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Our Curriculum
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Mathematics - In recognizing that all students learn in different manners and at different paces, Brooklake Elementary
School believes in the research that shows that students learn mathematics best in a heterogeneous setting where teachers
establish flexible within-class ability groups and provide students with differentiated instructional experiences to
account for each student’s unique abilities. While recognizing that there is a sequential development to mathematical
skills, Brooklake Elementary School’s teachers provide students with spiraling, cross-strand instruction and opportunities
to use all of their mathematical skills throughout the school year, regardless of an individual chapter being taught out
of a textbook. To this end, our math instruction goes beyond simple operational drills and focuses on problem-solving
and critical thinking skills which require students to draw upon their knowledge of all mathematical operations. This
philosophy will manifest itself in open-ended classwork and homework assignments that may only be one problem,
but involve numerous operations, math projects which involve multiple applications, and assessments which go beyond the
traditional “math test” in which students are not only asked to display their computational skills but explain how and
why mathematical operations are appropriately used. Texts used to supplement teacher instruction, innovation, and
creativity are from the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill Mathematics series. |
| Reading - Brooklake Elementary School’s reading program reaches beyond students’ abilities to recognize sight words
and grasp phonemic awareness. In addition to achieving these skills, our literature-based reading program focuses
on teacher-based mini-lessons in which students are instructed to learn reading skills such as making inferences,
making connections, questioning texts, visualizing, analyzing, synthesizing, and summarizing. Students will be
monitored in the growth of these skills through both independent reading and leveled guided reading groups. During
the leveled guided reading groups, students will also be monitored for fluency in reading by our teachers through
the use of questioning and running records. Independent reading will be encouraged through the use of classroom libraries
where students can select books that interest them and literature circles whereby advanced readers can read independently
outside of class and participate in “book club” instruction during class. In recognizing that reading is a skill that
some special needs students may have difficulty in learning, Brooklake Elementary School also employs a multisensory
reading approach in our resource centers. Texts used to supplement teacher instruction, innovation, and creativity are
the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill Reading series. |
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Writing - The communication arts program of Brooklake Elementary School focuses on making sure that students produce
authentic writing on a frequent basis. This will be accomplished through a modified writer’s workshop where students
are taught both grammar and the stylistic elements of writing through teacher-based mini-lessons using real artifacts
of writing. Students will incorporate learned lessons in their writing and the concepts taught to students will be
assessed by the teacher in examples of students’ actual writing. Students will also be given plenty of opportunities
to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of examples of authentic writing through peer editing experiences which are
narrow and focused by the teacher. In evaluating student produced work through the use of rubrics, teachers will
differentiate their future instruction based on the needs of their individual learners. This philosophy will manifest
itself in less worksheets to teach writing and more practical, as well as creative writing opportunities through which
students are assessed for the “six plus one” traits of writing [They are 1) Ideas: Good writing contains ideas - it conveys
a message. 2) Organization: Good writing has organization - this means that the writing has a logical structure.
3) Voice: Good writing has its own voice - a personal tone and flavor chosen by the writer. 4) Word choice: Good writing
shows a thoughtful approach to word choice - the writer uses the right vocabulary to get the message across. 5) Sentence
fluency: Good writing has sentence fluency - there is a rhythm and flow to the writing that helps it convey the message.
6) Conventions: Good writing shows correct use of the conventions of written English - these are grammar, spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, and usage. +1) Presentation - Good writing looks good on the page. Good presentation means
that it is ready to read! If people can’t read it, the message won't get through!] All students will keep writing folders
to monitor their progress in writing throughout the course of the school year. As their writing and editing skills develop,
students will return to these folders to select works that they feel they can improve upon. Finally, opportunities will
be found for students to “publish” their works. Texts used to supplement teacher instruction, innovation, and creativity
are the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill and Silver Burdett Ginn Language Arts series.
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To view the curricula for all the subjects taught at Brooklake Elementary School, please click on the link below.
http://www.fpks.org/curricula.html
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Brooklake Elementary School's curriculum is aligned to the New Jersey Core Content Curriculum Standards. Click on the link below to
view the standards.
http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs/
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