Bellmawr School District
Curriculum and Instruction
2009-2010
Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction- Dottie Specht
256
Anderson Avenue
Bellmawr, NJ 08031
856-931-6695
Currently throughout the Bellmawr School District, we are working on many new initiatives aligned to the 2009- 2010 district’s goals.
Listed below are some of the exciting new curricular topics the teachers and administrators are working on in this 2009- 2010 school year:
! We are revising many of our curricula this year based upon the new 2009 New Jersey Core Curricular Content Standards. In the Fall 2009, teachers are writing curricula in the following areas: Health/ PE, Visual and Performing Arts, World Language, and Technology.
! In the Winter of 2010, the Science curriculum will be revised and updated to reflect the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.
! Over the summer of 2009, the Bell Oaks Middle School Language Arts Literacy teachers revised curriculum based upon the NJCCCS of 2004. This was due to the fact that the New Jersey Department of Education had not release the Language Arts Literacy standards. The state is still involved in a Common Core State Standards Initiative and those are expected to be released in Spring 2010.
@ At the elementary schools, teachers are utilizing a new report card format created by the committee during the 2008-2009 school year. The new format provides parents/ guardians with more information about the student progress.
1 Teachers in grades K-8 are utilizing summaries folders to compile writing benchmarks through the year to monitor students’ writing progress. Teachers in grades kindergarten to fourth are using teacher created, grade level appropriate writing rubrics to assess student progress.
: Students in grades 5- 8 were formatively assessed in Language Arts Literacy and Math during the Fall 2009 using the MAP assessment published by NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association). This on-line assessment provides teachers with valuable information about students’ instructional levels informing their instructional planning and differentiation strategies. Only the eighth grade was given the Science portion of the assessment. The post- assessment will be administered in the late Spring of 2010.
& Teachers in the elementary schools are continuing their second year of implementation of the new 2008 Language Arts Literacy program, Literacy By Design by Rigby Publishing. Based upon the principals of balanced literacy, the guided reading component allows teachers to meet with students in small groups to support reading strategies at a student’s instructional level.
& In the Fall of 2007, both elementary schools began the 100 Book Challenge from the American Book Company. This independent reading program is still going strong in our elementary schools. During this independent reading done during school and at home, students have a chance to enjoy books at their “just right” reading level. The students rehearse their good reader strategies during their independent reading and periodically conference with teachers about their reading strategies.
& The Bell Oaks Middle School students and teachers have new Social Studies texts. The fifth grade’s, A New Nation, and sixth grade’s, Ancient Civilizations are published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers. The seventh and eighth grades’ texts are from Glencoe publishers, American Journey Early Years.
· By the end of 2010 academic year the administrators, supervisor of custodians, and board members will conduct a facilities needs assessment to address growing enrollment, building repairs/upgrades, and increased technological needs.
All stakeholders will be involved in the planning and developing of an action plan. Those needs will be communicated to the community with the goal of supporting a bond referendum.
· By the end of the 2009-2010 academic year, stakeholders will create a plan designed to raise expectations and celebrate excellence for all.
In Bellmawr Public Schools