PSS Curriculum
The staff at Paul Smith School are implementing resources that will support the individual needs of each student.
Literacy Resource
Orton-Gillingham (OG)- In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator, psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction for students with “word-blindness,” which would later become known as dyslexia. Their approach combined direct, multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics. Today, the Orton-Gillingham approach is used around the world to help students at all levels learn to read. Orton-Gillingham was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds. In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator, psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction for students with “word-blindness,” which would later become known as dyslexia. Their approach combined direct, multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics.
UFLI - UFLI is an evidenced-based program developed at the University of Florida. At PSS the UFLI program is used to support the learning done through the OG instructional approach. Both OG and UFLI use a phonics approach for instruction.
Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ (FPC) is a cohesive, multi-text approach to literacy instruction for all students in grades PreK–6. Fountas & Pinnell Classroom is designed to support whole-group, small-group and independent learning opportunities including: interactive read-aloud; reading minilessons; shared reading; phonics, spelling, and word study; guided reading; book clubs; and independent reading collections. Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ is rich with authentic texts, lessons or conferring cards, minilessons and professional learning tools for a systematic, transformative approach to literacy instruction."
Fountas & Pinnell is a cohesive system for high-quality classroom-based literacy instruction. Learning deepens when students think, talk, read, and write about authentic texts across many different instructional contexts. Learning is ignited with thousands of student texts, lessons, and resources which are used during major instructional contexts: whole group, small group and independent learning.
Math Resource
EUREKA MATH - Eureka Math is a program designed to advance equity in the math classroom by helping students build enduring math knowledge. Numbers should add up to more than the right answer. They should inspire aha moments and joyful connections. Eureka Math® set a new standard for rigor, coherence, and focus in the classroom so students gain a deeper understanding of the why behind the numbers, all while making math more enjoyable to learn and teach.
Handwriting Without Tears® strives to make legible and fluent handwriting a natural and automatic skill for all children. The unique curriculum uses entertaining, multi-sensory techniques and research based methods to help students develop skills and form letters—from prewriting to printing to cursive.
The Responsive Classroom® is an approach to teaching and learning that fosters safe, challenging, and joyful classrooms and schools.
The Responsive Classroom® approach is informed by the work of many great educational theorists as well as the experiences of exemplary classroom teachers. There are seven basic principles underlying this approach:
The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.
How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand.
The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
There is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
Knowing the children we teach-individually, culturally, and developmentally–is as important as knowing the content we teach.
Knowing the families of the children we teach and inviting their participation is essential to children's education.
How the adults at school work together is as important as individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.
Fly Five is a kindergarten to eighth grade social and emotional learning curriculum developed on the core belief that, in order for students to be academically, socially, and behaviorally successful in, out of, and beyond school, they need to learn a set of social and emotional competencies, namely cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control (C.A.R.E.S.). The Fly Five lessons are intentionally designed to be easy to follow and implement so that teachers can place their attention on the important work of noticing a student’s academic, social, and emotional growth and progress and creating conditions for that progress to continue.
Science and Social Studies
As an early childhood school much of the curriculum is taught in an integrated fashion. This is particularly appropriate for science and social studies standards. To support this structure, PSS teachers utilize the resources offered through Discovery Education.
Discovery Education is a flexible K-12 learning platform, that provides high-quality content, ready-to-use digital lessons, unique collaboration tools, and professional learning resources to all teachers to create a lasting impact.
Mystery Science offers open-and-go online video lessons that inspire kids to love science.