Project Lead the Way Launch

Access to PLTW Launch

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Launch is designed for 4K-5th grade students.  Through Project Lead the Way launch students become hands-on problem solvers.  They are given various opportunities to collaborate with peers. Students use structured approaches, like the engineering design process.  They apply STEM knowledge, skills, and habits of mind, and discover that trying different approaches and solutions is an essential part of the learning process.  As teachers and students learn and discover together, education becomes more engaging and meaningful for everyone. PLTW Launch is taught by both the classroom teachers and our K-5 STEM Teacher Mrs. Hodges.  Below is a little information about Mrs. Hodges and the modules that we offer 4K-5 at KTEC.

Meet Mrs. Hodges

Airielle Hodges

I wake up every morning feeling excited to come to work as the K-5 PLTW STEM Teacher!

I would like to tell you a little about myself and my family.  I have wanted to teach since I was very young.   I worked as a mentor, playground director, and tutor throughout high school and college. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching and a Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision.  I have always had a passion for teaching science. I joined the KTEC Team in 2007, the year the school opened.  I taught third grade for 8 years at KTEC, and then moved into my new role as a K-5 PLTW STEM Teacher. In addition to teaching at KTEC, I also work as a Master Teacher for Project Lead the Way.  I spend my summers teaching PLTW to other educators at various colleges across the country.  My husband is the Assistant Principal at the KTEC west Campus.  We have two sons that attend KTEC.

I will be teaching a few of the PLTW Launch classes, along with classroom teachers, at both campuses for grades K-5 and supporting KTEC staff.

I will also continue to share PLTW and the KTEC model state-wide and nationally at conferences and conventions.  It is exciting to share my love of science with both students and adults.

Airielle Hodges
PLTW K-5 STEM Teacher
arhodges@kusd.edu

The PLTW website provides a full description of the Launch courses taught at KTEC, here is the link for the full descriptions. If you would like more information about PLTW visit their website at pltw.org.

4K:

  • Living and Non-Living Things
  • Matter: Floating and Sinking
  • Healthy Habits
  • Spatial Sense and Coding

Kindergarten:

  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Weather
  • Living Things: Needs and Impacts

First Grade:

  • Light and Sound
  • Light: Observing the Sun, Moon, and Stars
  • Animal Adaptations

Second Grade:

  • Materials Science: Properties of Matter
  • The Changing Earth
  • Materials Science: Form and Function

Third Grade:

  • Variation of Traits
  • Environmental Changes
  • Weather: Factors and Hazards

Fourth Grade:

  • Energy: Collisions
  • Waves and Properties of Light
  • Earth: Past, Present, and Future

Fifth Grade:

  • Matter: Properties and Reactions
  • Ecosystems: Flow of Matter and Energy
  • Patterns in the Universe