• Balanced Pedagogy

• Complex thinking
• Communications
• Content

In a great school, curriculum and instruction are inextricably linked, for what students learn often depends on how they learn it.

The rich and challenging curriculum section described a curriculum with major implications for instruction, one that while comprehensive in the knowledge students acquire, is even more ambitious in the skills and habits students develop: for example, to apply knowledge from several fields to a multi-dimensional project, address real-world problems, work collaboratively and responsibly, pose original questions and conduct original research to answer them, and communicate orally, in writing, and through various electronic media. These expectations all clearly affect how students are taught. This section highlights an instructional program that rounds out and supports the Newton Learning extended-learning curriculum.

Starting with the philosophy that effective learning is active learning, Newton Learning has adapted several broad instructional strategies. Recognizing that students learn in different ways, Newton Learning's instructional program is designed to address varied learning styles. And because research clearly favors some instructional methods over others, we have chosen those with documented effectiveness.

Newton Learning's Instructional Philosophy

Children are naturally curious. They learn by doing and by interacting with their environment. Newton Learning's instructional program is designed to build on students' natural desire to ask questions, to wonder, to explore, and to learn. As John Dewey observed, for young people, school is not preparation for life-it is life. The job of a school is to provide students with a rich and varied landscape in which they can explore and develop the skills, strategies, and knowledge they need.

Making Learning Meaningful and Motivating

The Newton Learning curriculum is challenging and draws on real-world problems and real-life situations. It rewards students for hard-earned achievements with deserved respect. Our instructional methods are equally motivating. They involve students in applying knowledge and skills from many fields and doing original research to find their own answers.

Students learn science, for example, not just by learning formulas and vocabulary but also by doing science, by being scientists. They ponder the same questions that real scientists ponder, and they learn formulas and vocabulary because they need them to do real science.

Project-Based Learning

What is most distinctive about our instructional program is its emphasis on learning by doing. Newton Learning believes in giving students realistic problems to solve through the meaningful application of concepts and content from many subject areas. Students grapple with problems suited to their ages and prior learning, and build their own bridges between the theoretical and the practical. Such activities help students gain confidence with academic material, work creatively, and learn to think for themselves.

Projects achieve results because students learn not only by reading, writing, and calculating but by building, experimenting, and designing. Projects engage all of the senses and give full expression to the creativity in each student. Those students who are not as adept at expressing their ideas on paper, for example, can communicate through other media, including electronic forms.

The importance of Integration

The Newton Learning integrated curriculum—wherein traditional subject lines are crossed to promote deeper intellectual understanding—helps students make connections among subject knowledge and ideas and see how what they learn in school applies to real life. It gives students the chance to work with problems that have no pre-formulated solutions. Teachers bring several disciplines to bear on one practical problem, as when students make an environmental study of their town, drawing on and expanding their knowledge of geography, history, science, mathematics, literature, and politics; then they develop a proposal to create sanctuary on public land. In working out the concept and a plan based on it, students see vividly how different areas of academic content apply to real life. And when areas of knowledge are connected, learning has more chance to "stick".

Sometimes only two disciplines are brought together, as when science and math are used in the design and implementation of an experiment. Once the scientific experimentation is complete, math skills come into play in the analysis and presentation of the results. When these areas of knowledge are applied and connected, learning in both becomes more concrete.

Integrated teaching also is an enjoyable way to learn and to teach. It often involves hands-on activities—such as taking soil samples— which engage and excite kids. And it frequently blends art or music into a project, allowing artistically talented students to shine.

Direct Instruction

When practiced creatively and purposefully, direct instruction is a powerful method. It involves a teacher guiding students through prepared presentations and discussions. Each lesson is circumscribed and constructed to develop a particular concept or skill. A good lesson must have a clear beginning, middle, and end. It must follow a logical intellectual sequence. A series of lessons must be assembled systematically.

Encouraging Active Listening and Learning

Successful direct instruction engages students as active listeners and participants. Teachers frame questions not simply to elicit answers but to get students to think, whether responding directly or listening to a classmate's response. In the process, students learn to ask good questions.

Watchful teachers also recognize that the errors students commonly make provide great instructional opportunities. Skillful teachers know that students need immediate opportunities to apply and practice ideas presented in a lesson. Effective teachers appreciate the crucial role of swift and constructive feedback, which enables students to learn from their errors. Good teachers know the difference between memorization and knowledge.

Supporting Teachers to Enhance Instruction

To help teachers perfect their skills in direct instruction, Newton Learning provides ongoing professional development in lesson planning and pacing, questioning techniques, and discussion strategies, with a focus on what works best for different ages and subject areas. Newton Learning also offers principals and teachers access to quality lessons.

Cooperative Learning

When well managed, cooperative learning is an effective instructional approach that helps many more students learn at high levels. Cooperative learning involves placing students of different ability levels together in small groups and assigning them a specific task. Each group member has a role to fill in completing the activity. Although individual accountability is built in and is a critical component of successful cooperative learning, students also are judged by the work the group produces. Therefore, all members have a stake in helping each group member perform at his or her highest level.