Academic Focus in the Intermediate Pod

Reading: Students in the Intermediate Pod are expected to participate in Independent Reading and Reading Groups.

During Independent Reading, students have an opportunity to practice reading independently, choosing appropriate material at their reading level, and monitoring their own progress by completing a Reading Log.  Students are allowed the freedom to choose their own books.

In Reading Groups, students concentrate on learning a variety of different skills. We practice reading strategies, fluency, inflection, and comprehension. We make predictions about what we think may happen next. We make connections between different books, between books and real life, and between books and what is happening in the world around us. We read in a variety of different ways, such as small groups, buddy reading, and independent reading.

Writing: Students in the Intermediate Pod write daily. We write weekly goals, write about our experiences in our “Weekend News” journals, communicate to each other through letters, write in Writer’s Workshop, write entries in our journals, and we write reflections in order to fully understand our learning. Writing is challenging at any age. At this age, students are expected to be able to write complete sentences while applying basic mechanics (capitalize beginning of sentences and proper nouns, use punctuation correctly, use correct grammar), and express an idea or thought. Students are expected to write multiple sentences on one topic in paragraph form. Veteran students should be able to write multiple paragraphs with correct indentation and transition sentences.

Spelling: The spelling program, Words Their Way, is used at WLC.  Students are assessed and placed in spelling groups where they work at their own developmental level.  Students work with a group of words before taking a pre-test.  Only words that are missed on the pre-test will be on their test.  This allows students to work only on words that they do not know and to avoid wasting valuable time on words they already know.  Students are expected to master all words on their lists.  If students miss any words on the test, the words will be on their next list in order to avoid gaps in their spelling knowledge.

Math: Students in the Intermediate Pod participate in the Investigations program. This is a hands-on problem-solving curriculum that is constructivist (students build their own knowledge), focuses on cooperative learning, and is research based.  WLC has made the decision to split students into grade levels for Investigations instruction in order to ensure they are working on skills that are developmentally appropriate. 

Students will also participate in math focus groups. These groups are created by skill groups and not by ability. Students work on skills such as numbers and operations, geometry, measurement, patterns, and graphing in focus groups and Investigations.

Projects: Projects are an integral part of the WLC program. From the beginning, WLC has placed great value in project-based learning. Projects integrate all areas of education to allow students to work on reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills while at the same time learning core science and social studies ideas. Students also have the chance to become the teacher and share their learned knowledge with their peers. While parents and teachers alike know that projects are time intensive, the independence that children gain, the connections made between school and home, and the wealth of information learned make these projects well worth the time and effort.