Instruction and Assessment
Curriculum
The curriculum for our K-5 students offers a wonderful variety of learning experiences. The teachers are divided into two vertical teams K-5 and consistently collaborate with each other. Each grade level knows the learning goals and objectives of the other grades.
K-5 core curriculum includes reading, writing, language arts, math, science, social studies, technology and health. The Portland Learning Results can be found at our Portland Public Schools web site. The State of Maine Guiding Principles can be found at www.mainestatelearningresults.org
Students must be taught a variety of skills to be productive citizens of the 21st century. Our 7 Learner Expectations reflect the skills that will be useful throughout life. We want students to become collaborative workers, involved citizens, effective communicators, quality producers, knowledgeable persons, self-directed learners and versatile thinkers.
Our district Educational Planning Office involves teacher leaders in creating a comprehensive local assessment system. The faculty at Presumpscot School are working hard to measure the achievement of students using a variety of assessments, including the Maine State Assessment (MEA).
Reading Recovery is an individualized program that provides intervention to first graders. The goal of our highly trained educators is to bring the hardest to teach children to a level of literacy achievement where they can be fully participate in the classroom. Our Reading Recovery teacher initiates and maintains active communication with parents. Parent participation is encouraged as we offer personal sessions with parents to provide a basic understanding of language instruction and development. Parents are invited to observe lessons and to read with their child each day at home. This program is results orientated and the achievement of students is high.
Math Pilot: Theoretical Math(grades 1 & 2)
This is the second year that first and second grade teachers at Presumpscot have been involved in this project. The theoretical math method, based on the work of the Russian psychologist Vasily Davydov, provides a grounding in mathematical concepts that enables the youngsters to learn later to compute numbers more easily and with a deeper understanding of what they're doing.
The Pilot is led by Peter Moxhay. Moxhay says that theoretical math jumped out at him as the only innovative program in math education he has come across that attempts to make a very high level of math available to young children. Key to the theoretical math method is students' physical activity in the process, and group discussion and problem solving.
Theoretical math is actually part of a larger educational philosophy encompassing all subjects, called theoretical learning, whose roots date back to the first half of the 20th century. Davydov drew on the ideas of another Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, in developing his theory of learning. Davydov's ideas were incorporated into an innovative written curriculum in Russia in the 1990s, which is now being used by about 10 percent of the schools in that country. Davydov's basic theory was that young children have a very different understanding of numbers than adults have.
Visit
the website at http://www.theoreticallearning.net
Support Services
The Resource Room is available to any child having special needs that cannot be adequately met in the regular classroom. It is our aim to create and provide supportive environments for any child on any day. We seek to build any child's confidence as a learner so that s/he can function as independently as possible in any learning setting.
Reading support staff provide additional instruction 1:1 or in small groups. We use reading recovery to accelerate the reading skills of first graders. We conduct literacy groups for students in grades 2-5. The Wilson Reading Program is available to students in our Resource Room.
A Social Worker, Spurwink Clinical Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Therapist, School Nurse, Migrant Teacher and a Project Exploration teacher contribute to the support services available to students.