"A child is not an object to be molded,
but rather a treasure to be unfolded."
- Anonymous
The educational framework of The Volcano School will align instruction with the Hawaii Content
and Performance Standards II, with special emphasis on learning through the sciences and arts.
Our framework is based on the philosophy that children learn by doing and that their educational
experience is enhanced when instruction is presented in a multi-sensory, discovery-based setting
within a supportive community environment. The Volcano community is rich in experiential
learning opportunities in the arts and sciences arenas.
A curriculum designed in conjunction with the rich natural, cultural and human resources that
exist within our community will provide our students with an optimum learning environment.
Projects will be tailored to appropriate age and skill levels of students, with increasing depth,
difficulty and independence as the students grow.
| Thematic, interdisciplinary instruction
School-wide thematic learning units will incorporate interdisciplinary teaching strategies within multi-age modules. Cultural, environmental and social themes will integrate with math, science and a range of literary, visual, performing, and media arts. |
Example: A school-wide six-week theme might focus on environmental and social systems and their interactions. For a learning unit project entitled "Humans in the Environment," a mid-elementary multi-age learning unit might include activities such as visiting Bird Park (Kipuka Puaulu) in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, identifying and sketching the plants, learning traditional Hawaiian uses of plants, noting an area of 'ohi'a dieback and interacting with scientists to garner information. Students would then share their findings through a variety of presentation activities within their own module and with other modules. |
| Multi-age Modules, Sequential Studies and
Learning Units
Multi-age modules are groupings of students. Two or three grade levels will be combined within a module. Students will be able to move at their own pace during sequential skill building lessons and work with students of different ages and abilities during interdisciplinary collaborative activities. |
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| Sequential skill building
Some skills are best built sequentially, day by day, process upon process. Sequential skill building will be a daily part of the instructional framework for the school and will occur within each module. The multi-age module offers opportunities for skill level grouping when sequential skill building is necessary. Skills of this type may include alphabet, letter and sound recognition; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; and sequential art vocabulary and concept lessons. |
Example: During a K-2 writing block, students may work at their current skill level regardless of chronological grade level. With careful teacher monitoring and attention to benchmarks, students will be moved to the appropriate skill level when ready. Special attention may be directed to those children not making measurable progress |
| Learning units are thematic units of interdisciplinary study within modules, comprised of activities designed to build skills and engage the learner. Since learning units within a module will be multi-aged, a child may study with others who are both older and younger. Students will work at their own level while learning concepts side by side. Learning units will offer diverse activities with the goal of synchronous development of the Universe of Intelligence that engages cognitive, affective, physical and intuitive learning. | Example: Within a K-2 module learning units block, students will select a study unit from a variety of thematic topics designed to link with HCPS-II standards as well as encourage the application of skills learned in sequential studies. One six-week theme may examine Folktales of the World. Some students may choose to read different Cinderella stories of the world and dramatize one of the stories. A second learning unit may offer comparisons among animal folktales with activities such as paper-making and writing/illustrating a book. |
| Student-centered learning
The Volcano Schools of Arts & Sciences will design curriculum around real problems, compelling themes and topics, linked to curriculum standards in history, social studies, science, mathematics and the literary, visual, performing and media arts. We will offer modules with means for pursuing ideas that students value. Students will make individual choices in selecting topics for study in multi-age groups. |
Example: In a learning unit for the lower elementary grades, students may investigate environmental balance among native plants and animals and consider the consequences of freeing your house pet. |
| Promotion of collaborative learning
Students, parents, partners and teachers will work together in a mutually supportive manner as they pursue learning activities. The skills necessary to work within various social groups will be learned through opportunities for collaboration within peer groups and with other members of the school community. In addition, students will learn to recognize that the most important kind of evaluation is self-evaluation. Assessment models will invite active, collaborative reflection by both teachers and students in a non-competitive environment based on personal goals |
Example: Students may work together to write an original play based on their school wide theme, sharing and selecting ideas as they shape their storyline. Students will learn to critique one another's ideas by responding to writing, first highlighting what is working for the author, then asking questions to direct the author's attention to possible areas of improvement. |
| Thinking skills: critical thinking, creativity
and problem solving
Our learning events will be designed to encourage children to use their minds, to think creatively, to examine contrasting viewpoints and to solve problems in different ways. |
Example: An upper elementary learning unit may be designed to develop critical thinking skills. Students would evaluate a local issue of interest to themselves and their families, such as "County Water or Catchment?" This concept is currently being examined within the Volcano community due to a mayoral candidate suggesting county water for all island residents. |
| Development of independent research
Students will be taught skills necessary for independent work as the teacher moves increasingly toward the role of facilitator. While the lower elementary grade levels will require a substantial amount of guided instruction, upper grade level work will be increasingly independent with a greater level of choice. |
Example: Students will be taught the skills they need - such as time management, problem/questioning strategies, research skills, and presentation options -- to become increasingly independent in producing projects. In addition to learning unit projects, graduating eighth graders will be expected to produce an interdisciplinary, multi-media report on a subject of their choice. |
| Partnerships with arts, science and
community organizations
The Volcano community has strongly expressed a desire not only to have a school within the community, but also to participate in educational programs of the school. In addition, partnerships with science agencies affiliated with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will support on-site learning projects within the National Park. These groups are vital to the community school which is being created and will provide the real-world connections that engage students in learning. |
Example: Children will explore the arts of the Hawaiian culture as influenced by the land itself by looking deeply into traditional arts such as haku mele (poetry and song), body tattooing, quilt making, tapa making and canoe building as they discuss the interconnectedness of land, people and product. Students will conduct research with the assistance of community mentors including artists and native Hawaiians, cultural historians and earth scientists. Students will communicate their ideas through appropriate interdisciplinary projects involving music, poetry, model-building, video-production, book-making, or photography, among others. |
| Inquiry-based teaching strategies
Students will be encouraged to learn through asking questions, and building and revising hypotheses. |
Example: A lower elementary learning unit on "tidepool animals" may begin with a visit to a coastal zone where marine life can be observed. Students would name the animals and list facts which they believe to be true about each animal (such as what it eats, how it moves, who are its predators, etc.) and generate questions about the animals. Then students will set out to learn more about their animals through classroom lessons including reading, interviewing mentors, as well as further observations and assessments of the animals and the tidepool habitat. They generate possible answers to their questions and test these against their observations and readings. Early theories on habitat and life may change as more information is gathered and skills of inquiry and information gathering are developed. |
| Varying Instructional Styles | In recognizing that every child has talent and that children learn by doing, our curriculum will provide clear and flexible guidelines for learner-centered classroom practice. In his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner suggests that an effective curriculum taps into and develops the multiple intelligences of children, their artistic and social strategies for learning as well as their verbal and mathematics strategies, intuitive as well as logical. Gardner identifies the seven intelligences as linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. (Gardner, 1983 and Clark, 1997) |
| Example: Mathematics skill building can be addressed through a combination of manipulatives, word problems, patterns, and artistic and musical symbols in order to successfully reach the different types of learners. |
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