Instruction
Learning involves a complex system of interactive processes that include five types of thinking – represented by the five Dimensions of Learning. Teaching should include the nurturing of attitudes, perceptions, and mental habits that facilitate learning.
Students don’t really own their knowledge until they process that knowledge further in order to develop a deeper understanding. The Dimensions of Learning framework includes fourteen specific thinking process which students use in order to apply and refine knowledge. Students will be presented with the following processes with which to reason about the knowledge they acquire:
- Comparing
- Analyzing Perspectives
- Deduction
- Abstracting
- Decision Making
- Invention
- Investigation
- Classifying
- Error Analysis
- Constructing Support
- Problem Solving
- Experimental Inquiry
- Systems Analysis
- Induction
Our school’s curriculum is developed on an ongoing basis, reflecting needed changes determined from student data. This curriculum is based upon, at a minimum, on the achievement of the Academic Content Standards as established by Kenosha Unified School District. Curriculum materials and teaching strategies will be chosen by the Dimensions of Learning Academy staff in conjunction with the mission and academic program of the school and aligned with the mission of the Kenosha Unified School District. The curriculum will include reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies as the core subjects. The core subjects will be taught in an integrated manner whenever possible. We follow the designs outlined in the Wisconsin Common Core State Standards. In addition, music, art, physical education and health will be taught and integrated in the core subjects as appropriate. Spanish is taught in the middle school grades, with a collaborative foreign language effort with Carthage College for grades K-5. There is a need for both teacher-directed and student-directed learning. Assessment should focus on students’ use of knowledge and reasoning processes rather than on recall of information.