Available courses
Number of topics: 10
Literacy-9 course has been designed to link elementary reading and writing instruction, providing students with the necessary skills to become independent readers and competent, creative writers. It is built on “best practice” research and is aligned with the Common Core Curriculum Standards. Instruction is designed to move students from guided to independent learning in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Through the use of a 90 minute reading/writers’ workshop approach OR two 45-minute periods, daily, students will participate in daily reading and writing activities. Workshop practices will include a combination of mini-lessons and large group instruction, small group work and individual activities.
Teachers will administer the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment at least three times per year (September, December/January, May/June). This assessment identifies instructional reading level.
The reading component includes a wide exposure to a variety of genres and texts while practicing: reading strategies, self-monitoring strategies, reading and comprehension skills (ex: phonics, chunking, cause and effect, fact and opinion), fluency practice, vocabulary skills, daily reading practice, listening practice, and responding to literature.
The writing component involves using the 6+1 writing traits and the steps of the writing process to develop many types of narrative, opinion, and informative texts. Spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and handwriting are integrated into the context of authentic written and oral language experiences that are audience/purpose specific.
In this Literacy course, reading and writing are designed to be taught together. The integration of these content areas allows for increased flexibility in teaching to students’ specific strengths and weaknesses. If a student finishes the requirements for the reading portion of the unit, he/she should then focus more carefully on the unit’s writing portion for the duration of the unit’s timeframe and vice versa. The next unit should not be opened until ALL the TSWs have been mastered. HOWEVER, within a literacy unit, mastery is evaluated separately for reading and writing. The course is intended for the student who has mastered the Elementary Literacy-8 outcomes or its equivalent. The student will master the course as a prerequisite for engagement in Elementary Literacy-10.
Literacy 9 is divided into two courses that are designed to be an integrated unit of study. Teachers must engage the students in both courses Literacy Reading and Literacy Writing. Students must receive an evaluation for reading and writing within each essential unit. Some selective units may only have one evaluation in either reading or writing. However, there should be no less than 20 total Literacy units mastered. All units may be taught in conjunction with units from Cultural Studies or Science that can integrate reading and writing skills.
Literacy Program Statement:
The primary goal of the Elementary Literacy Program is to foster children’s love for reading. Children should:
● Read and enjoy various genres of literature for a number of purposes
● Understand the meaning of what they read
● Develop a strong foundation of reading skills and strategies that include phonemic awareness, comprehension strategies, word study (vocabulary), phonics, and fluency.
● Set goals and evaluate their progress to read more complex text with sustained attention and interest
Number of topics: 11
Literacy-9 course has been designed to link elementary reading and writing instruction, providing students with the necessary skills to become independent readers and competent, creative writers. It is built on “best practice” research and is aligned with the Common Core Curriculum Standards. Instruction is designed to move students from guided to independent learning in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Through the use of a 90 minute reading/writers’ workshop approach OR two 45-minute periods, daily, students will participate in daily reading and writing activities. Workshop practices will include a combination of mini-lessons and large group instruction, small group work and individual activities.
Teachers will administer the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment at least three times per year (September, December/January, May/June). This assessment identifies instructional reading level.
The reading component includes a wide exposure to a variety of genres and texts while practicing: reading strategies, self-monitoring strategies, reading and comprehension skills (ex: phonics, chunking, cause and effect, fact and opinion), fluency practice, vocabulary skills, daily reading practice, listening practice, and responding to literature.
The writing component involves using the 6+1 writing traits and the steps of the writing process to develop many types of narrative, opinion, and informative texts. Spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and handwriting are integrated into the context of authentic written and oral language experiences that are audience/purpose specific.
In this Literacy course, reading and writing are designed to be taught together. The integration of these content areas allows for increased flexibility in teaching to students’ specific strengths and weaknesses. If a student finishes the requirements for the reading portion of the unit, he/she should then focus more carefully on the unit’s writing portion for the duration of the unit’s timeframe and vice versa. The next unit should not be opened until ALL the TSWs have been mastered. HOWEVER, within a literacy unit, mastery is evaluated separately for reading and writing. The course is intended for the student who has mastered the Elementary Literacy-8 outcomes or its equivalent. The student will master the course as a prerequisite for engagement in Elementary Literacy-10.
Literacy 9 is divided into two courses that are designed to be an integrated unit of study. Teachers must engage the students in both courses Literacy Reading and Literacy Writing. Students must receive an evaluation for reading and writing within each essential unit. Some selective units may only have one evaluation in either reading or writing. However, there should be no less than 20 total Literacy units mastered. All units may be taught in conjunction with units from Cultural Studies or Science that can integrate reading and writing skills.
Literacy Program Statement:
The primary goal of the Elementary Literacy Program is to foster children’s love for reading. Children should:
● Read and enjoy various genres of literature for a number of purposes
● Understand the meaning of what they read
● Develop a strong foundation of reading skills and strategies that include phonemic awareness, comprehension strategies, word study (vocabulary), phonics, and fluency.
● Set goals and evaluate their progress to read more complex text with sustained attention and interest
Number of topics: 9
The Cultural Studies-9 curriculum has been designed to foster students’ knowledge base of geography and culture from a global perspective. Cultural Studies-9 focuses on gaining a deeper geographical, cultural, ideological, and historical understanding of our world. It will assist students in making connections between main events in history through a global perspective. The students will be encouraged to make connections between their experiences and prior knowledge to their historical studies. Basic geographic skills are related to the course outcomes.
Cultural Studies Program Statement:
The primary goal of the Elementary Cultural Studies Program is to cultivate a sense of global citizenship grounded in the knowledge and evaluation of geography, cultures, ideas, and civilizations. Children should:
Be aware of, consider and use the Five Themes of Geography (See them defined below).
Develop a foundation in social studies and an interest in cultures that will prepare them for future educational experiences in history
Practice being global citizens
Demonstrate the ability to connect what they know, and have experienced, to what they are studying
Synthesize information while reading, studying, and researching other cultures and civilizations
Individually encounter and evaluate new concepts, philosophies, and cultures in a safe environment
Number of topics: 10
QSI mathematics students take risks, collaborate, and persist to become creative problem solvers. Conceptual understandings are developed through well-designed activities allowing students to explore, communicate, and reflect on their mathematical knowledge. Students apply and connect their understandings to relevant concepts both in and out of the classroom. See: QSI Mathematics Vision Statement
In the QSI Mathematics Vision Statement, there are five core practices mentioned that our students need to develop over time with teacher instruction, guidance, and feedback. The Ongoing Mathematical Practices are Collaborate & Reflect, Take Risks & Persist, Explore & Problem Solve, Communicate, and Apply & Connect. In each unit, TSW 1 is about developing these practices. Each unit also contains a helpful chart with ideas about what the practices look like in the classroom. For details on how to assess the Ongoing Mathematical Practices in TSW 1 see: Ongoing Mathematical Practices Rubric
The Mathematics-9 course was designed to challenge students to solve real world problems using critical thinking skills to solve and explain their thinking using models and strategies. Students will also explore, collaborate with others, and revise their work along the way. There are three critical areas that students will focus on during this year. (1) Develop understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends using a variety of models and strategies.(2) Developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers using real life example and models.(3) Understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.
In the Mathematics 9 course, it is developmentally appropriate that students explore and discover using visual models and manipulatives in this course. This is fundamentally essential and allows students to build a deep conceptual understanding as well as having multiple methods to show and discuss their mathematical thinking.
Course Units:
The Mathematics 9 course is designed for students who are in the 9-year-old level class. This course is for students who have mastered Mathematics 8 or equivalent thereof.
Mathematics 9 is divided into 10 essential units and 6 selective units. While all essential units must be completed, the teacher can choose selective units to enhance student learning. The normal pace and expectation for the course leads to mastery of 10 units in one school year. Mathematics 9 is designed to use 5 class periods per week or the equivalent. A class period is a minimum of 45 minutes. Mastery of 10 units of Mathematics 9 is a requirement to take Mathematics 10.
QSI follows the mastery learning model of education. Students should be assessed for readiness before beginning a new topic. This assessment gauges the knowledge students possess before beginning each unit. Group instruction with differentiation is applied to teach the unit’s outcomes. Ongoing formative assessment is used to gauge teaching; informing the instructor on when students are ready for assessment. Suggested rubrics are provided for unit assessments.
The traditions of QSI teaching and its philosophy of mastery learning are applied to the instruction of this course. This course supports and aligns to the success orientations, competencies and knowledge noted in the QSI Program Outcomes.
