Our General Studies teachers are committed to educating the whole child, providing opportunities for students to grow academically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Our school's nurturing approach encourages the following:

	Individual growth
	Community service
	Leadership opportunities
	An understanding of the impact of one's words and actions on others

We strive to integrate our General Studies curriculum with the Judaic curriculum by providing opportunities for our teachers to plan and learn together, to discuss children’s growth and development, and to reinforce each other’s learning activities.

While the General Studies curriculum is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for each grade level, our teachers go beyond those requirements to provide more critical and creative thinking, problem-solving and real-life applications. Through integrated teaching, students learn language arts, social studies, science and math, as well as Jewish studies that focus on Hebrew language and lessons in Torah.

We believe in providing differentiated learning opportunities, depending upon a student’s needs, both in the regular classroom and in specialized pull-out groups. We have a General Studies resource program in which the resource teachers provide students with the following support:

	“Pull-out” (in a separate classroom) and “push-in” (within the regular classroom) instruction
	Reading Recovery© for first grade

Specialist teachers offer instruction in technology, art, library, music and physical education. In addition, we also offer a Quest program for students who are academically advanced. Students are stretched to meet their maximum potential in academics and the arts, and as individuals.

Language Arts
Our language arts program is based on the State of Texas framework, yet differentiated to meet the particular needs of our students. For the primary grades, our reading instruction includes developing phonemic awareness, reading fluency and comprehension.

Differentiated instruction begins in the primary grades as teachers assess students for individual reading levels. Teachers use on-going assessments to plan multi-sensory activities for the different levels, using a variety of resource materials, much of which is housed in our extensive Literacy Library.

Students, working in multi-level learning centers, practice independently their reading and writing skills. Teachers group students with similar reading needs and processes into guided reading groups for more formal reading instruction, during which children construct meaning, learn comprehension strategies and increase their fluency. In addition to rigorous phonics instruction, our teachers incorporate “real” reading and “real” writing to keep the focus on meaning and to model for students what reading and writing really are: tools for gaining meaning from and expressing meaning through the written word.

In the intermediate grades, our students evolve as more sophisticated readers and writers, and our focus becomes “reading to learn” rather than “learning to read”. Students learn to analyze texts for character development and structure, compare texts by theme, and learn to read a variety of genres and how to analyze text. Teachers emphasize comprehension, inference, fact and opinion, main idea, and summarization, as well as elements of literature. Writing becomes a primary focus and students learn how to write for a purpose, concentrate on the mechanics of writing, and how to organize, focus, and structure a paragraph or essay.

Mathematics
Akiba endorses the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards that propose that students will:

	Learn to value mathematics
	Become confident in their ability to do mathematics
	Become mathematical problem solvers
	Learn to communicate mathematically
	Learn to reason mathematically

In order to reach these goals, our primary students begin their mathematical learning with hands-on experiences (such as sorting, classifying, patterning) that are related to their environment. Children use a variety of mathematical manipulative materials through which they explore, question and discover new insights. Their learning advances along a continuum from the concrete, to the semi-concrete, and finally to the abstract or symbolic level. As students progress in their learning, they are required to explain their mathematical thinking, to determine if their solutions are reasonable, to represent their problem solving through pictures, charts, graphs and symbols, and to justify their problem solving strategies and conclusions.

The mathematical content includes concepts from the following seven strands:

	Number concepts
	Operations and computation
	Patterns, relations and functions
	Measurement
	Geometry
	Collecting, organizing, and displaying data/probability and statistics
	Problem solving and mathematical reasoning

At each grade level, the mathematics content builds on the skills and processes that were developed at the previous grade level. We emphasize concrete experiences in the grade in which a concept is introduced, with more “bridging” activities at the next grade that help children connect their concrete understandings to the pencil and paper algorithms. Once the children acquire an understanding of a concept, we believe they must practice and apply it in order to reinforce and retain the learning. We encourage our students to use multiple strategies and multiple solutions to solve a problem. We also believe that students must drill and practice basic facts (+ - × ÷) until they have them memorized.

Science
The General Studies teachers integrate science into the curriculum by providing science-related reading, writing, research and math activities. They also provide hands-on experiences that allow students to learn the process skills and to build upon knowledge and skills from previous years. Students observe, analyze, construct models, ask questions, combine logic with imagination, and make systematic predictions and explanations that enable them to understand the natural world. The General Studies teachers also work with the Judaic teachers to connect science with Torah. The Mitzvah Fairs have provided perfect opportunities for our students to integrate the two curricula. For example, students connect concepts about Judaism and ecology, the solar and lunar calendars with the Jewish holidays, and resolve questions about creation and the age of the world.

Social Studies
The social studies curriculum also provides opportunities to integrate secular and Judaic teachings. With Jewish and national holidays and celebrations incorporated into instructional activities, students have a natural opportunity to learn about their Jewish culture and historical roots, while also learning about more diverse cultures.

In the social studies curriculum, students first learn about self and then about their families, community, city, state, country and world. Akiba teachers also want our students to understand that personal participation can make a difference to others, and that by actively engaging themselves, students are instrumental in “Tikkun Olam” (repairing the world). We teach how ideas, events and individuals can influence and change the society around us. All students are encouraged to participate in community service with their families.

Specialties

Physical Education
Akiba provides a developmentally appropriate physical education program for students in K'Ton Ton through 8th grade in a safe, nurturing environment. In Pre-School, children learn fundamental movement skills and basic body control while developing a vocabulary for physical activity. Kindergarteners through 5th graders are engaged in activities that develop basic levels of strength, endurance and flexibility. Middle School students refine their knowledge and skills and identify the types of activities that provide them with enjoyment and challenge and that will encourage them to be physically active throughout life.

Technology Instruction
Technology is an integral part of every student's personal and educational life. Students need to become competent in the use of computers and other technology in order to develop essential life skills, as well as make full use of electronic resources for educational purposes.

Akiba students' computer training includes various productivity tools – keyboarding, word processing and presentation software, graphic programs – in both English and Hebrew.

Primary grades focus mainly on educational games and drawing programs such as Paint and Kidpix. These students also learn basic Microsoft Word skills. Grades 3-4 focus on more advanced word processing skills, as well as PowerPoint slideshows. Middle school classes create advanced PowerPoint presentations and begin developing webpages in Microsoft Publisher.

Library Program
The Library Program at Akiba allows for a fixed schedule for classes Junior Nursery through 5th grade, and uses flexible scheduling for upper grades, as requested by teachers. Students may come to the library at other times for special projects. Our librarian promotes various reading incentive programs, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award for grades 3 through 6 and the Read to Succeed program for grades K through 6. Our librarian is especially talented at pulling an assortment of books on specific topics or themes for teachers to have ready for students to peruse.

Our library is staffed by a professional librarian (MLS) on a part-time basis. Students and teachers may check out books if the librarian is out by using a self check-out system.

Enrichment / Gifted Program
The Quest program is an enrichment/gifted program offered to students in grades 1-5. The students meet once per week for 30 minutes in grades 1-2, and for 45 minutes in grades 3-5. The Quest program is designed to encourage creative and critical thinking, brainstorming, self expression and open-ended questioning. Emphasis is on reading, writing and researching topics of interest, with students working individually and in small groups. We use a wide variety of activities and invite guest speakers and take field trips. We encourage students’ development of independence and self-direction while working on Quest projects.

Music
Students in Teenoki through 5th grade take music class once per week. The Pre-Schoolers also have special Shabbat music on Fridays. During music, Akiba students learn about rhythm and instruments, composers and songs, and music theory, and practice sight reading. Grades 3-5 learn to play the recorder and Orff instruments. Students in grades 1-4 are invited to participate in choir, which meets once per week after school. The choir performs at school and off-campus at special events.

Art
The art program is designed to emphasize our students’ individuality and creativity, as well as foster their imagination. Our students learn to express their ideas while taking pride and satisfaction in their accomplishments. Our Akiba art teacher helps students connect their art experiences to their Jewish heritage and culture, in addition to learning about Israeli and Jewish American artists.

Students learn to apply a variety of media and techniques through studio art projects. They also learn art history and art appreciation, visit museums, and enter art contests at the city, state and national levels.