This resource provides information about the Grades K-2 (Lower Elementary) curriculum.
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- Curriculum Overview
- Top Facts
- General Details
- Credit Information
- English Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Auto-Graded Details
- Sample Schedules
- FAQ
- Resources
Curriculum Overview
The Lincoln Empowered Grades K-2 courses prepare students for a lifetime of learning by establishing the groundwork for important foundational skills in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as within elective offerings. Using a variety of pedagogically-sound approaches, the curriculum offers grade-appropriate, engaging, and interactive activities that are written and designed for adult support.
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Top Facts
- The courses contain dynamic and engaging online and offline activities which help students master content in an age-appropriate manner. Because students in this age group cannot be expected to complete lessons on their own, the lessons are written so the parent or guardian can read the content verbatim to the student.
- All English Language Arts courses contain fluency assessments; fluency is the ability to read and speak at or above an expected level. Click here to learn more about fluency assesssments.
- Core courses contain Teach It videos, which are implemented to add an auditory component to the Read It within the course, as well as instruction via an avatar. Click here to learn more about Lincoln Learning Teach Its.
- Courses are supported by various subject-specific materials including Parent and Teacher Guides for the core courses, Worksheet Collections, other printed materials, and course kits where available. Click here to learn more about the Parent and Teacher Guide.
General Details
Lesson Structure
- Module > Lesson > Learning Object
Learning Object Design
Lessons are driven by behavioral, age-appropriate learning objectives that are based on subject and grade-appropriate national standards. The content is full of bright colors, simplified language, and interactivity. There are plenty of opportunities for engagement, whether it is within a video, game, or embedded quiz or activity. Assessments require students to be hands-on; most assessments are taken offline to support fine and gross motor skills. Lessons may include Social and Emotional Learning arrow buttons at the end which navigate the student back to the specific location within the Social and Emotional Guide K-2.
Click here to learn more about the Lincoln Learning Objects.
Activity Time
- Per lesson is an average of 60 minutes.
Pacing
- 1 Lesson = 1 Day of learning (1 hour) per course.
Credit Information
- Lincoln Learning Solutions offers various K-2 core and elective courses. To review available courses, along with credit weights, please Browse our Courses via our Lincoln Empowered Course Lists.
- English Language Arts and Mathematics courses in grades K-2 are offered as full credit; Science and Social Studies courses in grades K-2 are offered as half credit.
English Language Arts
Content Specifics
- The English Language Arts K-2 courses are full-credit courses with 180 days' worth of lesson content written to unpacked national Common Core standards.
- In these introductory ELA courses, students begin to develop and fine-tune skills associated with letter recognition and printing along with phonetical and grammatical skills necessary for successful reading and writing.
- Students explore fiction and nonfiction literature while also being introduced to the writing process, proper grammar, spelling, parts of speech, proper capitalization and punctuation, morphology, types of sentences, and figurative language. The design of the spelling lists reinforces what is taught for phonics.
- The ELA courses also offer fluency assessments which allow adults to measure student growth and progress with fluent reading.
Activity Design
- Activities are teacher-graded.
- All activities are meant to be adult-supported.
Assessment Structure
- Students take various types of graded assessments in the ELA courses including spelling and teacher-graded content assessments as well as auto-graded Checkpoints and summative assessments known as Mastery Assess Its. Students also have non-graded opportunities to measure growth, such as those presented in the fluency assessments. An adult is expected to read the assessments.
What is the percentage of teacher-graded vs. auto-graded?
- The ELA courses are primarily teacher-graded (80%) with auto-graded assessments accounting for the remainder (20%).
Mathematics
Content Specifics
- The Mathematics K-2 courses are full-credit courses with 180 days' worth of lesson content written to unpacked national Common Core standards.
- In these introductory mathematics courses, students begin to develop and fine-tune skills associated with real-world mathematical application, solving problems, abstract and quantitative reasoning, argument construction, modeling, and using tools strategically and correctly.
- After covering the traditional mathematical concepts, students proceed to work on operations and algebraic thinking, number operations in base ten, measurements and data, and geometry.
- Mathematical practice occurs both online and offline to give students adequate opportunities for both interactive and hands-on application of the concepts about which they are learning.
Activity Design
- Activities are teacher-graded.
- All activities are meant to be adult-supported.
Assessment Structure
- Students take various types of graded assessments in the mathematics courses including teacher-graded content assessments as well as auto-graded Checkpoints and summative assessments known as Mastery Assess Its. An adult is expected to read the assessments.
What is the percentage of teacher-graded vs. auto-graded?
- The mathematics courses are primarily teacher-graded (70%) with Checkpoints and summative Mastery Assessments accounting for the remainder (30%).
Science
Content Specifics
- The Science K-2 courses are half-credit courses with 90 days' worth of lesson content written to unpacked Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
- In these introductory science courses, students begin to develop and fine-tune skills associated with observation and investigation of topics in the areas of life, earth and space, and physical science.
- Students use various materials both online and offline to experiment, providing hands-on opportunities to design, engage, and study outcomes.
- The Science K-2 courses can be flexibly offered once or twice per week over the course of a year or every day for a semester of focused learning.
Activity Design
- Activities are teacher-graded.
- All activities are meant to be adult-supported.
Assessment Structure
- Students take various types of graded assessments in the science courses including teacher-graded content assessments as well as auto-graded Checkpoints and summative assessments known as Mastery Assess Its. An adult is expected to read the assessments.
What is the percentage of teacher-graded vs. auto-graded?
- The science courses are primarily teacher-graded (70%) with Checkpoints and summative Mastery Assessments accounting for the remainder (30%).
Social Studies
Content Specifics
- The Social Studies K-2 courses are half-credit courses with 90 days' worth of lesson content written to the unpacked College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) framework.
- In these introductory social studies courses, students begin to develop and fine-tune skills associated with basic civics, geographic, and cultural ideas.
- Students also delve into historical and economic concepts while applying all to real-life scenarios and situations, relating the content to their personal lives.
- The Social Studies K-2 courses can be flexibly offered once or twice per week over the course of a year or every day for a semester of focused learning.
Activity Design
- Activities are teacher-graded.
- All activities are meant to be adult-supported.
Assessment Structure
- Students take various types of graded assessments in the social studies courses including teacher-graded content assessments as well as auto-graded Checkpoints and summative assessments known as Mastery Assess Its. An adult is expected to read the assessments.
What is the percentage of teacher-graded vs. auto-graded?
- The social studies courses are primarily teacher-graded (60%) with Checkpoints and summative Mastery Assessments accounting for the remainder (40%).
Auto-Graded Details
Auto-Graded courses provide students with a fully asynchronous experience with automatically graded assessments and educationally-sound feedback. To determine which courses are available, please review our Auto-Graded Course list on the Browse our Courses section of our website. Click to learn more about our Auto-Graded Course Experience.
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Sample Schedules
When setting up your student’s schedule for the year, please consider the examples below:
Enrolling in Core Courses
Semester 1
Suggested Start Date: First Day of School
Suggested End Date: End of 1st Semester
Semester 2
Suggested Start Date: End of 1st Semester
Suggested End Date: Last Day of School
A Week at a Glance
Each X indicates when a lesson should be completed. This can be used per semester.
Additional Science and Social Studies Considerations
- The K-2 Science and Social Studies courses have the availability to be offered over the course of a year with additional flexibility. For example, a student can take a science course once or twice per week over the course of a year instead of every day of the school week. This can be delivered via our K-2 semester offerings. The courses are still 90-day offerings, so the semesters would be delivered in 45 days over a 90-day period.
- Science 1
- Every day for a semester or every other day for a year
- Social Studies 1
- Every day for a semester or every other day for a year
Core Courses Using ELA and Math Semesters and Science and Social Studies Full Year
Elective Enrollments
For Elementary electives, you can determine your enrollment scenarios per course. The charts below identify the number of lessons a student would need to complete each day based on the enrollment timeframe and the number of lessons within the course.
Full Year
Semester
9-Weeks
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FAQ
Q: What is the projected screen time for a student in a K-2 course?
A: The amount of screen time for the student is dependent upon what the adult would prefer for the student. The material was created so the student could sit with an adult and do everything on the screen (minus the worksheets and the completion of the hands-on activities). However, screen time limits were taken into consideration throughout the process of creation, and all lessons could be completed with only a limited amount of time in front of a screen.
Q: What electives are available for students in the K-2 courses?
A: Students in the K-2 courses are encouraged to take elective offerings to broaden their interests and expand upon their knowledge sets. Lincoln Learning Solutions provides various options for students within the subjects of Art and Music, Wellness and Nutrition, and Cursive Handwriting.
Q: What is the Cursive Handwriting course?
A: The Lincoln Empowered Cursive Handwriting course teaches students the basics of cursive letter writing and word construction. It consists of 90 lessons that are supported by procedural videos, which offer step-by-step instruction, as well as the Cursive Handwriting Workbook, which provides hands-on practice and multimodal offline learning. You can learn more about the course by reviewing our Cursive Writing Information Sheet.
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