
Home History Educational Philosophy Curriculum Overview Admissions Calendar News FAQ 75 John Street Providence, RI 02906 (401) 301-1308 info@thelaurelschool.org site design by maggie rose consulting	Curriculum Overview Lower School Educational Program: An Overview Language arts Language arts are integrated into every aspect of the academic work at the Laurel School. The objective is to enable students to become life-long readers and writers able to communicate their ideas and feelings effectively, and to understand the ideas and feelings of others. Language arts at the Laurel School is understood to include speaking and listening as well as reading and writing. Reading Children become more fluent readers by having frequent opportunities to practice reading. The Laurel School believes that students learn at their own pace, and in their own way. The classroom reflects this belief by providing a wide and rich variety of reading experiences. Rather than having an either/or approach to reading, expecting students to learn either by phonics or whole language, at the Laurel School, students draw from the best of both experiences for their reading environment. On a daily basis, children have reason to read, independently and in a group. Peer-led, teacher-led, and interactive discussions are part of the reading experiences. Writing Writing is a creative, process-oriented undertaking. Often it is not until we write out our thoughts that we truly understand what we are thinking and feeling. At the Laurel School, writing is an important part of all that students undertake during their day. Through journals, shared writing, and project writing (documentation), students learn the power of the written word. Students learn about the different literary genres by writing their own essays, poems, plays, and short stories. Through author studies, students work with a variety of styles and genres. By generating outlines, ideas, drafts, and revisions, they come to find a writing style of their own. Students, parents and teachers together publish the school newsletter. Language studies Exposure to foreign languages broadens the mind in a variety of ways. It expands our knowledge of other cultures, and gives us greater knowledge of ourselves. It helps us think in different ways, make sense of grammatical rules and systems, and enables us to make connections with others. Through song, story and food, students are exposed to a variety of languages. All students study Spanish, and Latin is offered as an optional course of study for students who are interested. Field trips and guest visits take language study out of the textbook and into the real world. Mathematics At the Laurel School, students learn the myriad ways in which the ability to use and understand numbers is vital to the real world, and just plain fun and satisfying, too! The math program focuses on developing students’ skills in a variety of areas including number sense, operations, and estimation; ratios and proportions; measurement and spatial relationships; probability and data analysis; patterns, classifications and logical reasoning; and algebraic thinking. Students are taught to apply these developing skills in a variety of problem-solving situations Social Studies The Laurel School’s social studies curriculum is intended to enable students to become responsible, active citizens and good problem solvers. They are introduced to themes and questions drawn from historical and social science concepts, and invited to explore them through debate, discussion, and long-term group and individual projects. Students explore local and world geography and cultures as well as fundamental political and economic concepts. Rhode Island has one of the most diverse cultural populations per capita in the country; with its rich history and architecture, the state is a living resource of the past as well. Visits with neighbors and field trips are integral components of students’ study of the world in which we live. Sciences The objective of the science program is to have all students practice scientific inquiry and acquire scientific literacy. Through hands-on experience, students learn the practical application of the scientific method. To aid them in their exploration, they study the history of science as well as some of the major theories and concepts. They discover how both the rigors and the accidents of scientific inquiry are relevant to everyday experiences. Health Sciences The Laurel School’s health sciences curriculum is based on the belief that knowledge is essential for making informed choices about our well-being. Students learn about nutrition and hygiene. They explore what they need to think about in order to make healthy, informed decisions that will enable them to treat their bodies and minds with respect and care. They explore issues involving the health of our planet, and learn about recycling and reuse. Library and research skills The ability to research one’s world has become both easier and more vital as technology has changed the amount and type of information available. Through visits to the local public and private libraries, and work on the internet, students learn how to best take advantage of these resources and develop sound research practices. Students, parents and teachers at the Laurel School design and maintain the school’s web site. Art While art is incorporated into all aspects of daily work in the classroom, students also have the opportunity to experiment directly with a variety of styles, media and methodologies, using art as a means of expression and communication. They study individual artists and artistic movements to gain a greater understanding of the history of art and its importance in various cultures. They learn to recognize and appreciate the formal aspects of works of art. They consider the ways in which art is assigned a value at different times in history and in different cultures, looking at found art, museums, collections, and reproductions. They visit local museums, galleries, artists’ studios, and have a yearly open studio presentation of their own work. Music Students at the Laurel School have ample opportunity to experience the joys of music. They study the formal aspects of music and song. They learn how to classify instruments, and how each instrument works. They write their own songs. They learn about the history of music, consider the different ways music is valued in different cultures, and study the works of selected composers. Field trips to local concerts and visits by local musicians make the world of music come alive. Middle School Educational Program: An Overview Educational Philosophy The educational philosophy and objectives of Laurel Middle School are to ensure that all students learn to understand, respect and value the differences among people; learn to understand, respect and value their personal journeys toward adulthood; learn to think critically and independently; learn to work cooperatively; and acquire the academic skills and body of knowledge appropriate to their age group. The methods used to achieve these objectives are integral to the structural organization of the classroom: small classes, mixed age groups, long term projects, collaborative activities, community service, environmental projects, a combination of portfolio, norm-referenced and criteria-based assessment. Middle school students also serve as mentors for the Laurel lower school students, thus giving them the opportunity to nurture relationships with younger students as they share their own knowledge and talents. The mentoring relationship is a healthy one for all. It provides the younger students with role models and helps them learn new skills and concepts. It gives the older students a sense of accomplishment and pride in their own abilities, and reinforces their mastery of skills and material. Philosophically, Laurel Middle School believes in the community of parent-teacher-child. Parents of Laurel students are involved in making the school a success, and the classrooms are open to parents as contributors to the school community. Teachers create an environment that encourages honest communication, exploration and understanding, and individually-paced instruction. Students foster the ability to be active participants in their own learning and in their interactions with the world around them. As a cooperative middle school, the Laurel community of parent-teacher-child also strengthens the communication and respect within families and between parents and children. This is especially important at a time when children are seeking to redefine their relationships as they enter early adolescence. Middle school students are old enough to be aware of, and concerned about, the opportunities and challenges offered by the world in which they live. They experience physical and emotional changes, they are aware in new ways of their own identities, their relationships with their peers and adult authority figures. They experience a deepening awareness of the challenges of the environment, of wealth and poverty, of cultural diversity and racism. Current events and the world’s politics have greater meaning for them. Through their academic experience, as well as community service and environmental projects, Laurel students learn to make a place for themselves in the world. The Wealth Inherent in an Integrated Curriculum The Middle School curriculum is intentionally integrative. For instance, the Social Studies program covers a range of disciplines, and includes at certain points in the curriculum the following: anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology. Furthermore, because the curriculum is integrated, students encounter appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. An Example of Integrated Curriculum at Laurel: In Social Studies, sixth graders study three ancient civilizations: Egypt, Peru, and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). They learn about the customs, commerce, beliefs, technological developments, the medicine, the science and mathematics, art and architecture, means of communication and record-keeping, trade, clothing, religion and the legal and political systems of each culture. They have the opportunity to compare the ways each group of people lived and interacted. They also polish their map-reading skills, and consider the way geography and weather help determine the development of a society. Students locate and describe major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations. They trace the development of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power. Their study of these civilizations is deepened by work they do in Science and Math. For Ancient Egypt, they learn about the profession of engineering. They meet engineering students from local universities, and become engineers themselves as they consider the problem of how to build structures that are sound and aesthetically pleasing. They learn the history of how modern thinkers finally figured out how the Ancient Egyptians (probably!) built the Pyramids. They also consider the way Egyptians measured time, and their beliefs about astronomy. The Incas were brilliant engineers, fitting gigantic stones together and designing enormous earth-drawings, massive forts with perfectly cut stone slabs (requiring no mortar) that still stand today. They built roads through mountains with tunnels and bridges, aqueducts, and were advanced in the fields of medicine and surgery. Students have the opportunity to follow this development in math, science and history. For their work on Mesopotamia, in Science and Math students learn about the construction of levees, irrigation canals and ziggurats. They also study other Sumerian inventions, including the water clock, the twelve-month calendar based on lunar cycles, the wheel, the plow and the sailboat, and determine the ways in which these inventions improved daily life. In Language Arts, students read The Epic of Gilgamesh, and learn about epic poetry. They also consider, for the sake of comparison, examples from epics such as Beowulf and The Odyssey. They work as a group to write a portion of an epic that would be appropriate for contemporary readers. This project enables them to try their hand at writing with large, sweeping gestures, to create larger than life characters with heroic qualities and tragic flaws, and tell a story around such characters. Another Example of Integrated Curriculum at Laurel: One of the units studied in seventh grade concerns The Dust Bowl. Students learn about the events that occurred during the period of the Dust Bowl, and the people who lived through it. They learn about the contributing factors and study a variety of primary source documents such as photographs, songs, newspaper accounts, journals, letters, The Dust Bowl affected every aspect of American life, from school to family and community life, agriculture, and the way the government responded to this difficult period. As a unit to be studied by the students of Laurel, it provides an excellent opportunity for examining the nature of historical inquiry; that is, is it possible for us to look back, from a contemporary perspective and with contemporary assumptions, at a particular point in time and understand it? What are the tools necessary for historical inquiry? What are the limitations of historical inquiry? This unit is integrated into the Language Arts and Art Programs, where students read historical fiction and study the photography of the period. This enables them to explore this time in history in greater detail, and it allows them to engage in comparative studies across different forms of representation as they compare fiction with historical records. This unit is also integrated into Music, where students read and listen to extensive and fascinating recordings of songs that were popular during this time period. Students examine primary source materials such as photographs, newspaper clippings, cartoons, recordings, journals and government documents. In particular, students will learn to be critical readers of photographs, and, in conjunction with the Art Program, will have the opportunity to discuss whether it is possible to consider a photograph objectively or out of context. They will then compare primary source materials with historical fiction (in conjunction with the Language Arts program). They will also continue to develop their research skills and strategies, as they perform keyword searches for finding information and learn to evaluate source materials. Constructivist and Inquiry-Based Learning The curriculum is constructivist. In a constructivist approach to learning, students construct knowledge by integrating new information into what they already know. Laurel Middle School learning is also inquiry-based. Engaging in inquiry helps students develop an understanding of concepts and an appreciation of the "how we know" what we know. Inquiry-based study also helps students become independent, responsible thinkers. And it helps them simply get excited about what they’re learning; as they acquire the desire to understand, they develop the skills necessary to do so. Inquiry-based learning includes: asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating well-reasoned arguments. Thinking Globally at Laurel Students learn to adopt common and multiple perspectives, considering implications for self, family, and the national and world communities. Throughout their studies, students learn to make choices after weighing their personal expectations, along with the pros, cons, responsibilities, and consequences of those choices for themselves and others. Each member of the class brings his or her own interests, questions and strengths. Students also learn to construct a pluralist perspective based on diversity. This perspective involves an understanding of and respect for differences of opinion and preference; of race, religion, and gender; of class and ethnicity; and of cultural beliefs, assumptions and practices in general. Through in-depth studies of different societies and through projects and discussions that help students learn how to reflect consciously on their own identity and beliefs, students learn to see difference as healthy and desirable rather than as a threatening problem in need of a solution. This in turn helps students develop a sense of responsibility for the needs of all people and a commitment to finding just and peaceful solutions to global problems. Assessment at Laurel Middle School: Assessment is ongoing, and done in a variety of ways, depending on the course of study. For instance, in Social Studies, students compile presentations (posters, collages, scrapbooks, multimedia presentation, etc.) to be shared with others, write formal essays in response to teacher- and/or student-generated questions, participate in formal debates, and write research reports with clearly presented facts and well-reasoned arguments. In Science, assessment and evaluation of students as scientists come in a variety of forms, including norm-referenced tests and oral presentations. They also compile portfolios. The science portfolios have three years’ worth of evidence that they have mastered the skills and knowledge necessary to be scientific thinkers. The portfolios contain: - examples of student-developed hypotheses. - proof that they know how to select and use appropriate tools ranging from calculators, balances, spring scales, microscopes and binoculars, pH test kits, etc., to conduct careful investigations to test their hypotheses. - a record of data collected, and graphs from their data. - quantitative statements about the relationships between variables. - topographic maps, geologic maps, and student constructed scale maps of local areas. - student constructed timelines of Earth’s history. - essays describing significant scientists and scientific breakthroughs that indicate an awareness of scientific history and science in context. - written reports that describe their experiments from beginning to end. - selections from scientific journals, and their own written work that is in the form of articles for scientific journals such as Muse, to give them the chance to learn about the way scientists interact with the scientific community and the general populace. In Language Arts, students’ progress is recorded and assessed in a variety of ways, including norm-referenced tests and oral presentations. Students have ample opportunity to keep journals, write book reports, research reports, persuasive papers and essays, as well as to try their hand at writing in a number of literary genres, including epic, lyric, drama and narrative prose. They are responsible for the school newsletter. Students also learn how to assess their own writing, through practice with editing and revising, and in group critiquing, where they share their work with their teacher and peers and learn how to provide and receive constructive criticism. Reading assessment is achieved both formally and informally, through teacher observation and formal assessment programs. In Math, assessment is an extension of the learning process as well as an opportunity to check what students can do. Thus, it is multidimensional, giving students at Laurel many ways to demonstrate how they are making sense of mathematics. Through skill-oriented questions, quizzes, tests, projects, unit reflections, and self-evaluations, students gain mastery in math. Students learn to work paper-and-pencil algorithms quickly and correctly, but they also learn to use mathematical tools, resources, procedures, knowledge, and ways of thinking to make sense of different situations. For instance, students need to recognize when an exact answer is required and when an approximate answer is sufficient, and they need to have a variety of methods for finding that answer. In the same way, in their study of Algebra, students develop algebraic reasoning and understanding while pursuing solutions to interesting problems. Math at Laurel also emphasizes multiple forms of representation. Students learn to reason, to communicate, and to solve problems using tables and graphs as well as symbolic expressions and equations. In the Art Program at Laurel, through formal and informal methods and visits to galleries and museums, students develop skills in describing, analyzing, interpreting and judging artworks and objects. Students also create an ongoing Art & Design Portfolio. The portfolio contains samples of their developmental sketches and completed work, articles and magazine excerpts related to their work, and a Dictionary of Art & Design, an individualized student-created work in progress that grows as the students learn about and experiment with different art forms. The portfolio also contains samples from written art appreciation and art history exercises.

Curriculum Overview

Lower School Educational Program: An Overview

Language arts

Language arts are integrated into every aspect of the academic work at the Laurel School. The objective is to enable students to become life-long readers and writers able to communicate their ideas and feelings effectively, and to understand the ideas and feelings of others. Language arts at the Laurel School is understood to include speaking and listening as well as reading and writing.

Reading

Children become more fluent readers by having frequent opportunities to practice reading. The Laurel School believes that students learn at their own pace, and in their own way. The classroom reflects this belief by providing a wide and rich variety of reading experiences. Rather than having an either/or approach to reading, expecting students to learn either by phonics or whole language, at the Laurel School, students draw from the best of both experiences for their reading environment. On a daily basis, children have reason to read, independently and in a group. Peer-led, teacher-led, and interactive discussions are part of the reading experiences.

Writing

Writing is a creative, process-oriented undertaking. Often it is not until we write out our thoughts that we truly understand what we are thinking and feeling. At the Laurel School, writing is an important part of all that students undertake during their day. Through journals, shared writing, and project writing (documentation), students learn the power of the written word.

Students learn about the different literary genres by writing their own essays, poems, plays, and short stories. Through author studies, students work with a variety of styles and genres. By generating outlines, ideas, drafts, and revisions, they come to find a writing style of their own. Students, parents and teachers together publish the school newsletter.

Language studies

Exposure to foreign languages broadens the mind in a variety of ways. It expands our knowledge of other cultures, and gives us greater knowledge of ourselves. It helps us think in different ways, make sense of grammatical rules and systems, and enables us to make connections with others.

Through song, story and food, students are exposed to a variety of languages. All students study Spanish, and Latin is offered as an optional course of study for students who are interested. Field trips and guest visits take language study out of the textbook and into the real world.

Mathematics

At the Laurel School, students learn the myriad ways in which the ability to use and understand numbers is vital to the real world, and just plain fun and satisfying, too! The math program focuses on developing students’ skills in a variety of areas including number sense, operations, and estimation; ratios and proportions; measurement and spatial relationships; probability and data analysis; patterns, classifications and logical reasoning; and algebraic thinking. Students are taught to apply these developing skills in a variety of problem-solving situations

Social Studies

The Laurel School’s social studies curriculum is intended to enable students to become responsible, active citizens and good problem solvers. They are introduced to themes and questions drawn from historical and social science concepts, and invited to explore them through debate, discussion, and long-term group and individual projects. Students explore local and world geography and cultures as well as fundamental political and economic concepts.

Rhode Island has one of the most diverse cultural populations per capita in the country; with its rich history and architecture, the state is a living resource of the past as well. Visits with neighbors and field trips are integral components of students’ study of the world in which we live.

Sciences

The objective of the science program is to have all students practice scientific inquiry and acquire scientific literacy. Through hands-on experience, students learn the practical application of the scientific method. To aid them in their exploration, they study the history of science as well as some of the major theories and concepts. They discover how both the rigors and the accidents of scientific inquiry are relevant to everyday experiences.

Health Sciences

The Laurel School’s health sciences curriculum is based on the belief that knowledge is essential for making informed choices about our well-being. Students learn about nutrition and hygiene. They explore what they need to think about in order to make healthy, informed decisions that will enable them to treat their bodies and minds with respect and care. They explore issues involving the health of our planet, and learn about recycling and reuse.

Library and research skills

The ability to research one’s world has become both easier and more vital as technology has changed the amount and type of information available. Through visits to the local public and private libraries, and work on the internet, students learn how to best take advantage of these resources and develop sound research practices. Students, parents and teachers at the Laurel School design and maintain the school’s web site.

Art

While art is incorporated into all aspects of daily work in the classroom, students also have the opportunity to experiment directly with a variety of styles, media and methodologies, using art as a means of expression and communication. They study individual artists and artistic movements to gain a greater understanding of the history of art and its importance in various cultures. They learn to recognize and appreciate the formal aspects of works of art. They consider the ways in which art is assigned a value at different times in history and in different cultures, looking at found art, museums, collections, and reproductions. They visit local museums, galleries, artists’ studios, and have a yearly open studio presentation of their own work.

Music

Students at the Laurel School have ample opportunity to experience the joys of music. They study the formal aspects of music and song. They learn how to classify instruments, and how each instrument works. They write their own songs. They learn about the history of music, consider the different ways music is valued in different cultures, and study the works of selected composers. Field trips to local concerts and visits by local musicians make the world of music come alive.

Middle School Educational Program: An Overview

Educational Philosophy

The educational philosophy and objectives of Laurel Middle School are to ensure that all students learn to understand, respect and value the differences among people; learn to understand, respect and value their personal journeys toward adulthood; learn to think critically and independently; learn to work cooperatively; and acquire the academic skills and body of knowledge appropriate to their age group.

The methods used to achieve these objectives are integral to the structural organization of the classroom: small classes, mixed age groups, long term projects, collaborative activities, community service, environmental projects, a combination of portfolio, norm-referenced and criteria-based assessment. Middle school students also serve as mentors for the Laurel lower school students, thus giving them the opportunity to nurture relationships with younger students as they share their own knowledge and talents. The mentoring relationship is a healthy one for all. It provides the younger students with role models and helps them learn new skills and concepts. It gives the older students a sense of accomplishment and pride in their own abilities, and reinforces their mastery of skills and material.

Philosophically, Laurel Middle School believes in the community of parent-teacher-child. Parents of Laurel students are involved in making the school a success, and the classrooms are open to parents as contributors to the school community. Teachers create an environment that encourages honest communication, exploration and understanding, and individually-paced instruction. Students foster the ability to be active participants in their own learning and in their interactions with the world around them. As a cooperative middle school, the Laurel community of parent-teacher-child also strengthens the communication and respect within families and between parents and children. This is especially important at a time when children are seeking to redefine their relationships as they enter early adolescence.

Middle school students are old enough to be aware of, and concerned about, the opportunities and challenges offered by the world in which they live. They experience physical and emotional changes, they are aware in new ways of their own identities, their relationships with their peers and adult authority figures. They experience a deepening awareness of the challenges of the environment, of wealth and poverty, of cultural diversity and racism. Current events and the world’s politics have greater meaning for them. Through their academic experience, as well as community service and environmental projects, Laurel students learn to make a place for themselves in the world.

The Wealth Inherent in an Integrated Curriculum

The Middle School curriculum is intentionally integrative. For instance, the Social Studies program covers a range of disciplines, and includes at certain points in the curriculum the following: anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology. Furthermore, because the curriculum is integrated, students encounter
appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences.

An Example of Integrated Curriculum at Laurel:

In Social Studies, sixth graders study three ancient civilizations: Egypt, Peru, and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). They learn about the customs, commerce, beliefs, technological developments, the medicine, the science and mathematics, art and architecture, means of communication and record-keeping, trade, clothing, religion and the legal and political systems of each culture. They have the opportunity to compare the ways each group of people lived and interacted. They also polish their map-reading skills, and consider the way geography and weather help determine the development of a society. Students locate and describe major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations. They trace the development of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power.

Their study of these civilizations is deepened by work they do in Science and Math. For Ancient Egypt, they learn about the profession of engineering. They meet engineering students from local universities, and become engineers themselves as they consider the problem of how to build structures that are sound and aesthetically pleasing. They learn the history of how modern thinkers finally figured out how the Ancient Egyptians (probably!) built the Pyramids. They also consider the way Egyptians measured time, and their beliefs about astronomy.

The Incas were brilliant engineers, fitting gigantic stones together and designing enormous earth-drawings, massive forts with perfectly cut stone slabs (requiring no mortar) that still stand today. They built roads through mountains with tunnels and bridges, aqueducts, and were advanced in the fields of medicine and surgery. Students have the opportunity to follow this development in math, science and history. For their work on Mesopotamia, in Science and Math students learn about the construction of levees, irrigation canals and ziggurats. They also study other Sumerian inventions, including the water clock, the twelve-month calendar based on lunar cycles, the wheel, the plow and the sailboat, and determine the ways in which these inventions improved daily life.

In Language Arts, students read The Epic of Gilgamesh, and learn about epic poetry. They also consider, for the sake of comparison, examples from epics such as Beowulf and The Odyssey. They work as a group to write a portion of an epic that would be appropriate for contemporary readers. This project enables them to try their hand at writing with large, sweeping gestures, to create larger than life characters with heroic qualities and tragic flaws, and tell a story around such characters.

Another Example of Integrated Curriculum at Laurel:

One of the units studied in seventh grade concerns The Dust Bowl. Students learn about the events that occurred during the period of the Dust Bowl, and the people who lived through it. They learn about the contributing factors and study a variety of primary source documents such as photographs, songs, newspaper accounts, journals, letters, The Dust Bowl affected every aspect of American life, from school to family and community life, agriculture, and the way the government responded to this difficult period. As a unit to be studied by the students of Laurel, it provides an excellent opportunity for examining the nature of historical inquiry; that is, is it possible for us to look back, from a contemporary perspective and with contemporary assumptions, at a particular point in time and understand it? What are the tools necessary for historical inquiry? What are the limitations of historical inquiry?

This unit is integrated into the Language Arts and Art Programs, where students read historical fiction and study the photography of the period. This enables them to explore this time in history in greater detail, and it allows them to engage in comparative studies across different forms of representation as they compare fiction with historical records. This unit is also integrated into Music, where students read and listen to extensive and fascinating recordings of songs that were popular during this time period.
Students examine primary source materials such as photographs, newspaper clippings, cartoons, recordings, journals and government documents. In particular, students will learn to be critical readers of photographs, and, in conjunction with the Art Program, will have the opportunity to discuss whether it is possible to consider a photograph objectively or out of context. They will then compare primary source materials with historical fiction (in conjunction with the Language Arts program). They will also continue to develop their research skills and strategies, as they perform keyword searches for finding information and learn to evaluate source materials.

Constructivist and Inquiry-Based Learning

The curriculum is constructivist. In a constructivist approach to learning, students construct knowledge by integrating new information into what they already know. Laurel Middle School learning is also inquiry-based. Engaging in inquiry helps students develop an understanding of concepts and an appreciation of the "how we know" what we know. Inquiry-based study also helps students become independent, responsible thinkers. And it helps them simply get excited about what they’re learning; as they acquire the desire to understand, they develop the skills necessary to do so. Inquiry-based learning includes: asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating well-reasoned arguments.

Thinking Globally at Laurel

Students learn to adopt common and multiple perspectives, considering implications for self, family, and the national and world communities. Throughout their studies, students learn to make choices after weighing their personal expectations, along with the pros, cons, responsibilities, and consequences of those choices for themselves and others. Each member of the class brings his or her own interests, questions and strengths.

Students also learn to construct a pluralist perspective based on diversity. This perspective involves an understanding of and respect for differences of opinion and preference; of race, religion, and gender; of class and ethnicity; and of cultural beliefs, assumptions and practices in general. Through in-depth studies of different societies and through projects and discussions that help students learn how to reflect consciously on their own identity and beliefs, students learn to see difference as healthy and desirable rather than as a threatening problem in need of a solution. This in turn helps students develop a sense of responsibility for the needs of all people and a commitment to finding just and peaceful solutions to global problems.

Assessment at Laurel Middle School:

Assessment is ongoing, and done in a variety of ways, depending on the
course of study.

For instance, in Social Studies, students compile presentations (posters, collages, scrapbooks, multimedia presentation, etc.) to be shared with others, write formal essays in response to teacher- and/or student-generated questions, participate in formal debates, and write research reports with clearly presented facts and well-reasoned arguments.

In Science, assessment and evaluation of students as scientists come in a variety of forms, including norm-referenced tests and oral presentations. They also compile portfolios. The science portfolios have three years’ worth of evidence that they have mastered the skills and knowledge necessary to be scientific thinkers.

The portfolios contain:
- examples of student-developed hypotheses.
- proof that they know how to select and use appropriate tools ranging from calculators, balances, spring scales, microscopes and binoculars, pH test kits, etc., to conduct careful investigations to test their hypotheses.
- a record of data collected, and graphs from their data.
- quantitative statements about the relationships between variables.
- topographic maps, geologic maps, and student constructed scale maps of local areas.
- student constructed timelines of Earth’s history.
- essays describing significant scientists and scientific breakthroughs that indicate an awareness of scientific history and science in context.
- written reports that describe their experiments from beginning to end.
- selections from scientific journals, and their own written work that is in the form of articles for scientific journals such as Muse, to give them the chance to learn about the way scientists interact with the scientific community and the general populace.

In Language Arts, students’ progress is recorded and assessed in a variety of ways, including norm-referenced tests and oral presentations. Students have ample opportunity to keep journals, write book reports, research reports, persuasive papers and essays, as well as to try their hand at writing in a number of literary genres, including epic, lyric, drama and narrative prose. They are responsible for the school newsletter. Students also learn how to assess their own writing, through practice with editing and revising, and in group critiquing, where they share their work with their teacher and peers and learn how to provide and receive constructive criticism. Reading assessment is achieved both formally and informally, through teacher observation and formal assessment programs.

In Math, assessment is an extension of the learning process as well as an opportunity to check what students can do. Thus, it is multidimensional, giving students at Laurel many ways to demonstrate how they are making sense of mathematics. Through skill-oriented questions, quizzes, tests, projects, unit reflections, and self-evaluations, students gain mastery in math. Students learn to work paper-and-pencil algorithms quickly and correctly, but they also learn to use mathematical tools, resources, procedures, knowledge, and ways of thinking to make sense of different situations. For instance, students need to recognize when an exact answer is required and when an approximate answer is sufficient, and they need to have a variety of methods for finding that answer. In the same way, in their study of Algebra, students develop algebraic reasoning and understanding while pursuing solutions to interesting problems. Math at Laurel also emphasizes multiple forms of representation. Students learn to reason, to communicate, and to solve problems using tables and graphs as well as symbolic expressions and equations.

In the Art Program at Laurel, through formal and informal methods and visits to galleries and museums, students develop skills in describing, analyzing, interpreting and judging artworks and objects. Students also create an ongoing Art & Design Portfolio. The portfolio contains samples of their developmental sketches and completed work, articles and magazine excerpts related to their work, and a Dictionary of Art & Design, an individualized student-created work in progress that grows as the students learn about and experiment with different art forms. The portfolio also contains samples from written art appreciation and art history exercises.