We offer curriculum that respects student interests and sensibilities. Students find it relevant and compelling. Resources are rich, varied and demanding. The curriculums are unit-based, and draw on a wide-variety of inviting and challenging text.
The curriculum imbeds a repertoire of powerful instructional strategies. Thus, learning through the curriculum enhances student literacy and thinking and provides them with learning strategies they can use in all subjects and settings.
Teaching the curriculum becomes a staff development process for teachers. There is no better way to learn new instructional strategies and obtain a powerful teaching repertoire than through daily practice and reflection.
The curriculum is not however, designed as an “off the shelf” package of materials, but rather powerful resources that require on-going learning and staff development.
Presently, yearlong curriculum has been designed for English 9, English 10, and Geography.
Pebble Creek Literacy – High School
Pebble Creek Literacy is an approach to strengthening literacy which joins powerful teaching strategies with curriculum that is engaging and accessible for all students.
From the start, we must simultaneously provide a comprehensive and revolutionary program that supplies student with skills and success, while reengaging their interest and curiosity. Pebble Creek Literacy does just that.
The program embraces a balanced approach to literacy while engaging students in high-level academic tasks. Pebble Creek Literacy supports students as they build reading and writing skill and develop a sense of efficacy. Students gain the confidence, experience, and thinking processes critical for literacy success and, equally important, success in all other subject areas.
Pebble Creek Literacy places a high priority on teacher modeling and student practice. The goal is for students to internalize strategy use and be able to apply those strategies whenever they read and write.
Units vary in length from four to six weeks. The units are built around expository text, which provides exposure to, and assistance with the text structure most frequently encountered during high school.
Units:
Grade Nine Grade Ten
Natural Disasters Tupac
New Orleans Immigration
Latin American Studies Harlem Renaissance
Nelson Mandela Las Vegas
Jamaica A Place Called School
Everest Myth, Mysticism and Magical Realism
There are few more important endeavors for secondary schools to embrace and confront than student literacy and critical thinking. The effort must be multi-faceted, powerful and unique. Pebble Creek Literacy is such a program. It makes a significant difference in the lives of school children and teachers.
Pebble Creek Geography
It is time for a new approach to Geography instruction. A class that could be one of the most interesting, dynamic and relevant curricular offering in high school often has too high a failure rate, a trend we must address. The world is changing too fast to believe that a coverage oriented, knowledge based curriculum will suffice. Instead, a skill and process based curriculum of contemporary issues and materials is called for.
Pebble Creek Geography brings to schools the same mix of engaging and high yield instructional strategies, relevant and contemporary curriculum, and on-going professional development as Pebble Creek Literacy.
The instructional repertoire includes the base mix of literacy and thinking strategies used in all Pebble Creek work, as well as ones particularly strong for use with Social Science (e.g., Concept Attainment, statistical Inductive Data Sets, Mnemonics, etc.).
The program is a dynamic blend of map skills, analysis of data, and engagement with some of the best writing from around the world. The mixed media, coupled with interactive techniques, helps to make Geography a class students can love. The knowledge and skills acquired are foundational for future high school study and success.
When taught in concert with Pebble Creek Literacy, students become even stronger in literacy and thinking strategies as greater numbers of teachers utilize more powerful instructional practices distributed across disciplines.