This past quarter students receiving AAP level II/III services in Language Arts stretched their thinking with Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program curriculum. Jacob's Ladder uses fables, myths, poems and non fiction to move student's thinking from basic understanding to critical analysis of text.
Each grade level participated in a Socratic Seminar from a Jacob's Ladder text. Socratic Seminar is a group discussion based on a reading. Students facilitate the discussion based on student created open ended questions. Through this type of discussion students put into practice several Portrait of a Graduate Attributes: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinker, Global and Ethical Citizen as well as Collaborator.
The following readings were used for our Jacob's Ladder activity and Socratic Seminar discussions:
During Quarter 2, students receiving AAP level II/III services in Math used their problem solving skills to complete math tasks. Second grade was introduced to equations with variables. Third grade used multiplication strategies to help them solve mathematical puzzles. Fourth and fifth grades were introduced to algebra. They used manipulatives to solve equations with variables.
The following curriculum units were used: