Learning

The goal of Laurel Valley Elementary is to facilitate a personalized approach to learning for each individual, every hour of every day. Our learning progressions are designed to meet the individual student exactly where they are developmentally. To facilitate this process, students are assessed and instruction is designed to maximize the student's potential. In some instances, multi-age grouping is used to provide the flexibility needed for personalized learning opportunities. An example may be a 6-year-old students may participate in reading with 8-year-old students. Instruction is provided to the individual when they need it developmentally, not at a level that is predetermined by their age. The core curriculum consists of English/Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. The students also participate in physical education, music, art, library and STEAM classes. These specialty area classes are offered on a six-day rotation basis.  

• Reading Workshop is a powerful way to structure a reading classroom. Using this model involves guiding your students to choose their own books as well as providing significant amounts of time for them to read independently. Reading workshop includes read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading and literacy centers.
• Read-Aloud is an instructional practice where teachers, parents, and caregivers read texts aloud to children. The reader incorporates variations in pitch, tone, pace, volume, pauses, eye contact, questions, and comments to produce a fluent and enjoyable delivery.
• Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience that occurs when students join in or share the reading of a book or other text with guidance and support from a teacher. The teacher explicitly models the skills of proficient readers, including reading with fluency and expression.
• Guided Reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can read similar levels of texts. The text is easy enough for students to read with skillful support from the teacher. Typically a guided reading group will have four or five students of mixed ages, who are working at the same developmental level. 
• Independent Reading is a student's reading of text — such as books, magazines, and newspapers — on their own, with minimal to no assistance from adults. It can consist of reading done in or out of school, including voluntary reading for enjoyment or assigned reading to help develop the student's use of comprehension strategies.  
• Literacy Centers are physical areas (or stations) designated for specific learning purposes. They are designed to provide appropriate materials to help students work independently or collaboratively (with partners or in small groups) to meet literacy goals. A literacy center can be portable, temporary or permanent. The integration of literacy centers can support improvement in reading comprehension, language, social, and writing development. Literacy centers facilitate problem-solving because students are able to explore, invent, discover, and create alone or with others at centers (Stone, 1996).

• Narrative Writing is characterized by a main character in a setting who engages with a problem or event in a significant way. This type of writing follows the same format as that in a piece of fictional text.  
• Descriptive Writing is used to describe a person, place or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader's mind. Capturing an event through descriptive writing involves paying close attention to the details by using all of your five senses. This type of writing also develops the reading comprehension strategy of visualization.  
• Argumentative Writing is a genre of writing that requires the students to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. This type of writing also develops the reading comprehension strategies of making inferences, summarizing and synthesizing.
• Expository Writing is used to convey factual information (as opposed to creative writing, such as fiction). It is the language of learning and understanding the world around us. If you've ever read an encyclopedia entry, a how-to article on a website, or a chapter in a textbook, then you've encountered examples of expository writing. Expository writing is everywhere in everyday life, not just academic settings. It is present anytime there is information to be conveyed. It can take the form of an academic paper, an article for a newspaper, a report for a business, or even book-length nonfiction. It explains, informs, and describes. This writing process also enhances a student's ability to synthesize the most important information from non-fiction literature. Expository writing is the vehicle through which we introduce students to science and social studies concepts.  

• STEAM is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and real life problems. Students are exposed to basic programming, robotics, maker space experiences and much more.  
• Physical Education aims to develop students' physical competence and knowledge of movement and safety, and their ability to use these to perform in a wide range of activities associated with the development of an active and healthy lifestyle.
• Computer Instruction develops fundamental keyboarding and word processing skills, and internet research and safety. As students move further along the progression, they acquire skills to create spreadsheets and graphic presentations. 
• Art Instruction introduces students to the visual arts progression. Students are introduced to a variety of media through the production of art. Using a discipline-based approach, students consider aesthetics, arts heritage, and criticism to develop their visual literacy skills. 
• Music Education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. Music training from preschool through post-secondary education is common in most nations because involvement with music is considered a fundamental component of human culture and behavior.
• Library Education is an opportunity for students to develop their love for reading. This class provides choice for students where they can select books on topics of which they have an interest. It develops their literacy and comprehension skills while allowing them to find topics that they are passionate about.