ENRICHMENT
What are enrichment lessons?
Enrichment lessons are taught to the whole class. They focus on something beyond the regular curriculum, and encourage students to think differently -- to stretch their brains -- and to develop new interests.
"Based on the belief that 'a rising tide lifts all ships,' our goal is to increase the challenge levels for all students and to promote an atmosphere of excellence and creativity..." -- J. Renzulli & S. Reis
Schoolwide enrichment "focuses on many kinds of aptitudes, talents, and potentials for advanced learning and creative productivity that exist in all school populations. The goal is not to certify some students as "gifted" and others as "non-gifted," but to provide every student with the opportunities, resources, and encouragement necessary to achieve his or her maximum potential." -- J. Renzulli & S. Reis
S.T.E.M.
What is STEM?
This year, most of our enrichment lessons will have a STEM focus. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. You may also hear or see the acronym STEAM, which is
just STEM with an A for "art" added in.
During each STEM lesson, students will be given a challenge or problem to solve.
Using a variety of materials, they will need to build or create a solution to the problem.
Creative, out-of-the-box thinking will be encouraged,and problem-solving strategies
will be explored.
From LiveScience.com:
What separates STEM from the traditional science and math education is the blended learning environment and showing students how the scientific method can be applied to everyday life. It teaches students computational thinking and focuses on the real world applications of problem solving. STEM education begins while students are very young.
Elementary School -- STEM education focuses on the introductory level STEM courses, as well as awareness of the STEM fields and occupations. This initial step provides standards-based, structured inquiry-based, and real world problem-based learning, connecting all four of the STEM subjects. The goal is to pique students' interest into them wanting to pursue the courses, not because they have to. There is also an emphasis placed on bridging in-school and out-of-school STEM learning opportunities.