Comprehensive Education

1. Rollinsford Grade SchoolQuestion, Problem, and Project Based LearningKate Lucas, PrincipalSeptember 18 & 25, 20136:00-7:00RGS

2. Comprehensive Education

3. Literacy

4. Mathematics

5. Related Arts

6. As a community of learners we believe that it is our mission to support educational experiences that inspire and awaken the individual genius in students who can demonstrate the following characteristics: *Lifelong Learners *Effective Communicators *Culturally Appreciative Individuals *Critical Thinkers and Problem Solvers *Involved Citizens *Social Entrepeneurs *Resposible Children 7 Pillars

7. Because it involves the richness of human connection the breadth of human diversity, the complexity of human conflict, and the inspiration of human hope, social responsibility is truly heartfelt responsiveness to the world. It’s not a tool we give to students or a skill we help them develop, it is a gift we offer them of their human birthright. ~Sheldon Berman The why…

8. Technology Integration

9. More and more studies show that technology integration in the curriculum improves students' learning processes and outcomes.  • Research shows technology integration deepens and enhances the learning process. In particular, it supports four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. The why…

10. Content Specific Competencies

11. Because competencies ask why, the so what, the now what, not simply the what. • Because competency is a student’s ability to transfer his/her learning in and/or across content areas. • Because to be competent a student must apply their knowledge, skills, and beliefs to novel situations. “If I had asked my customers what they wanted they would have told me a faster horse.”-Henry Ford The why…

12. Question, Problem, and Project Based Learning When curriculum, instruction, and assessment shift out of the covers of a textbook and into the real-world context of projects, everything changes. Instead of superficially “covering the curriculum” as chapters in a textbook, students and teachers need to uncover the more complex issues revealed through the structured inquiry of projects.`Milton Chen

14. Focus on significant content: At its core, the project is focused on teaching students important knowledge and skills, derived from standards and key concepts at the heart of academic subjects.

15. Develop21st century skills: Students build skills valuable for today’s world, such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and communication, which are taught and assessed.

16. Engage students in in-depth inquiry: Students are engaged in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions, using resources, and developing answers.

17. Organize tasks around a driving question: Project work is focused by an open-ended question that students explore or that captures the task they are completing.

18. Establish a need to know: Students see the need to gain knowledge, understand concepts, and apply skills in order to answer the driving (essential) question and create projects, beginning with an entry event that generates interest and curiosity.

19. Encourage voice and choice: Students are allowed to make some choices about the products to be created, how they work, and how they use their time, guided by the teacher and depending on age level and QPP experience.

20. Incorporate revision and reflection: The project includes processes for students to use feedback to consider additions and changes that lead to high-quality products, and think about what and how they are learning.

21. Include a public audience: Students present their work to other people, beyond their classmates and teachers.

22. Allows for flexibility: Through curriculum integration, teachers can plan for the development of key skills and understandings that transcend individual strands and subjects. • Builds on prior knowledge and experiences: Choosing meaningful connections among subject areas helps students build on their diverse prior knowledge and experiences, supports their holistic view of the world, and ensures more meaningful learning. • Unifies the students’ learning: Curriculum integration enables students to develop a unified view of the curriculum to broaden the context of their learning beyond single subject areas. • Reflects the real world: When curriculum is organized in a holistic way, it better reflects the real world and the way children learn at home and in the community. • Matches the way students think: Brain research supports the theory that younger students take in many things and process and organize them at one time. Teaching ideas holistically, rather than in fragmented pieces, better reflects how young students’ brains process information. The why…