close of the minimum graduation science requirement:

1) Organelle Project Assesses Structure and Function

2) Physics Rocket Project: Assessment of Kinematics

3) Miniature Golf Project Assesses Conservation of Energy

4) Ohio Graduation Test in science or its replacement

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BENCHMARKS

By close of Advanced Placement Chemistry:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Chemistry Course Description.

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• The course provides instruction in each of the following five content areas outlined in the Course

Description:

- structure of Matter (Atomic theory and atomic structure, Chemical bonding)

- states of Matter (Gases, Liquids and solids, Solutions)

- reactions (Reaction types, Stoichiometry, Equilibrium, Kinetics, Thermodynamics)

- descriptive Chemistry (Relationships in the periodic table)

- laboratory (Physical manipulations; Processes and procedures; Observations and data

manipulation; Communication, group collaboration, and the laboratory report)

• The course emphasizes chemical calculations and the mathematical formulation of principles.

• The course includes a laboratory component comparable to college-level chemistry laboratories. A

hands-on laboratory component is required. Each student should complete a lab notebook or portfolio

of lab reports. The Guide for the Recommended Laboratory Program is included in the Course

Description.

By close of Advanced Placement Biology:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Biology Course Description.

• The course emphasizes the biological concepts as specified in the three overarching topics listed in

the Topic Outline in the Course Description:

- Molecules and Cells

- Heredity and Evolution

- Organisms and Populations

• The course provides students with an opportunity to develop a conceptual framework for

modern biology emphasizing:

- an understanding of science as a process rather than an accumulation of facts;

- recognition of evolution as the foundation of modern biological models and thought;

- the integration of the general topics of biology through the eight major themes as specified in the

Course Description;

- and applications of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social

concerns.

• The course includes a laboratory component that fulfills all of the objectives of the recommended

AP Biology labs as listed in the Course Description.

By close of Advanced Placement Physics B:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Physics Course Description.

• The course provides instruction in each of the following five content areas outlined in the Course

Description:

- Newtonian mechanics

- fluid mechanics and thermal physics

- electricity and magnetism

- waves and optics

- atomic and nuclear physics

• The course utilizes guided inquiry and student-centered learning to foster the development of critical

thinking skills.

• The course includes a laboratory component comparable to college-level physics laboratories, with a

minimum of 12 student-conducted laboratory investigations representing a variety of topics covered

in the course. A hands-on laboratory component is required. Each student should complete a lab

notebook or portfolio of lab reports.

By the close of Advanced Placement Environmental Science:

• The Teacher has read the most recent AP Environmental Science Course Description.

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• The course provides instruction in each of the following seven content areas outlined in the Course

Description:

- earth systems and resources

- the living world

- population

- land and water use

- energy resources and consumption

- pollution

- global change

• The course provides students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to

understand the interrelationships of the natural world. The curriculum draws upon various scientific

disciplines.

• The course includes methods for analyzing and interpreting information and experimental data,

including mathematical calculations.

• The course teaches students how to identify and analyze environmental problems, to evaluate the

ecological and human health risks associated with these problems, and to critically examine various

solutions for resolving or preventing them.

• The course includes a laboratory and/or field investigation component.

ASSESSMENT

By close of each Advanced Placement Course:

1) College Board Advanced Placement Examination

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CHCA derives its science curriculum in part from the following: Ohio Academic Content Standards in Science K-12

revised June 2010. Skills articulated by National Science Teachers Association http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?

record_id=4962 Science Literacy 2061 http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online Skills tested on standardized

tests including the Stanford Achievement Test grades 1-8, the Educational Record Bureau Comprehensive Test grades

1-8 , the PLAN, ACT, PSAT, SAT, and College Board Advanced Placement Physics B, Chemistry, Biology, and

Environmental examinations.

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SOCIAL STUDIES

VISION

Students acquire an awareness and understanding of the world, its people, and its history and investigate ways

the past may influence the present. Within the diverse range of Christian perspective, students explore patterns

of human and environmental interaction through history, geography, government, and economics, aware of the

interconnectedness of these disciplines. Just as Luke recognized the importance of firsthand accounts in

understanding historical events: Luke 1:1-2, “Many people have done their best to write a report of things that

have taken place from the beginning,” so too, student learning in the social studies focuses on primary and

secondary sources. Technology surrounds students and aids all facets of the learning and presentation process.

Students apply Christian principles to examine past and present, local, state, national, and global events, and

relationships between these events. Students develop an appreciation for a personal heritage and cultural

differences as they evaluate their role and responsibility in God’s creation. Students grow in their ability as

Christian citizens to bring reasoned decision-making to a culturally diverse, democratic society, and to a fallen

world.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Social Studies:

History

• Develop increasingly precise concepts of time: past, present, and future.

• Locate, research, analyze, and interpret both primary and secondary sources to draw conclusions.

• Identify characteristics of civilizations including cities, central governments, religion, job

specialization, social classes, arts, public works, and a writing system.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the significant persons and events of history including characteristics of

historical periods.

• Apply patterns of continuity, irregularity, and attributed or possible purpose in historical events to an

understanding of history.

• Identify and analyze causes and catalysts of change.

• Identify and apply ways peoples and institutions value cultural diversity.

• Develop a historical perspective and awareness of bias.

Government

• Recognize the need for government as comparing to rules of behavior to establish order in families,

classrooms, and organizations.

• Trace the historical development and structure of the United States Constitution, the division of roles

in the federal system, the political processes of the United States government.

• Identify and apply the roles, rights, and responsibilities of US citizenship in various contexts.

• Locate areas of citizen participation in government.

• Recognize different government systems of the world.

Economics

• Understand economic concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost, price, supply and demand,

unemployment and income, savings, investment, and interest rates.

• Achieve financial literacy so the individual can use knowledge and skills to manage limited financial

resources for lifetime financial security.

• Exercise economic decision making as the student is consumer, producer, saver, investor, and citizen

so as to analyze costs and benefits in various contexts.

• Demonstrate understanding of the United States Government’s role in US fiscal and monetary policy.

• Identify characteristics of different global economic systems and patterns of economic

interdependence on earth.

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Geography

• Explain the relationship, both positive and negative, between the human and natural environment.

• Choose from various tools to understand the earth’s geography and research, compare and contrast

characteristics of places, regions, and human processes, migrations and cultural traits.

• Access, read, interpret, and create maps and geographic representations.

• Apply concepts of global development and economic interdependence to identify and analyze

environmental issues.

Theological Integration

• Use a Christian theological perspective to understand how the study of social studies and history

affects the way we think, live and learn.

• Apply the theological framework of intellectual learning that makes no topic beyond discussion.

• Discuss and apply the role of a Christian citizen in a democratic society and global community.

• Apply what would be the spectrum of Christian theological perspective to world events.

• Recognize that a theological perspective combines faith and learning.

21st Century Skills

• Demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration skills

and technology resources to learn and to share learning

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

History

• Arrange events on timelines organized by years, decades, and centuries.

• Use historical events to show cause and effect relationships

• Compare daily life in past and present communities showing changes over time.

• Recognize how the actions and character of past and present historical figures in the US and world

have made an impact on history.

• Discern which actions by persons from history may or may not reflect biblical principles.

Government

• Recognize many important symbols and landmarks associated with the United States.

• Recognize and demonstrate the interconnectedness of the United States national, state, and local

systems of government their history, structure, function, and purpose.

• Explain methods individuals and institutions used to create and enforce the rules in the world,

community, school, and home.

• Explain society's need for and consequences of violating both God’s and society’s rules and laws.

Economics

• Define scarcity, opportunity costs, entrepreneurship in contexts of local, national, and global

economies in age-appropriate examples and identify choices that must be made by producers and

consumers because of a scarcity of resources.

• Identify factors of production used in producing goods and services both locally and through trade

across our nation or globally.

• See connections between service to the community and the cost and benefits and role as a Christian

citizen.

Geography

• Locate places on a map including continents, countries, US states, major cities, oceans, and

waterways using the title, key/legend, letter grids, linear scale, direction indicator, and cardinal

directions, and measure distances on a map.

• Use physical and political maps to explain distinctive characteristics and purposes.

• Describe how humans depend on and adapt to their environment and in turn cause changes to the

environment.

• Explain ways in which places are distinctive because of their physical and cultural features.

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Theological Integration

• Explain how Christians react and respond to the events of the past in many ways.

21st Century Skills

• Use diagrams, graphs, and charts to interpret data, draw conclusions, and make predictions.

• Conduct research using primary and secondary sources and synthesize data to compose reasoned

presentations.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

Timeline Assessment (Egypt) – Lindner ES Timeline Assessment (Personal) - Armleder

Rainforest Project Assessment – Lindner ES Asian Country Research Project Assessment-

Armleder

Government Poster Project - Lindner ES Cincinnati Project Assessment - Lindner ES

Heritage Paper Doll Assessment - Lindner ES Heritage Paper Doll Freedom Conductor

Assessment-Armleder

Map Skills Test - Lindner ES Map Skills Test- Armleder

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By close of grade eight the student will:

History

• Use a biblical perspective to examine how diverse cultures have shaped the history of the world from

Creation to present, and how diversity has led to both conflict and interdependence.

• Demonstrate an understanding of key people, places, events and their significance to United States

and World History.

• Analyze information about major historical developments in the world and United States by

interpreting documents and data, identifying and comparing experiences and perspectives and

assessing credibility of sources.

• Identify and explain relationships between major historical developments, including cause and effect,

historical antecedents, multiple causation, accidental, irrational, or unexpected circumstances.

• Use information about different cultures to explain the consequences of contacts between peoples in

the “New World” moving to the Colonies, emerging as the United States from 1750 to the present by

examining, push and pull factors contributing to migration, benefits and consequences of exchanges

of cultural practices, and incidents of discrimination and conflict. Topics must include the Northwest

Ordinance, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, concept of Manifest Destiny, Texas

War for Independence, and the Mexican-American War among many.

• Examine contemporary cultures and their contributions in key global regions, identifying location,

geopolitical internal and external topics, the cultures’ influences on their region and the world stage,

their connections to the United States in political, economic and cultural terms.

Government

• Identify historical origins that influenced the rights U.S. citizens have today.

• Examine the development of different forms and structures of leadership and governance throughout

world history and the need for and purpose of government in the world.

• Compare the defining characteristics of democracies, monarchies and dictatorships, and other forms

of government as to purposes, processes, structures, and examples of each type.

• Describe the manner in which and explain why the U.S. Constitution distributes political power;

analyze application of this distribution identifying federalism, separation of power, checks and

balances.

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• Explain how the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights,

and the Northwest Ordinance have provided for the protection of rights and the long-term future of

a growing democracy.

• Demonstrate an understanding of how the political process functions in the United States, including:

political parties, elections, voting qualifications, lobbyists and interest groups.

• Analyze civic issues by identifying: alternative points of view, relevance and reliability of

information, potential impact on individuals, groups or institutions, and ways to resolve issues

applying the principles of fairness and justice.

• Explain the importance of participatory citizenship in our U.S. democratic society by relating the

rights and responsibilities of citizenship describing various means of civic participation, and

analyzing issues related to civic participation in various nations.

Economics

• Explain why regions and nations specialize in what they can produce at the lowest cost and then trade

with other regions and nations.

• Discuss the economic roles of government in a market economy with regard to the following: raising

revenue, providing public goods and services, establishing and enforcing regulations, protecting

consumers, and preserving competition.

• Identify and analyze the theories of the major economic systems in the world and identify connections

between government policies and a given economy.

Geography

• Apply features of: the world in spatial terms; places and regions; physical systems; human systems;

environment and society, to the study of the world.

• Locate places using geographical resources, including compass directions, time and distance, formal

reference systems, and use digital resources.

• Apply skills in map reading, synthesis of cultural and economic aspects to understand the interaction

of demographic forces, economic needs, political influence, and governmental policies within the US,

within the Western Hemisphere, and globally.

• Examine contemporary cultures in key global regions as to location, geopolitical internal and external

topics, each culture's influence on their region and the world state, their connections to the United

States in political, economic and cultural terms.

• Identify contributions of cultural groups to the United States and the world.

Theological Integration

• Identify a brief historical timeline of the Church, beginning with biblical Creation to the present.

• Develop a sense, through the study of societies, of one’s role as an agent of the Kingdom of God

acting in a fallen world.

• Recognize one’s biblical responsibility to be stewards of God’s creation and resources.

• Recognize the impact of a single person’s or group’s ability to change the world in positive ways by

following the example of Christ.

21st Century Skills

• Apply research skills including the Internet and other technology to research topics.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

Civil War and Reconstruction Research

Project – MS, Armleder

Enlightenment Ideas Debate - MS

“Create a Civilization” Project - MS Constitution Project - MS

Individual Research on American Studies -

Armleder

Geography Project - Armleder

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BENCHMARKS

By close of three social studies credits required for graduation the student will:

History

• Integrate information from history and other social science disciplines to understand the development

of cultural, political, economic, and religious systems in the modern world.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the significant persons and events of history; recognize the patterns of

continuity and causes of change; hypothesize the influence of the past on the present including both

the limitations and the opportunities made possible by decisions in the past.

Government

• Examine key documents in American history such as the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights; outline

key provisions of the Constitution as a contract between the national government and the people of

the United States.

• Analyze governmental actions in terms of the fundamental principles of American democracy

including constitutional prohibitions on the use of power.

• Explain the types of powers in the United States Constitution including federalism, separation of

powers, and checks and balances.

• Evaluate the role of elections, representation, political parties, and special interest groups in

facilitating the democratic process.

• Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the differing types of government structures that exist

in the world, and the specific political theories and heritage that led to the creation of American

democracy.

• Explain connections between the ideas of the Enlightenment and changes in relationships between

citizens and their governments.

• Explain how the US Government provides public services, redistributes income, regulates economic

activity, and promotes economic growth and stability.

• Analyze ways people achieve governmental change, including political action, social protest and

revolution.

• Explain how individual rights are relative, not absolute, and describe the balance between individual

rights, the rights of others, and the common good.

• Analyze changes over time of the US Constitution through post-Reconstruction amendments and

Supreme Court decisions.

Economics

• Appreciate the importance of fiscal responsibility in his/her own life as well as in government policies

of taxing and spending.

• Compare/contrast the concepts of individual and aggregate supply and demand, government

involvement, and market structure within traditional, command, and market economies, and

understand how a scarcity of resources leads to economic choices made by individuals living in these

systems.

• Explain the use of a budget in making personal economic decisions and planning for the future.

• Explain why incomes will differ in the labor market depending on supply and demand for skills,

abilities and education levels

• Describe the role of individuals as consumers, producers, savers, workers, investors;

• Explain the consequences of the economic choices made by individuals and the tools which they use

to manage their financial resources including budgets, savings, investments, credit, and philanthropy.

• Describe and calculate how interest rates affect savers and borrowers

Geography

• Utilize geographic resources to find absolute and relative location, to discover and identify patterns

of change and to understand the results of environmental interaction.

• Understand the role geography plays in historical events, development of regions, cultural changes

and economic independence.

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• Explain the social, cultural, and economic processes that shape nations with a special emphasis on the

unique cultural diversity of the American society including immigration, migration, naturalization,

discrimination, and affirmative action, and understand the consequences of specific geographic

features.

Theological Integration

• Think critically and apply his/her own knowledge of historical events to understand the causes of

current events and conflicts in the global community and evaluate responses to these events as to their

congruence with a theological perspective and Christian citizenship.

21st Century Skills

• When given an issue, demonstrate an ability to solve problems by being able to conduct research,

identify and consult primary and secondary source documents, draw conclusions, develop alternative

strategies, determine the strategy most likely to result in successful resolution, communicate with

appropriate people, act on the strategy determined to resolve the issue, and evaluate the impact of the

strategy undertaken.

• Demonstrate an ability to interpret and analyze data such as charts, graphs, narratives, illustrations,

and photographs in primary and secondary source forms.

ASSESSMENT

By close of three social studies credits required for graduation:

1) A Cumulative Research Project

2) Family Budget Project

3) Historical Biographic Project

4) Ohio Graduation Test or its replacement

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BENCHMARKS

By the close of Advanced Placement European History:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP European History Course Description.

• The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge about European history from 1450 to the present

to highlight intellectual, cultural, political, diplomatic, social, and economic developments.

• The course teaches students to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in historical

scholarship.

• The course includes extensive instruction in analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of primary

sources, such as documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art, and pictorial and graphic

materials.

• The course provides students with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays such

as document-based questions (DBQ) and thematic essays..

By the close of Advanced Placement United States History:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP United States History Course Description.

• The course includes the study of political institutions, social and cultural developments, diplomacy,

and economic trends in U.S. history.

• The course uses themes and/or topics such as those listed in the Course Description, selected at the

teacher's discretion, as broad parameters for structuring the course. The themes are designed to

encourage students to think conceptually about the American past and to focus on historical change

over time. The topic outline is suggested as a general guide for AP teachers in structuring their

courses; it is not intended to be prescriptive of what teachers must teach.

• The course teaches students to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in historical

scholarship.

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• The course includes extensive instruction in analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of primary

sources, such as documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art, and pictorial and graphic

materials.

• The course provides students with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays such

as document-based questions (DBQ) and thematic essays

By the close of Advanced Placement Government and Politics - United States:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Government and Politics Course Description.

• The course provides instruction in each of the following six topics outlined in the Course Description:

- Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government

- political beliefs and political behaviors

- political parties, interest groups, and mass media

- institutions of national government

- public policy

- civil rights and civil liberties

• The course provides students with practice in analyzing and interpreting data and other information

relevant to U.S. government and politics.

• The course includes supplemental readings, including primary source materials, such as The

Federalist Papers, and contemporary news analyses that strengthen student understanding of the

curriculum.

• The course requires students to answer analytical and interpretive free-response questions on a

frequent basis

By the close of Advanced Placement Economics:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Economics Course Description.

• The course provides instruction in each of the following four topics outlined in the Course

Description:

- basic economic concepts

- the nature and functions of product markets

- factor markets

- market failure and the role of government

• The course promotes understanding of economic decision making and its factors, such as marginal

analysis and opportunity costs.

• The course teaches how to generate, interpret, label, and analyze graphs, charts, and data to describe

and explain economic concepts.

ASSESSMENT

By close of each Advanced Placement Course:

1) College Board Advanced Placement Course Examination

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CHCA derives its social studies curriculum in part from the following: Ohio Academic Content Standards in Social

Studies K-12 revised June 2010. Skills articulated in the National Social Studies Standards http://www.socialstudies.org/

standards Skills tested on standardized tests including the Stanford Achievement Test grades 1-8, the Educational

Record Bureau Comprehensive Test grades 1-8, the PLAN, ACT, PSAT, SAT, and College Board Advanced Placement

European, U.S. History, Government and Politics; U.S., and Macro-Economics examinations.

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SPANISH LANGUAGE

VISION

Students at CHCA, through the study of Spanish, will appreciate the unlimited capabilities that God has given

all peoples for glorifying and serving Him through language. They will recognize that “the body of Christ is

made up of people of faith, of all nations, all languages, all races” Students will be nurtured in learning the

Spanish language learning using, at grades K-8, through the natural language acquisition approach. In early

childhood children are immersed in the sounds, tones, and conversational aspects of language naturally cued

by objects and situations in their environment. So too, at CHCA, students in grades K-8, in early Spanish

language learning first receive the language and respond to it and then through experimentation and interactive

activities, use the language to communicate effectively. It is only after the conversational approach is well

established in the learning process, previous to the Spanish I- III (or Spanish II-IV) sequence, that students

turn to reading and writing Spanish. This turn to literacy builds as students gain confidence and proficiency.

Students will gain confidence in using their language skills in order to communicate effectively with Spanish

speakers and understand the Hispanic culture. They will achieve this by interacting orally with one another,

by comparing written Spanish and English, and by making connections via literature, research, and other

media. Students will become aware of the opportunities for practical application of their language knowledge

in communities, in ministry and in commerce. They will be able to compare and contrast their own language

and culture with that of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. Upon entering the sequence of courses

required for graduation, students will comprehend, analyze, and critique texts and media of excellence and

demonstrate competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Foreign language students will be

encouraged to exercise initiative and leadership as well as participate in cooperative learning and research.

Students will be provided with educational opportunities beyond the school setting and will receive

meaningful instruction, academic challenge and support.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Spanish Language:

Communication in Spanish

• Use Spanish to engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, exchange feelings, and

opinions.

• Understand and interpret written and spoken Spanish from diverse media.

• Present information and concepts to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

Hispanic Culture

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of perspectives, traditions, and products of Hispanic

countries.

Connections

• Reinforce other content areas through the use of Spanish.

• Acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints available only through Spanish and

Hispanic culture.

Comparisons

• Develop insight into the nature of language and culture through comparisons between the student’s

own language and the Spanish language and Hispanic culture.

Communities

• Use Spanish both within and beyond the school setting.

• Show evidence of becoming lifelong learners by using Spanish for personal enjoyment and

enrichment.

• To use Spanish in expressing faith through various forms of communication.

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Spanish language study must allow for multiple entry points because students studying Spanish will begin at

varying grade levels and achieve proficiency determined in part by the length of study commensurate with

their developmental stage and God-given talent for language learning. Language Acquisition Levels and the

benchmarks describing what learners know and can demonstrate in speaking, listening, reading, and writing

form the organizing principle of the CHCA Spanish Language Curriculum. The use of Language Acquisition

Levels as threshold benchmarks has its foundation in the curriculum standards of both the American Council

of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) as well as Ohio’s Model Curriculum for Foreign Language.

Language Acquisition Level I is characterized by the following: students use selected words, phrases, and

expressions with no major repeated patterns of error; students perform simple communicative tasks using

single words in naming articles in the classroom or listing their favorite foods; students use common phrases

and expressions to complete simple tasks such as saying “good morning” and stating their name, age and

where they live.

BENCHMARKS

By the close of Language Acquisition Level I, which corresponds to grades 3-6, the student will:

Communication

• Identify objects and people in everyday life including home, school, family, and animals.

• Describe objects and people in everyday life including clothing, likes and dislikes.

• Describe settings based on time, place, date, colors, and numbers.

• Discuss common daily activities including school routine, eating, weather, and shopping.

• Understand and respond to basic greetings and farewells.

• Comprehend and express feelings.

• Use some verbs in first person form.

Hispanic culture

• Explain the activities associated with Hispanic holidays and their relative importance.

• Recognize and sing songs native to Latin America, especially Mexico.

• Prepare and eat Latin American foods.

Connections

• Recite Bible verses.

• Use Spanish language for cross-curricular activities.

Comparisons

• Identify and compare common American and Hispanic foods.

• Via the natural approach notice structural differences between English language and Spanish language

word forms, grammar, idioms, syntax.

• Differentiate between the Spanish and English alphabet.

Communities

• Explain the benefits of learning Spanish as a second language.

• Acknowledge the importance and growth of the Hispanic population in the United States.

• Recognize and sing praise songs popular among Hispanics.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Weather assessment

2) Foods assessment

3) All About Me assessment

4) Exit Level assessments: one-on-one conversation, written test, oral identification, and a drama

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Language Acquisition Level II is characterized by the following: students use a series of sentences, and re-

combinations of learned words, phrases, and expressions with frequency of errors proportionate to the

complexity of the communicative task. As students enter Level II, students begin to create new combinations of

the language learned in Level I; messages are understandable, but some patterns of error may occur with full

comprehension.

BENCHMARKS

By close of Language Acquisition Level II, grades 5-8, grades 5-Spanish I, the student will:

Communication

• Describe varying emotional states and execute usage of gustar-type verbs in conjunction with

emotions.

• Understand common activities and discuss their relative importance with regard to likes and dislikes.

• Identify family members with regard to physical and personality characteristics.

• Differentiate and discuss professions and occupations.

• Use comparisons of equality and inequality.

• Discuss special and common places, including home and community.

• Create statements or questions within the scope of limited language experience.

• Write a short, simple paragraph on a familiar topic.

• Create language by combining and recombining learned elements.

Hispanic culture

• Be aware of significant historical events in Latin America and Spain.

• Explain important sports and their components in Hispanic countries.

• Be exposed to the richness and diversity of cultures within the Hispanic world.

Connections

• Recite passages from the Bible.

• Use Spanish in reference to cross-curricular areas.

Comparisons

• Continue to compare syntax of Spanish and English languages.

• Be aware of lexical differences between Spanish and English.

Communities

• Pray simple prayers.

• Sing praise songs popular in Hispanic culture.

• Recognize and appreciate the significance and contributions of the Hispanic population in the United

States.

• Have opportunity for a cross-cultural experience through a mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico, during

the school year.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Food and menu planning assessment.

2) Family description oral assessment.

3) Mexican pen pal letter

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BENCHMARKS

At Language Acquisition Level I when entry is at grade 9 into Spanish I. Spanish I and Spanish II are at

Acquisition Level I.

Communication

• Express preferences in everyday situations in Spanish.

• Express information for place, date, and time.

• Order food and beverages for self and others.

• Use basic vocabulary to name assorted objects in everyday environment, school subjects and to

identify people.

• Discuss the school schedule, including days and times of classes, teachers, and class preferences.

• Describe family members and relationships among them.

Hispanic culture

• Exchange essential information such as greetings and leave takings using culturally appropriate

gestures and oral expressions.

• Give and follow simple instructions in order to participate in age-appropriate activities.

• Learn about and participate in age-appropriate cultural practices such as games, sports, and

entertainment.

Connections

• Demonstrate an understanding using Spanish about concepts learned in other subject areas including

weather, math facts, measurements, animals, or geographical concepts.

• Comprehend main ideas in age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate short conversations or

narratives including stories based on familiar Christian themes.

Comparison:

• Cite and use examples of words in English borrowed from Spanish and pose guesses about why

languages borrow words.

• Realize that cognates enhance comprehension of spoken and written language and name some

commonly occurring cognates in Spanish.

• Report differences and similarities between the sound and writing systems of their own language and

Spanish.

• Use media and the library as sources of demonstrations for Spanish and the Hispanic culture.

Communities

• Ask and respond to simple questions about such topics as family, school events, secular and religious

practices in person or in letters, e-mail, or using audio and video tapes.

• Play sports or games from the Hispanic Culture.

• Plan real or imaginary travel to a Hispanic Country.

• Attend or view via media, cultural events and social activities.

• Listen to music, sing songs, or play musical instruments typical of the Hispanic culture.

BENCHMARKS

At the close of Language Acquisition Level II , when entry is at grade 9 into Spanish I. Able students complete

Spanish II at Language Acquisition Level II. The student will:

Communication

• Talk about past experiences and ask someone about his or her past experiences.

• Give directions to a place.

• Describe weather conditions.

• Use language that would obtain and pay for a hotel room.

• Understand written or oral directions to a place.

• Understand written or oral descriptions of past events.

• Listen to and understand a native speaker who is talking about hobbies and daily routines.

• Read and understand written descriptions about familiar topics from magazines and newspapers.

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Hispanic culture

• Discuss and analyze patterns of behavior typical of people native to the Hispanic culture.

Connections

• Use a variety of methods to convey information about the Hispanic culture through the use of

the internet, songs, maps, speakers, and other means.

Comparisons

• Compare patterns of behavior in an English speaking home with that in the Hispanic culture.

• Compare how various linguistic elements are expressed in English and Spanish.

Communities

• Read simple materials and/or use media from Spanish and the Hispanic culture for inspiration and

enjoyment, such as Spanish Bible.

• Have opportunities to serve on a mission trip, local outreach projects, etc.

Language Acquisition Level III is characterized by the following: students use sentences, series of sentences,

and fluid sentence-length and paragraph-length messages with frequency of errors proportionate to the

complexity of the communicative task; students produce and comprehend fluid sentence and paragraph-length

messages, but as the complexity of the task or message increases, errors and hesitation become more frequent.

BENCHMARKS

At close of Language Acquisition Level III, when entry is at grade 9 into Spanish I, students will

demonstrate all previous benchmarks from Levels I and II and in addition the student will:

Communication

• Exchange information about personal events and memorable experiences orally and in writing

referring to present, past and future events.

• Acquire goods or information through interaction and negotiation.

• Ask for and give instructions to perform a specific task.

• Express preferences concerning leisure activities and current events.

• Initiate, sustain, and close a conversation on a variety of topics.

• Respond, both orally and in writing, to a variety of situations by creatively combining and recomb

ining vocabulary and structures to supply facts and opinions.

• Understand the main ideas and significant details of live and recorded discussions, narratives, and

presentations.

• Read and respond to Biblical passages in Spanish.

Hispanic culture

• Know basic cultural beliefs and perspectives of the Hispanic culture.

• Compare cultural and religious beliefs of student’s own culture and Hispanic culture.

• Identify and discuss patterns of behavior typical of the student’s Hispanic peer group.

• Understand the main ideas and significant details in authentic written materials such as newspapers,

magazines, advertisements, and age-appropriate literary texts.

• Derive new information and knowledge from authentic texts by reading and listening.

Connections

• Compare various linguistic elements of the Spanish language to one’s own.

• Begin to see similarities between the Hispanic culture and one’s own.

• Comprehend main ideas in age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate short conversations or

narratives including stories based on familiar and Christian themes.

Comparisons

• Report differences and similarities between the sound and writing systems of one’s own language and

the Spanish language.

• Gain knowledge about the Hispanic culture from a variety of print and electronic resources.

• Recognize that idiomatic expressions reflect the Hispanic culture and that phrases have a meaning

larger than individual word equivalencies.

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• Begin to use various media from the Hispanic culture for information and entertainment that is age

appropriate.

• Use media and the library as sources of demonstrations for Spanish language and Hispanic culture.

Communities

• Ask and respond to simple questions about such topics as family, school events, secular and religious

practices in person or in writing, using letters, e-mail, or audio/video tapes.

• Read simple materials and/or use media from the Spanish language and Hispanic culture for

inspiration and enjoyment, such as the Spanish Bible.

• Attend or view via media, cultural events and social activities.

• Listen to music, sing songs, or play musical instruments from the Hispanic culture.

• Identify career options requiring proficiency in Spanish language and sensitivity to the Hispanic

culture.

ASSESSMENT

By the end of Level III in Spanish Language at CHCA High School:

1) The Hotel Conversation Project

2) Semester examinations

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Language Acquisition Level IV is characterized by the following: students use sentences, a series of

sentences, and fluid sentence and paragraph-length, and essay-length messages with some patterns of errors

that do not interfere with meaning; students convey messages with some patterns of grammatical errors that

do not interfere with meaning. A learner’s awareness of culturally appropriate language, behavior, and gesture

is evident in interpersonal communication.

BENCHMARKS

Language Acquisition Level IV is achieved by close of Spanish IV and Advanced Placement Spanish

Language and Composition. The student will:

Communication

• Comprehend formal and informal spoken Spanish.

• Acquire vocabulary and grasp language structure to allow easy, accurate reading of newspaper and

magazine articles, as well as modern literature in Spanish.

• Compose expository passages.

• Express ideas orally with accuracy and fluency.

Hispanic culture

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of perspectives, practices, and products of Hispanic

countries including cultural implications in a reading text; patterns of behavior typical of a Hispanic

peer group; information derived from authentic texts.

Connections

• Reinforce other content areas through the study of Spanish such as school subjects of literature, social

studies, and the arts using Spanish language to discuss these concepts.

• Acquire information and recognize distinctive viewpoints available only through Spanish and the

Hispanic culture such as comparing various linguistic elements of Spanish.

Comparisons

• Report differences and similarities between the sound and writing systems of one’s own language and

the Spanish language.

• Gain knowledge about the Hispanic culture from a variety of print and electronic resources.

• Recognize that idiomatic expressions reflect the Hispanic culture and that phrases have a meaning

larger than individual word equivalencies.

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• Begin to use various media from the Hispanic culture for information and entertainment that is age

appropriate.

• Use media and the library as sources of demonstrations for Spanish language and Hispanic culture.

Communities

• Ask and respond to simple questions about such topics as family, school events, secular and religious

practices in person or in writing, using letters, e-mail, or audio/video tapes.

• Read simple materials and/or use media from the Spanish language and Hispanic culture for

inspiration and enjoyment, such as the Spanish Bible.

By the close of Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Composition

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Spanish Course Description.

• The teacher uses Spanish almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise.

• The course provides students with a learning experience equivalent to that of a third-year college

course in Spanish language. Instructional materials, activities, assignments, and assessments are

appropriate to this level.

• Instructional materials include a variety of authentic audio and/or video recordings that develop

students' listening abilities.

• Instructional materials include authentic written texts, such as newspaper and magazine articles,

literary texts, and other nontechnical writings that develop students' reading abilities.

• The course provides students with regular opportunities, in class or in a language laboratory, to

develop their speaking skills in a variety of settings, types of discourse, topics, and registers.

• The course provides instruction and frequent opportunities to write a variety of compositions in

Spanish.

• The course provides frequent opportunities for students to integrate the four language skills through

the use of authentic materials.

ASSESSMENT

By the close of Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Composition

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination

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Language http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3324 Skills articulated by College Board Advanced

Placement Spanish Language and Composition examination.

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CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

VISION

Through the study of classical languages students will appreciate the unlimited capabilities that God has given

all people for glorifying and serving Him through language. Students enter classical language study through

reading ancient texts and oral, listening, and writing are tools to improve reading. Students become acquainted

with ancient cultures through written texts and remaining artifacts, and this communication through the

classical language brings greater understanding of modern day core academic subjects: English rhetoric,

literature, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students make comparisons between the classical language

and the structure and vocabulary of English. Students come to understand and appreciate classical influences’

on today’s world. Students’ facility in reading classical texts aids in understanding the Bible, referencing

Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and the world it depicts. Classical language students will be encouraged to exercise

initiative and leadership as well as to participate in cooperative learning and research. Students will be

provided with educational opportunities beyond the school setting and will receive meaningful instruction,

academic challenge and support.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Classical Languages: Latin, Biblical Hebrew, or Greek

Communication in the target language (hereafter TL)

• Read, understand, and interpret in the TL.

• Speak, listen, and write in the TL as part of the language learning process

Culture

• Demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives and products of the Target Culture [hereafter TC]

as revealed in the practices and artifacts, including texts, of the TL cultures

Connections

• Reinforce and acquire knowledge of other disciplines through TL.

• Expand knowledge through reading and study of the ancient culture.

Comparisons

• Develop insight into their own language and culture through study of the TL and TC.

• Increase knowledge of their own language.

• Compare and contrast their own culture to the ancient culture.

Communities

• Participate in wider communities of language and culture within and beyond the school setting.

• Use knowledge of the TL in a multilingual world.

• Use knowledge of the TC in a world of diverse cultures.

Theological Integration

• Read passages in the TL derived from the Bible.

• Demonstrate knowledge of comparisons of culture in the TC to the history accounted in the Bible.

BENCHMARKS

By close of the beginning level of instruction:

Communication in the target language

• Read words, phrases, and simple sentences and associate them with pictures, and/or other words,

phrases and simple sentences.

• Demonstrate reading comprehension by answering simple questions in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or

English about short passages in the TL.

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• Demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary, basic inflectional systems, and syntax appropriate to their

reading level.

• Recognize and reproduce sounds of the TL.

• Respond appropriately to simple questions, statements, commands, or non-verbal stimuli.

• Sing songs in the TL.

• Write simple phrases and sentences in the TL.

Culture

• Demonstrate basic knowledge of daily life in the TC.

• Demonstrate knowledge of noteworthy persons, facts of history and geography of the ancient world.

• Identify principal deities and heroes by name, deeds, spheres of influence.

• Recognize basic architectural features and art forms of the TC.

Connections

• Use knowledge of the TL to understand the specialized vocabulary in such fields as modern day

government and politics.

• Recognize numerals and vocabulary associated with counting, particularly for Latin.

• Acquire information about the Greco-Roman world by reading passages of Latin or Greek with a

culturally authentic setting.

• Recognize plots and themes of Greco-Roman myths in the literature of other cultures.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the geography of the ancient world and connect it to the modern world.

Comparisons

• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, suffixes by recognizing them in

English words of Latin or Greek origin. See Biblical Hebrew derivatives in English.

• Understand some Latin, Greek, or Biblical Hebrew phrases, mottoes, and abbreviations used in

English.

• Compare and contrast the language patterns and grammar of the TL to the structure and grammar of

English.

• Recognize Greco-Roman elements of architecture in features of familiar buildings.

• Compare and contrast aspects of their own public and private lives to those of the TC.

• Compare and contrast themes and heroes of TL literature to their own folklore and modern day

culture.

Communities

• Recognize the influence of the TL on the specialized language of professional fields and use in the

media.

• Recognize from study of the ancient world that cultural diversity has been an integral feature of

society from antiquity

Theological Integration

• Read passages in the TL derived from the Bible.

• Demonstrate knowledge of comparisons of culture in the TC to the history accounted in the Bible.

ASSESSMENT

By close of the beginning level of instruction:

1) National Latin Exam introductory level following Latin I

2) Semester exams in Biblical Hebrew and Greek

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BENCHMARKS

By close of the intermediate level of instruction:

Communication in the target language

• Read and understand passages in the TL composed for acquisition of content and language skills.

• Read and understand, with appropriate assistance, passages in the TL adapted or unadapted from

original authors.

• Recognize figures of speech, style of authors.

• Demonstrate reading comprehension by interpreting the meaning of passages they read.

• Read TL aloud with accurate pronunciation, phrasing, voice inflection, and imitating models they

have heard.

• Respond appropriately to questions, statements, commands, and other stimuli.

• Write phrases and sentences in the TL.

Culture

• Demonstrate knowledge of the daily and life and thought of the TC.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the people and facts of the TC, history and political life.

• Relate their reading of selected texts, literary and non-literary, adapted and unadapted, to understand

the TC.

Connections

• Recognize and make connections with the TL terminology in modern day sciences, history, social

sciences, and professions, and to literature and artistic achievement.

• Acquire information about the ancient world and TC by reading adapted or selected TL sources.

Comparisons

• Demonstrate the relationship of TL words to their derivatives and cognates in English.

• Use wider range of vocabulary based on study of derivatives and cognates.

• Compare and contrast the language patterns and grammar of the TL to structure and grammar of

English.

• Identify elements in contemporary art and literature that have a basis in the ancient world.

• Reflect on classical influence on the political institutions, law and history of their own culture.

• Recognize in reading of modern literature themes and ideas of the ancient world.

Communities

• Use current technology to communicate about classical language and ancient culture.

• See the connection between their study of classical language and careers.

• Compare issues of cultural differences similar in the TC to modern culture.

Theological Integration

• Read passages in the TL derived from the Bible.

• Demonstrate knowledge of comparisons of culture in the TC to the history accounted in the Bible.

ASSESSMENT

By close of the intermediate level of instruction:

1) National Latin Exam following Latin II and Latin III

2) Semester exams in Biblical Hebrew and Greek

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BENCHMARKS

By close of the advanced level of instruction:

Only Latin reaches this level of instruction with the course Advanced Placement Latin: Vergil.

• The teacher has read the most current AP Latin Course Description.

• The course is structured to enable students to complete the entire required reading list (as delineated

in the AP Latin Course Description).

• The course gives students frequent opportunities to practice reading and translating as literally as

possible from Latin into English the required passages from Vergil's Aeneid. All required passages are

read in Latin; the entire Aeneid is read in English.

• The course gives students frequent opportunities to practice written analysis and critical interpretation

of Vergil's Aeneid, including appropriate references to the use of stylistic and metrical techniques by

Vergil.

• The course examines the historical, social, cultural, and political context of Vergil's Aeneid.

• The course provides frequent practice in reading Latin at sight.

ASSESSMENT

By close of Advanced Placement Latin: Vergil

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination

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CHCA derives its Classical Languages curriculum in part from: Standards for Classical Language Learning from the

American Classical League and the American Philological Association and College Board Advanced Placement Latin:

Vergil examination.

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MANDARIN CHINESE LANGUAGE

Students at CHCA, through the study of world languages, will appreciate the unlimited capabilities that God

has given all people for glorifying and serving Him through language. They will recognize that “the body of

Christ is made up of people of faith, of all nations, all languages, all races.” Consequently, the inherent desire

to know and serve His people by putting into practice Christian values, like empathy, brotherhood and peace

will ultimately reveal itself to students as a lifelong, self-motivated quest for knowledge of and service to God

for communicating eternal Truth. By engaging in intercultural God-centered interaction and inquiry, students

of Mandarin Chinese Language will gain greater self-awareness, a critical perspective on their own culture in

relation to other cultures, and the ability to discern universal truth. Students comprehend, analyze, and critique

texts and media of excellence and demonstrate competence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing

performances in Mandarin Chinese, embracing many disciplines. Chinese language students will be encouraged

to exercise initiative and leadership as well as to participate in cooperative learning and research. Students will

be provided with educational opportunities beyond the school setting and will receive meaningful instruction,

academic challenge and support.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Mandarin Chinese Language:

Communication in Mandarin Chinese, the target language (hereafter TL)

• Use the TL to engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, exchange feelings, and

opinions.

• Understand and interpret written and spoken language from diverse media.

• Present information and concepts to an audience of listeners of readers on a variety of topics.

Culture

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of perspectives, practices, and products of other countries.

Connections

• Reinforce and acquire knowledge of other disciplines through TL.

• Acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints available only through TL and target

culture (hereafter TC).

Comparisons

• Develop insight into the nature of language and culture through comparisons.

Communities

• Use the TL both within and beyond the school setting.

Theological Integration

• Appreciate the capabilities God has given to all peoples of glorifying and serving Him through the

gift of language.

BENCHMARKS

By close of Introductory Mandarin Chinese the student will:

Communication /Class Expression

• Practice phrases that include greetings, name, age, nationality, school, family, location, months, days

of week, fruits, foods and meals.

• Listen to native speakers.

• Practice speaking, using pinyin order.

• Read and recognize words, phrases, and sentences in pinyin and characters.

• Practice writing from traditional and some simplified Chinese characters.

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Culture

• Learn about the traditions of Festivals and celebrations such as Moon Festival, Thanksgiving, Chinese

New Year, Dragon Boat Festival.

• Take part in activities such as Chinese knotting, practicing calligraphy and pictographs, using chop

sticks, hear Chinese traditional musical instruments, learn about and see examples of Chinese sports.

• See artifacts and study values such as the Great Wall of China, four treasures of study, four inventions

of ancient China.

Comparisons

• Hear about numbers in the context of un/lucky.

• Compare United States holidays and Chinese New Year.

• Compare family systems.

Communities:

• Practice conversations with neighbors.

• Participate in a Church Christmas celebration.

• Enact aspects of the Chinese New Year.

BENCHMARKS

By close of Chinese I the student will:

Students study Chinese I A in grade seven and Chinese I B in grade eight or study Chinese I as a year course

in high school

Communication / Classroom Expression

• Grade 7 level I A includes greeting, name, age, nationality, school, family, location, months and days

of week.

• Grade 8 level I B includes classroom objects, fruits, colors, food and meals, currency, “Do you know

him?” making a phone call, telling time.:

• Chinese I full year course at high school includes above for IA and IB.

Culture

• Recognize the tradition and facets of Chinese Moon Festival, U.S. Thanksgiving, Chinese New Year,

Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.

Comparisons

• Locate places on the China map, recognize the Chinese school system, family system, name places in

the family house and learn about the Chinese living style.

Communities

• Practice conversations with neighbors, Christian Church celebrations, Chinese New Year.

Theological Integration

• Appreciate the capabilities God has given to all peoples of glorifying and serving Him through the

gift of language.

By close of Chinese II the student will:

Communication / Classroom Expression

• Recognize and count currency, name clothes, receive and give directions, talk about sports seasons,

name transportation, name body parts, converse using situations such as borrowing the car, party

invitation, not feeling well, rent an apartment.

Culture

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of perspectives, practices, and products of China and

Chinese speaking cultures.

Connections

• Reinforce and acquire knowledge of other disciplines through Mandarin Chinese, such as the study

of literature, media, advertisements, and others.

• Acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints available only through Mandarin

Chinese and the Chinese culture.

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Comparisons

• Develop insight into the nature of language and culture through comparisons.

Communities

• Use Mandarin Chinese both within and beyond the school setting.

Theological Integration

• Appreciate the capabilities God has given to all peoples of glorifying and serving Him through the

gift of language.

By close of Chinese III the student will:

Three Modes of Communication for the intermediate learner [from ACTFL performance standards] The

intermediate learner requires instruction gradually adding more sophisticated vocabulary and grammatical

structures. helping learners get ready for advanced Chinese study by introducing formal and written

expressions and increasing students’ “media literacy.” Instruction provides exposure to common Chinese

idioms and the stories behind them, and includes texts written in the style of newspaper, magazines, and

Internet news articles

• Interpersonal

• Interpretive

• Presentational

Six Domains of Performance

• Comprehensibility (How well is the student understood?)

• Comprehension (How well does the student understand?)

• Language Control (How accurate is the student's language?)

• Vocabulary Usage (How extensive and applicable is the student's language?)

• Communication Strategies (How does the student maintain communication?)

• Cultural Awareness (How is the student’s cultural understanding reflected in communication?)

Culture, Connections, Comparisons, Communities

• Moving to a New Place

• Experiencing Culture And the Arts

• Asking for Directions

• Hospitality

• My Trip to China

• Opening a Bank Account

• Traveling and Visas

• Chinese Cinema

• Fitness and Health

• A Vacation in China

Theological Integration

• Appreciate the capabilities God has given to all peoples of glorifying and serving Him through the

gift of language.

ASSESSMENT

By close of each course:

1) Semester examinations

2) Unit examinations

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BENCHMARKS

By close of Advanced Placement Mandarin Chinese:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Description.

• The course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three

communicative modes: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational, as articulated in Standards for

Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (Standards); and at the Intermediate level, as

articulated in the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners. (For Standards descriptions,

see the Standards Executive Summary. For Intermediate level performance descriptions, see ACTFL

Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners.)

Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (.pdf/40KB)

ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners

• In addition to communication, the course also addresses the Standards' other four goals: cultural

competence, connections to other school disciplines, comparisons between Chinese language and

culture and those of the learners, and the use of the language within the broader communities beyond

the traditional school environment.

• The teacher uses Chinese almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise.

• Language instruction frequently integrates a range of Chinese cultural content that exposes students to

perspectives broader than their immediate environment, for example, the fundamental aspects of daily

life in China, Chinese family and societal structures, and national and international issues.

• Assessments are frequent, varied, and explicitly linked to the Standards' goal areas. Prior to assigning

an assessment task, teachers share with their students the criteria against which their performances

will be evaluated.

• The teacher chooses from among both conventional print and aural materials such as textbooks,

audiovisual materials, and Web-based content designed for language learning. They also make use of

materials generally used by native Chinese speakers, such as print and Web-based texts; animated

computer programs; and video-, CD-, and DVD-based products. Teachers scaffold students'

experiences with these texts, particularly those that would normally be considered beyond the grasp

of high school students.

• The course teaches students to develop both communication and language learning strategies, such as

inferring meaning either through sociocultural context or linguistic features.

• The teacher plans and implements structured cooperative learning activities to support ongoing and

frequent interpersonal interaction, and employs a range of instructional strategies to meet the diverse

needs of his or her learners.

• The course provides students with opportunities to develop both Chinese handwriting skills and word

processing skills in Hanyu Pinyin or Bopomofo.

ASSESSMENT

By close of Advanced Placement Mandarin Chinese:

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination

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Language http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3324 Skills articulated for study from the College Board

Advanced Placement Mandarin Chinese Language examination.

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HEALTH

VISION

As a result of a CHCA health education, students will make informed decisions within a Christian perspective

about personal, community, and global health issues. Students receive instruction in mental, physical, social,

and spiritual health. Students are encouraged and guided to develop positive self-esteem, to accept themselves

and others, to handle stress, to solve problems, and to exercise leadership. By learning about body systems,

nutrition, exercise and by practicing physical activities students embrace health allied to physical fitness as a

lifelong goal. Social health includes working within diverse relationships to share fee lings with friends,

family, and peers. Spiritual health places Christ at the center of a Christian’s life. Students are encouraged to

seek physical, mental, and social challenges in life utilizing faith-informed, responsible choices.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Health:

• Explain key elements to maintain mental and emotional health.

• Demonstrate in conversation the relationship of individual health to family health.

• Explain the fundamental concepts of growth and development.

• Recognize key elements to maintain and promote personal health.

• Recognize and apply essential concepts about nutrition and diet.

• Recognize aspects of substance use and abuse.

• Explain essential concepts about the prevention and control of disease.

• Locate the availability and list effective use of health services, products, and information.

• Explain practices concerning injury prevention and safety.

• Accept personal responsibility for seeking total health for self and others through recognizing God’s

plan for human life.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

• Explain the biblical truth that man was created in the image of God.

• See the family and parents structured by God as a family to provide for the child’s health and safety.

• Know the body grows and needs care to remain healthy.

• Identify the five sense organs and how these allow knowledge of the world.

• Identify parts of circulatory, digestive and excretory systems and their functions.

• Use the food pyramid to classify food and plan a balanced diet.

• Learn strategies for preventing drug abuse and for safe use of medication.

• Recognize signs of illness and explain how to prevent the spread of germs.

• Participate in discussion and activities teaching personal safety.

• Exhibit respect in caring for self and others.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Design and produce the dental health poster

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade eight the student will:

• Know various community agencies that provide health services to individuals and families.

• Know appropriate ways to build and maintain healthy relationships with peers, parents and other

adults.

• Illustrate basic first aid procedures appropriate to common emergencies such as proper responses to

breathing, choking problems, bleeding, shock, poisonings, and minor burns.

• Explain how eating properly can help to reduce health risks.

• Describe the basic structure and functions of human body systems and how they function to fight

disease.

• Explain how the human body changes as people age.

• Explain principles that a Christ-centered person will balance good mental, physical, and social health.

• Identify traits of good mental health and benefits of positive self-concept.

• Describe ways in which drugs can harm the body.

By close of the required Health course in High School the student will:

• Identify the varying levels of mental health.

• Examine responsibilities inherent in dating relationships, marriage, and parenthood.

• Apply in one’s own life methods to facilitate the transition from role of a child to role of independent

adult.

• Explain a variety of physical, mental, emotional, and social changes that occur throughout life, how

these changes differ among individuals and differ within age groups.

• Relate personal health behaviors to well-being and relate these behaviors to achieving health goals

throughout life.

• Examine the factors that influence one’s food choices.

• Show short and long-term effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs on reproduction, pregnancy,

and health of children.

• Examine problems that result from sexually transmitted diseases.

• Analyze costs and benefits in personal selection of health-care resources, products, and services.

• Practice injury prevention and management strategies for community health such as neighborhood

safety, traffic safety, safe driving.

• Describe how Christ-centered living will promote a balance that leads to good mental, physical, and

social health.

ASSESSMENT

By the close of the required health course in high school:

1) Semester examination

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the Mid Continent Regional Education Lab, Compendium of Content Knowledge 4th edition http://www.mcrel.org

/standards-benchmarks.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

VISION

Above all, physical education at CHCA reflects the high value God places on human life and the respect we

have for each person in God’s community. Activities offer opportunities for spiritual growth where students

are encouraged to explore how Christ would react. CHCA physical education helps students develop in

cognitive, psychomotor, affective, and spiritual domains. The program and teaching faculty provide an

environment that recognizes individual potential and encourages leadership and participation. Students grow in

an understanding of rules, safety, and strategies of games and activities and develop skills and abilities through

participation in a variety of team and individual activities. Physical Education incorporates the importance of

health-enhancing, lifelong fitness. Students use their God-given gifts to engage in teamwork, individual

achievement and physical fitness activities equipping them with a sense of self-esteem and sportsmanship to

participate in a diverse society.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Physical Education:

• Exhibit responsible personal, social, cooperative, and Christ-centered behavior that respects self and

others in physical activity settings.

• Demonstrate competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of

physical activities.

• Demonstrate understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to

the learning and performance of physical activities.

• Participate regularly in and understand the costs and benefits of health-enhancing physical activities.

• Achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

• Engage in physical activity as it provides the opportunity for enjoyment, challenge, self expression,

and social interaction.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

• Play, cooperate, and respect others as Christ respects us.

• Demonstrate a variety of basic locomotor and non-locomotor movements such as run, skip, bend, and

twist.

• Apply basic sport-specific skills in a variety of physical activities.

• Use age-appropriate form and sequencing in combination of fundamental locomotor, object control,

and rhythmical skills that are components of selected modified games, sports, and dance such as

combining running, stopping, and throwing.

• Explain and model physical, social, emotional, and spiritual benefits of physical activities and a

healthy lifestyle.

• Engage in activities that develop muscular strength/endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular

endurance.

• Discuss the importance of following rules and safety precautions.

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ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Jump rope skills test at grade four

2) Grade Four Fitness Project

3) Performance in individual and team settings

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade eight the student will:

• Demonstrate Christian behaviors, which are supportive and inclusive in sports activity.

• Demonstrate age-appropriate form and sequencing in combinations of locomotor and object control

movements that are components of selected modified games and sports.

• Perform critical elements and apply knowledge of these combinations and object control movements

in selected tasks to improve performance.

• Practice training and conditioning using the principles for specific physical activities.

• Engage in a variety of physical activities that promote physical fitness goals.

• Engage in more advanced activities that develop and maintain cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular

strength, and flexibility.

• Apply rules, appropriate procedure, and safe practice to physical activity settings.

• Communicate with teammates or competitors during team or individual sports.

• Search for success in sport or activity by seeking style/form that complements his/her own talents and

abilities.

By close of grade eight:

1) Performance task in volleyball

2) Performance task in circuit training

ASSESSMENT

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By close of the required Physical Education credits in high school the student will:

• Demonstrate advanced movement patterns in team and individual sports.

• Demonstrate cooperative behavior and the ability to use combined movement skills and strategies in

recreation/leisure sports.

• Use offensive and defensive strategies and appropriate rules for sports and other physical activities.

• Assess accurately personal health status relative to standards.

• Accept personal responsibility for a healthy lifestyle.

• Weigh potential consequences of participation in physical activity including physical injury or

potential conflict with others.

• Measure personal status of body composition and fitness level.

• Measure personal status of cardio-respiratory endurance.

• Set personal goals and work toward their achievement.

• Anticipate health and safety consequences of physical activity.

• Act independently of negative peer pressure.

• Honor and glorify God in sports and physical activities.

• Accept role of leader or of follower appropriate for the accomplishment of team goals.

• Apply and practice the concept of sportsmanship and responsible behavior while participating in

physical activity.

ASSESSMENT

By close of the required Physical Education credits in high school:

1) Volleyball Skills Test

2) Physical Fitness Evaluation

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MUSIC FINE ARTS

VISION

As a result of a CHCA music fine arts education, students recognize that music is a gift from God and as such

should be used to glorify and serve Him. Students are encouraged to develop a lifelong love of music through

participation in performance and study. Growing from these studies is an appreciation of the diversity of

musical experience, culture, Christian heritage, and an ability to evaluate both aural and written music for

quality and to evaluate music and performances congruent with scr iptural principles. Students pursue musical

opportunities with confidence and knowledge. They engage competently in a variety of musical experiences

both for academic and personal purposes demonstrating creativity, appreciation, and expression in a variety of

situations. Audiences within and beyond the school provide opportunities for musical outreach. Students

work cooperatively and responsively in groups demonstrating appropriate leadership and giving value to

others’ work. Students receive challenge and support in pursuit of success in music.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Music:

• Sing/Perform on instruments alone and with others a varied repertoire of music including selections

of Christian story and praise.

• Improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

• Compose music within specific guidelines.

• Read and notate music.

• Apply appropriate personal as well as Christ-centered evaluative criteria to music and musical

performances that acknowledge music as an art form embracing diversity.

• Apply appropriate etiquette as an audience member and/or performer.

• Research and explain, using various technologies including print, electronic, and recordings, the

relationship between music, history, and culture.

• Use music as a personal and interpersonal expression to honor God.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

• Sing on pitch/perform on an instrument, given individual talents, with steady tempo and in rhythm

using clear diction and tonal clarity, presenting appropriate posture.

• Identify and perform songs representing genres and styles from diverse cultures and historical periods

including songs from varied Christian tradition.

• Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments.

• Improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on familiar melodies.

• Use a variety of sound sources including electronic resources when performing/creating music.

• Create music to accompany dramatizations.

• Identify standard symbols and terms used to notate 1) rhythm, 2) pitch, 3) meter, and 4) dynamics in

simple musical examples.

• Describe personal preferences for specific musical works and styles.

• Identify simple musical forms when presented aurally.

• Respond rhythmically through movement to specific musical examples.

• Demonstrate respect and appreciation for a performance as an audience member.

• Use singing, dancing, acting, and playing to explore music literature.

• Exercise Christ-centered choices in musical selections.

• Practice criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of performance.

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ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

Vocal music:

1) Pitch matching and musical notation symbols assessment

Instrumental music:

1) Orchestral instrument recognition assessment

By close of grade eight the student will:

Vocal music:

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BENCHMARKS

• Sing with good breath control, expression, and technical accuracy at a level that includes modest

ranges and changes of tempo, key, and meter.

• Sing music written in two and three parts.

• Perform music that glorifies God and represents diverse genres and cultures using expression

appropriate for the work.

• Improvise short melodies, unaccompanied and over given rhythm accompaniments.

• Relate the elements of music used to achieve unity and variety, tension and release, and balance in

musical compositions.

• Sight read simple melodies in both treble and bass clef.

• Recognize and incorporate into performance standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics,

tempo, articulation, and expression.

• Identify specific musical events when listening to music.

• Exercise evaluative criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of musical performances and

compositions.

• Exercise Christ-centered criteria when listening to and selecting for singing vocal music.

• Describe the functions music serves, roles of musicians, history of composers, history of vocal and

instrumental music, and various careers in music.

• Use print and electronic resources to gather and present information related to topics in the study of

music.

Instrumental music:

• Perform on an instrument accurately either alone or in small and large ensembles using good posture,

playing position, breath control, and tone.

• Perform with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire of instrumental literature that includes

modest technicality and ranges, changes of tempo, key, and meter.

• Study music that is congruent with a Christian worldview.

• Improvise simple melodic and rhythmic phrases, incorporating variations and embellishments.

• Compose short musical examples within specific guidelines using traditional and/or nontraditional

sound sources.

• Apply or recognize the basics of music theory.

• Read and notate whole, half, quarter, eight, sixteenth, and dotted notes, and their equivalent rests in

2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, 2/2 time signatures.

• Recognize and incorporate into performances standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics,

tempo, articulation, and expression.

• Explain, using appropriate terminology, music notation, instruments, and performances.

• Exercise evaluative criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of musical performances and

compositions.

• Exercise appropriate audience and performance etiquette.

• Discern quality repertoire based on a Christian worldview.

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• Study instrumental music of various historical periods and cultures.

• Understand roles of musicians in various music settings and cultures.

• Understand diverse roles of music and musicians in various world cultures.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Perform solo or in a group achieving the individual or group performance goals

By close of grade twelve the student will:

Vocal music:

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• Sing a varied repertoire of Christian and appropriate vocal literature at a moderate level of difficulty

with expression and technical accuracy.

• Sing music written in two or four parts without accompaniment.

• Use ensemble skills when performing as part of a group.

• Use elements of music for expressive effect.

• Read a vocal score up to four staves.

• Read music that contains moderate technical demands, expanded ranges, and varied interpretive

requirements.

• Apply the technical vocabulary of music appropriate to student’s years of study.

• Recognize compositional devices and techniques that are used to provide unity and variety, tension

and release in a work.

• Research and describe various roles that musicians perform and representative individuals who have

functioned in these roles.

• Create and apply choreographic movement to song (performing choir only).

Instrumental music:

• Perform with expression and technical accuracy a varied repertoire of musical literature including

sacred selections at an intermediate to advanced level of difficulty.

• Demonstrate ensemble skills when performing as part of a group.

• Perform alone and in small ensembles with confidence and proficiency.

• Improvise rhythmic and melodic phrases, incorporating variations and embellishments.

• Improvise original melodies over given chord progressions in consistent style, meter and tonality.

• Know how the elements and compositional devices of music achieve unity and variety, tension and

release, and balance in musical compositions.

• Read and notate music that contains intermediate to advanced technical demands, expanded ranges,

and varied interpretive requirements.

• Understand how the elements of music and musical expression are used in diverse genres and

cultures.

• Apply the technical vocabulary of music appropriate to the student’s years of study.

• Exercise evaluative criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of musical performances,

compositions, arrangement, and improvisations.

• Discern quality repertoire based on a Christian worldview.

• Study and perform music that is congruent with a Christian worldview.

• Demonstrate appropriate audience etiquette.

• Classify unfamiliar but representative aural examples of music.

• Research and explain sources of American music genres, development of the genres, and musicians

associated with them.

• Recognize various roles that musicians perform and representative musicians.

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ASSESSMENT

By close of grade twelve: Vocal and/or instrumental music

1) Reading rhythms and musical symbols assessment

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By the close of Advanced Placement Music Theory:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Music Theory Course Description.

• The course enables students to master the rudiments and terminology of music: notational skills,

intervals, scales, keys, chords, meter, and rhythm.

• The course progresses to include more sophisticated and creative tasks:

- writing a bass line for a given melody or harmonization of a given melody in four parts

- realization of a figured bass

- realization of a Roman numeral progression

- analysis of repertoire, including analysis of motivic treatment and harmonic analysis

• The course includes the following scales: major, minor, modal, pentatonic, and whole tone.

• The course covers the following concepts or procedures based in common-practice tonality:

- functional triadic harmony in traditional four-voice texture including non-harmonic tones,

seventh chords, and secondary dominants.

- modulation to closely related keys

• The course also teaches:

- phrase structure

- small forms (e.g., rounded binary, simple ternary, theme and variation, strophic)

• Musical skills are developed through the following types of musical exercises:

- listening (discrete intervals, scales, etc.; dictations; excerpts from literature)

- sight-singing

- written exercises

- creative exercises

• The course includes, but is not limited to, study of a wide variety of vocal and instrumental music

from the standard Western tonal repertoires.

ASSESSMENT

By close of Advanced Placement Music Theory:

1) College Board Advanced Placement Music Theory examination

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http://www.menc.org/resources/view/national-standards-for-music-education Skills articulated by the College Board

Advanced Placement Music Theory examination.

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VISUAL FINE ARTS

VISION

CHCA Visual Fine Arts is designed to nurture and develop the student’s God-given desire to create and

appreciate the aesthetic beauty in God’s universe. Students use value judgments to make decisions about art

that honors God and shows appreciation for God’s handiwork and its effect on their lives. Through various

processes, students will become aware how art relates to other areas of study. Students examine the human

experience through their own creativity, through art history as an expression of culture and through the use of

visual mediums, technology, literature, and God’s Word. Students experience and gain skill with the various

art processes to gain confidence in their ability and grow in their aesthetic sense. Students value cultural

diversity through the knowledge of the visual arts. Visual Fine Arts prepares students to acknowledge their

God-given talents and to pursue with confidence opportunities and challenges set before them.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Visual Fine Arts:

• Develop visual awareness of God’s creation in order to produce an individual artistic awareness.

• Make Christ-centered judgments about art.

• Make connections between the visuals arts, the other fine and performing arts and other disciplines

outside the arts.

• Apply media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts.

• Use the elements and principles of visual organization.

• Choose from a range of subject matter, symbols, icons, and potential ideas in visual arts.

• Relate the visual arts to history and culture.

• Value the characteristics and merits of one’s own artwork and expression and appreciate the artwork

of others.

• Develop knowledge of aesthetics and art criticism.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

• Experience looking closely at an object and interpreting it in some media.

• Create visual interpretations of Bible stories using appropriate media.

• Create a piece of art that symbolizes worship.

• Make a puppet backdrop and puppet to interpret a story.

• Relate another area of study using art expression.

• Apply the appropriate use and care of art materials.

• Prepare and clean up art room and materials.

• Demonstrate familiarity with symmetry, line, shape, color, and texture as basic elements of design.

• Recognize how subject matter, symbols, and ideas are used to communicate meaning.

• Select prospective ideas for works of art.

• Relate history and culture’s affect on art.

• Create art that has its roots in different time periods and cultures.

• View the work of several famous artists.

• Respect the work of others as well as his/her own work.

• Make judgments about specific artwork.

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ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Safety cut block printing and carving assessment

2) Print design

3) Block carving

4) Block printing

By close of grade eight the student will:

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BENCHMARKS

• Recognize as well as create art that is pleasing and glorifying to God.

• Express the impact of God in the student’s life through the creation of art.

• Complete various projects using different media, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics,

computer art, fibers, printmaking, and photography.

• Identify how the different art media, techniques, and processes can communicate experiences and

ideas.

• Explore how the elements of art, such as line, color, texture, form and space, can be used to express

artistic intentions.

• Use design elements to improve communicating ideas.

• Integrate visual and spatial concepts, such as one-point and two-point perspective, to express ideas.

• Explore the relationship of art to man as a means of expressing personal thoughts and experiences.

• Identify specific works of art to particular artists, art periods, and art styles.

• Recognize the purpose and meaning of specific artwork.

• Research and create art of the various world cultures.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Two point perspective assessment

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By close of grade twelve the student will:

• Use art as a vehicle to reflect the importance of God in his/her life.

• Apply Christian values and integrity in evaluating art and artists.

• Express art preferences based on Christ-centered artistic experiences.

• Express concepts visually that are conceived in literature, theater and music.

• Relate art to history, culture and locale.

• Employ a range of subject matter, symbols, icons and potential ideas in the visual arts.

• Communicate experiences and ideas by applying different media, techniques, and processes.

• Use line, shape, color, texture, value and design in personal art expression.

• Organize personal designs using space division, balance, unity and emphasis.

• Appreciate the characteristics, values, and merits of one’s own artwork and the artwork of others.

• Value personal expression in his/her own artwork and the work of others.

• Recognize various interpretations may be used to evaluate works of art.

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By close of grade twelve:

1) Semester examination

ASSESSMENT

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BENCHMARKS

By close of Advanced Placement Art Studio:

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Studio Art Course Description.

• The course promotes a sustained investigation of all three aspects of portfolio development -- quality,

concentration, and breadth -- as outlined in the Course Description or Studio Art poster throughout the

duration of the course. (Note: The body of work submitted for the portfolio can include art created

prior to and outside of the AP Studio Art course.)

• The course enables students to develop mastery (i.e., "quality") in concept, composition, and

execution of drawing, 2-D design, or 3-D design.

• The course enables students to develop a body of work investigating a strong underlying visual idea

in drawing, 2-D design, or 3-D design that grows out of a coherent plan of action or investigation

(i.e., a "concentration").

• The course teaches students a variety of concepts and approaches in drawing, 2-D design, or 3-D

design so that the student is able to demonstrate a range of abilities and versatility with technique,

problem-solving, and ideation (i.e., "breadth"). Such conceptual variety can be demonstrated through

either the use of one or the use of several media.

• The course emphasizes making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and

critical decision making.

• The course includes group and individual student critiques and instructional conversations with the

teacher, enabling students to learn to analyze and discuss their own artworks and those of their peers.

• The course teaches students to understand artistic integrity as well as what constitutes plagiarism. If

students produce work that makes use of photographs, published images, and/or other artists' works,

the course teaches students how to develop their own work so that it moves beyond duplication.

ASSESSMENT

By close of Advanced Placement Studio Art:

1) College Board Advanced Placement examination in two dimensional, three dimensional, or drawing.

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Content Knowledge 4th edition http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks. Skills articulated by the College Board

Advanced Placement Studio Art examination.

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TECHNOLOGY

VISION

As a result of a CHCA education students will implement technology to conduct research, to promote

productivity, to perform basic operations, to communicate, and to enhance problem solving and decision-

making. Students will practice responsible use of technology mindful of the ethical and social issues impacted

by biblical principles surrounding this medium. Both academic and personal use of technology will extend the

students’ environment and spheres of influence. Students will understand the benefits and cautions that

technology now presents us with in the 21st century. CHCA understands that leadership development is

predicted not only upon moral principles, discipleship, and collaborative social interaction, but also upon

facility in communication, gathering resources, creativity, problem-solving and decision-making, all of which

technology aids. Technology literacy of all students is a goal of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Technology:

• Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes

using technology.

• Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance

to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

• Apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

• Use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make

informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

• Understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical

behavior.

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations.

BENCHMARKS

By close of grade four the student will:

Technology operations and concepts

• Use input and output devices to operate computers and other technologies.

• Communicate about technology using developmentally appropriate terminology.

• Use a variety of media and technology resources for directed and independent learning activities.

Digital citizenship

• Work cooperatively and collaboratively with peers, family members and others using technology in

the classroom and beyond.

• Demonstrate positive social and ethical behaviors using technology.

• Discuss common uses of technology in daily life: its advantages and disadvantages.

• Evaluate accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, and bias in electronic information sources.

Creativity and innovation

• Create developmentally appropriate multimedia products with support from teachers and others.

• Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate

skills, and facilitate learning across the curriculum.

• Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, art expression, and

publishing activities to create knowledge products for selected audiences.

Communication and collaboration

• Use telecommunications and online resources to participate in learning communities and information

sharing.

• Extend one’s sphere of influence beyond the classroom or home through communication.

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Research and information fluency

• Gather information to integrate with other resources, personal perspective, and to communicate with

others.

Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making

• Determine which technology is useful given a problem or situation and select appropriate tools and

resources to address given tasks.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade four:

1) Projects integrate with classroom expectations.

By the close of grade eight the student will:

Technology operations and concepts

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BENCHMARKS

• Apply strategies for identifying and solving routine hardware and software problems in everyday use.

• Use a variety of media and technology resources for directed and independent learning activities.

Digital citizenship

• Exhibit legal and ethical behavior when using information and technology and know consequences of

misuse.

• Evaluate accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, and bias in electronic information sources.

Creativity and innovation

• Use content-specific tools, software, and peripherals to support learning and research both for

academic and personal purposes.

• Design, develop, publish, and present knowledge products such web pages, video tapes, digital

media, and paper and slide presentations using various resources that demonstrate and communicate

curriculum concepts to selected audiences within and outside the classroom.

Communication and collaboration

• Use telecommunications and online resources to participate in learning communities and information

sharing, collaborate with peers, experts, and others to investigate curriculum related topics, then

present information in products suitable for various audiences.

• Extend one’s sphere of influence beyond the classroom or home through communication.

Research and information fluency

• Gather information to integrate with other resources, personal perspective, and to communicate with

others.

Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making

• Determine which technology is useful, appropriate, and address various problems or tasks identified

by the student.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade eight:

1) Various content areas integrate technology skills into their assessment expectations.

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BENCHMARKS

By close of grade twelve the student will:

Technology operations and concepts

• Use keyboards and other common input and output devices efficiently and effectively.

Digital citizenship

• Discuss basic issues related to responsible use of technology and information and describe personal

consequences of inappropriate use.

• Discuss common uses of technology in daily life and the advantages and disadvantages those uses

provide.

Creativity and innovation

• Use general-purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate

skill deficits, and facilitate learning throughout the curriculum.

• Use technology tools such as multimedia authoring, presentation, Web design tools, digital cameras,

and scanners for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to

create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

Communication and collaboration

• Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information, communicate with

others in support of direct and independent learning, and pursue personal interests.

Research and information fluency

• Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of electronic

information sources.

Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making

• Use technology resources such as calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software for

problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.

• Determine when technology is useful and select the appropriate tool(s) and technology resources to

address a variety of tasks and problems.

ASSESSMENT

By close of grade twelve:

1) Computer Applications Assessment: Microsoft Office User Specialist

2) (MOUS) practice exam in Word, Excel, and/or PowerPoint

3) Adobe Creative Suite 5 Assessment

4) Layout and Design Art Project Assessment

5) Final Cut Pro video editing Project Assessment

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National Education Technology Standards for Students most recent update 2007 http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-

students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

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INFORMATION LITERACY

VISION

As a result of a CHCA education, students will demonstrate familiarity with and competence in accessing

information resources whether print, electronic, or media, within or beyond their immediate learning

community. Facilities that provide students access to an enriched environment of print and non-print resources

enable CHCA students to become competent as learners, researchers, and communicators. Students who are

information literate exhibit skills to access information efficiently and effectively and can evaluate

informational texts, depictions, and content based on accuracy, objectivity, currency, coverage, and biblical

worldview. Information literate students become independent, lifelong readers, learners, and digital consumers

who value literature, read noteworthy titles, access digitized content from a variety of genres and literary

styles, and who contribute positively to the learning community and to our democratic society. CHCA students

will value the freedom of access to information in a democratic society and its public institutions that archive

and circulate these materials. Students who are information literate construct meaning from information, create

quality products, learn independently, participate as learners both independently and collaboratively, and use

information technologies responsibly and ethically. CHCA is committed to providing students with those skills

which enable them to reach their potential to serve God, their families, and communities in Christian

leadership now and in the future.

STANDARDS

What a CHCA student will know and be able to do in Information Literacy:

The following Standards are integrated throughout the K-12 curriculum in age appropriate contexts so that

students can use these processes and skills to execute their learning congruent with current resources and

technologies.

Information literacy skills

• Use inquiry-based research processes by applying critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis,

evaluation and organization to construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new

knowledge.

• Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions and to meet personal learning

needs.

• Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve

problems.

• Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in

ways others can view, use, and assess.

• Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.

Information literacy skills in action

• Demonstrate productivity and perseverance to complete products expressing learning.

• Consider divergent opinions then, if evidence warrants, alter opinions or conclusions.

Social responsibilities

• Practice safe and ethical behaviors in use of sources and communications.

• Contribute to the exchange of ideas within and beyond the learning community.

• Create products that contribute to authentic, real world contexts.

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Self assessment strategies

• Monitor, reflect, and assess one's own information-seeking processes for effectiveness.

• Use interaction and feedback from teachers and peers to guide inquiry when applicable.

Theological integration

• Use biblical principles to evaluate both content and guide behaviors appropriate to the pursuit of

information for school and personal learning.

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CHCA derives its information literacy curriculum in part from the American Association of School Librarians Learning

Standards for the 21st Century Learner. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learning

standards/AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills http://p21.org/

A Framework for 21st Century Learning.

“You are the light of the world..

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds

and praise your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14, 16.

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CINCINNATI HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 11525 Snider Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45249

513-247-0900 http://www.chca-oh.org