Project Lead the Way--September 2025
The month of September was a busy month in PLTW in Livonia Public Schools. A number of buildings have been getting PLTW classrooms set up following building renovations or construction of new spaces. Other classrooms may have been getting reorganized based on what teachers learned during the first two years of program roll out. Most of all, September was the month to get students and staff reacquainted, routines established, and the foundation set for a school year of exciting new learning. Be sure to talk to your child about their first month of school, not only in PLTW, but all special areas. Ask your child the following questions to launch a conversation.
What kinds of things might you be learning this year in PLTW?
What kinds of things might you be learning this year in other specials (Art, Music, LMC, PE) classes?
Which special area class seems most interesting to you and why?
PLTW teachers began slowly out rolling our curriculum on or about the third week of September. Please take an opportunity to look at the module descriptions for Trimester 1 to gain a better understanding of our goals and objectives between now and Friday, December 12. Please watch for updates on this site to give families talking points for conversations with their kids.
How the Module Schedule Was Determined
The current K-4 module schedule for STEM education in LPS elementary buildings came about as a result of the pilot year. Prior to the pilot year, a group of administrators gathered together to determine which PLTW module offerings would be the best choice for enhancing science experiences related to the integrated English Language Arts (ELA) units taught in classrooms and grade levels across the district. A prototype module schedule was put into place for the pilot year in 2022-23 which was used to guide planning for the eventual program roll out district-wide in 2023-24.
During April-May of 2023, in preparation for the PLTW program roll out to the entire district, the Director of Elementary Programs and District Services, K-6 Curriculum Coordinator, and pilot teachers met to discuss the module schedule. The goal was to have as close of an alignment as would be possible with the learning occurring in the general education classrooms. As always, there are barriers to realizing all goals. Such barriers include timing of units taught in classrooms with those taught in specials classes, some modules that are better suited for being taught at certain times of the year, teacher passion for the content of modules, etc. We realize that time and conversations about what we are teaching allows us the opportunity to revisit schedules and make adjustments with a better vision. With that sentiment. we entered the 2023-24 school year open-minded to the idea of making changes where required.
The 5-6 module schedule was revised for the 2024-25 school year as a result of the learning that occurred during the inaugural year in 2023-24. No upper elementary was part of the pilot in 2022-23, so in preparation for the inaugural year, modules were selected and a schedule was determined based on what would seem logical for a launch. A part of the professional learning work that occurred in the 2023-24 school year involved the 5-6 team working together to develop an improved module schedule for the future. Some key goals included working toward better alignment, where possible, with the learning in ELA in the general classrooms; and developing a module schedule that maximizes student learning and engagement. The revised upper elementary module schedule for 2024-25 helped teachers better achieve those goals.
As with the K-4, there will always be limitations to exact alignment with the integrated ELA lessons taught in upper elementary classrooms due to multiple factors. Where exact alignment is difficult to achieve anywhere in the pre K-6 program, two schools of thought should be able to prevail. First, if a unit is taught in a classroom that is not taught in a PLTW class until later, then the PLTW classroom is an opportunity to expand and grow learning. Second, if a PLTW module is taught before an integrated ELA/Science unit in grade-level classrooms, then students will have prior experiences to make dialog and the work in classrooms more engaging, as students will have knowledge from which to draw conclusions and make connections.