Abernethy Elementary School

• Opportunities to communicate to a variety of audiences in addition to listening effectively to gather information.
• Kid Writing: Guided writing instruction to enable students to become efficient writers in a variety of genres.
• Skills instruction (e.g., phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, phonics, decoding, word recognition and vocabulary development) to develop accurate and fluent readers.
• Comprehension strategies to develop complex thinking skills, construct meaning, and reflect on and respond to text from a variety of genres. Instruction on concepts and strategies through shared/guided reading and literature groups to become lifelong readers.

Math Investigations
Abernethy is fully participating in the implementation of the "Investigations Math Program", a new curriculum based on years of research about how children learn mathematics. The program emphasizes real-world problem solving and deep understanding of key mathematical concepts. Students learn the basic facts and operations but also learn to reason mathematically. Because some topics, such as graphing and geometry, are now introduced earlier and students are asked to solve more complex problems, the math classes of today may look different to some of us. The program will enable students to meet the standards set by the Oregon Department of Education and experience success in higher levels of mathematics.

Social Studies
Our Social Studies program focuses on the following subject areas by grade level: kindergarten: families, 1st grade: neighborhoods, 2nd grade: communities, 3rd grade: Portland, 4th grade: Oregon history, and 5th grade: US history.

Music
Our music education program includes instruction using the Orff method (xylophones). All students receive two general music classes per week and one music appreciation class every two weeks. The Abernethy students put on music programs each year.

Art
Developing and encouraging children's natural artistic abilities continues to be a primary goal at Abernethy. Where budget cuts have left other schools with weakened art programs, Abernethy was able to support its art program through extraordinary parent and teacher efforts. Our art opportunities are supplemented through fund raising with the Run for the Arts program.  Our arts education has three components:

• Skills-based instruction, in which specific artistic techniques are taught, such as playing a musical instrument, drawing and dancing. Specialist teachers in each of the arts disciplines have generally delivered this skills-based instruction.
• Aesthetic context instruction, in which the meaning of the arts is described relative to their relationship to a culture and its people. This is where the "great works" of diverse cultures are studied.
• Integrated arts curriculum, in which the arts are used to illuminate and illustrate concepts from other disciplines. When the arts are used in an integrated fashion, they are used as a tool in exploring other "non-arts" ideas. One small example is the pairing of arts activities with reading to make reading more motivating and engaging for young students. Another example is the profound relationship between music and mathematics, and the way that musical intervals illustrate the concept of fractions.

Physical Education
Physical Education instruction is provided to all Abernethy students by our PE teacher, Mr. Tom Goodrich. PE classes are held daily with a focus on lifelong fitness and wellness. The Abernethy Gym is well-equipped for the rainy winter months.

Mr. Goodrich has the children working at skills appropriate for their developmental level. For example, younger students have a unit on manipulative activities involving handling objects. These activities develop hand/foot to eye coordination, dexterity as well as encourage working together in pairs or as a group. The upper grades have a unit on a particular sport (such as basketball or badminton) with a continued focus on more cardiovascular activities.

For more details see Mr. Goodrich's webpage 

Science
Abernethy uses science kits developed for Portland Public Schools. The kits are grade level specific and cover each a biological, earth, and physical science strand. Abernethy’s teachers have attended special training sessions from the school district to learn about teaching with these innovative science discovery tools.

Library
Our librarian is Ms. Gwen Sullivan. She teaches library skills and shares her love of books with all of the Abernethy students during their weekly or semi-weekly scheduled visits to the library.

In addition to a wonderful collection of books (approximately 5000), the library features several computers (both PC and MAC) for internet research and word processing. All classes have an hour or more of library time scheduled each week. In addition to the scheduled time, students are welcome in the library any time they need to check out materials, do research or use the computers in the Media Center. Abernethy parents are welcome to check out books, too!

Kindergarten
Abernethy offers both half day and full day fee-for-service kindergarten. We currently have 3 classes that strive for a balance between structure and unstructured activities.

For more information see our Kindergarten Roundup information page.