Elementary Services

Kindergarten- Grade 2

Students enter school with a wide range of experiences and varying access to early learning opportunities. Our young scholars in kindergarten through second grade will often undergo rapid growth and development in the first few years of school. While formal identification doesn't begin until 3rd grade, we do identify students that come to school with advanced skills and intellectual ability. We monitor those students and place them in strategic classroom cluster groups in order for teachers to differentiate their instruction and provide them access to like minded peers. All students will be formally screened when they reach 2nd grade for formal identification beginning in 3rd grade.

Grades 3-5

Students who have been identified as Highly Capable will be served in their classroom by their teacher. Students will be strategically placed in classroom clusters with other highly capable students where instruction will be differentiated to meet their needs. Students will be served in reading and math. The focus will not be on compacting the curriculum and moving faster but rather on having the students engage in learning activities that promote a deeper and more complex understanding of the content. For example, in reading, this may be students working together in a higher level text, participating in a book club with other HCP students, or working on a thematic unit that connects other content area learning to the reading unit. They will also meet with the teacher in leveled reading groups for instruction at their level. In math, students will continue working within grade level standards but their focus will be on more complex analysis and problem solving. The Cluster model is not about giving students more work to complete but rather shifting their work to a more complex and deeper representation of the content.

For reading, all of our students, regardless of program, use the district adopted Fountas & Pinnell Classroom. This is a researched based, cohesive, multi-text approach to literacy instruction for students. The System is designed to support whole-group, small-group, and independent learning opportunities. Fountas & Pinnell Classroom includes Reading Minilessons, Shared Reading, Interactive Read Alouds, Independent Reading, Conferring, Book Club sets, Guided Reading, and Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study. It also provides professional tools and learning for a systematic, transformative approach to literacy instruction. Each day, students are offered 80 - 95 minutes of explicit reading instruction as well as rich opportunities for inquiry, practice, and intentional and responsive small group and individualized instruction.There is no separate and distinct curriculum for HCP. Teachers have all received training on using this curriculum to meet the needs of a classroom with a diverse level of student learners.

For math, our district adopted math curriculum in Evergreen is Illustrative Mathematics (IM), K-5. This problem-based curriculum makes rigorous elementary school mathematics accessible to all learners. IM K–5 Math™ is fully aligned with the focus, rigor, and coherence of the standards, and has been given the stamp of approval by EdReports, earning perfect scores in the areas of Focus & Coherence and Rigor & Mathematical Practices. The scope and sequence of units, activities, and representations are designed to help students develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, build fluency with procedures, and solve mathematical problems that reflect their lived experiences. As students show they need more complex experiences, teachers will provide them with differentiated assignments to offer more challenges with a focus on depth and complexity.

Page updated

Report abuse