Curriculum

Plainfield Community Schools has adopted the Design Thinking approach to investigations. Staff members and students use this process to work through various tasks. Administrators will also use the Design Thinking process at staff meetings to help brainstorm topics regarding our schools. Design Thinking has become an integral part of the culture at Plainfield Community Schools. Every teacher, including special educations and fine arts teachers, have been trained on using Design Thinking strategies and projects (28/28 certified teachers)

An approved project based learning curriculum from the Indiana Department of Education that we use at Van Buren Elementary is Project Lead the Way. Teachers incorporate multiple Project Lead the Way courses throughout the year, and all have been trained as a Project Lead the Way Launch teacher. Two teachers at Van Buren have been trained as Project Lead the Way Lead teachers and provide training and help to other staff members at our school. All classroom teachers (23/23) are trained and teaching PLTW modules to their students as part of our school's STEM education.

Defined STEM (Defined Learning) is a project based learning program that Plainfield utilizes alongside Project Lead the Way. The pictures above capture different units Van Buren has incorporated with their students.

Van Buren Elementary utilizes a Computer Science specials class in its rotation alongside Library, Art, Music, and Physical Education. This document outlines the curriculum map used in that Computer Science specials class. All students (538/538) attend Computer Science class at least one time per week.

Van Buren's Computer Science teacher incorporates project based learning into the student's lessons. The document above outlines the planning of those projects. All students (538/538) attend Computer Science class at least one time per week.

The Computer Science Fundamentals Guide from Code.org served as an inspiration to the Computer Science curriculum map. Students are very active on the Code.org website as they learn various ways to use coding on the computer. Every student (538/538) will take part of Code.org multiple times while at Van Buren.

Computer Science is not just taught in the Computer Science specials class. The Van Buren Computer Science Plan above is an example of how teachers incorporate the Computer Science standards into their classroom.

Because of a partnership between the Town of Plainfield and Plainfield Community School Corporation, all students (538/538) at Van Buren Elementary are provided a device to use at school. Students use their Chromebooks in the class, and have the ability to bring their Chromebook to the Computer Science specials class.

The Employability Skills are a big topic at the Imagination Lab. Each grade level works with an employability skill every time they visit the Lab. These documents show how the skills are showcased in Imagination Lab newsletters. All students (538/538) will participate in 36 Imagination Lab Odysseys while at Van Buren, each one addressing career and employability topics.

The above message is from Mr. Ray Helmuth to Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Pat Cooney. This communication outlines how the Employability Skills are implemented at Van Buren Elementary.

This teacher incorporates Employability Skills in his teaching every week. The skill of the week is emphasized in the assignments and activities completed throughout the week. The Employability Skill of the Week is also communicated to parents. The post above is part of the weekly communication that is sent out to parents on Parent Square. Every student at Van Buren (538/538) will participate in weekly Employability skills throughout their 6 year career at Van Buren

The document above highlights how Van Buren Elementary addresses the special populations at our school. Through support from a specially designed program to support staff, students who are a part of these populations receive the necessary support at Van Buren Elementary.

Van Buren is fortunate to have a highly effective special education support staff who provides support to our students. The schedule above outlines the areas where the assistants provide support. Our school takes pride in the inclusion of our special education students in all of our STEM activities.

One way for all of our students to access STEM material is the STEM section in the school library. Teachers collaborate together to determine books that will benefit all students in the field of STEM.

The pictures above show an example of a graphing assessment completed by second grade students. In this assignment, students were asked to survey the student in their class about apple preferences, and then apply their graphing skills to display the results.

For this assignment, students were to research various holidays around the world. Once their research was complete, students used that information to create a website showcasing the traditions they discovered. The project overview and links to two student-created websites are embedded above.

In this assessment, Fifth Grade High Ability students were asked to analyze characters in Number the Stars to communicate who they thought were the top heroes were in the novel. The students created Adobe Spark presentations, and the teacher used the rubric above to assess their project. Two examples of student presentations are also provided.

Students used the assessment above to show their knowledge of various Science tools. By correctly using a pan balance, spring scale, and graduated cylinder, students were able to demonstrate their abilities.

89% of Van Buren Teachers use Multiple Types of Assessments for STEM Learning 75% of the time.

During a Project Lead the Way module, students were asked to communicate how a step-by-step process helped their design or improved their solution to their problem. Students used Flipgrid, an online video platform to communicate their responses.