Academics
Virtual Library
Click Here to access the Renaissance Virtual Library resources.
Resources available include:
- Audio and eBooks
- Author & Illustrator Activities
- Information and Research
- Recommended websites and sources
Curriculum
Renaissance Academy’s curriculum has been developed for all core subject areas and enhancement courses using Michigan’s College and Career Readiness standards as a foundation. Each unit clearly defines the standards to be mastered and identifies essential understandings and questions that promote discussion of the big ideas and crosscutting concepts. Driving questions are designed to capture the overarching idea of each unit and develop connections to the world outside of school.
Assessments and performance tasks identify student outcomes and define a structured development to scaffold a high level of rigor. Key vocabulary terms and instructional resources are included for teachers to readily access quality supporting materials, provide a foundation for learning and a shared language across grade spans and courses.
English Language Arts
The English Language Arts curriculum follows the Common Core State Standards approved by Michigan’s State Board of Education. The primary instructional resource K-4 teachers utilize is OpenUp Education’s Bookworms verified by research conducted by Dr. Sharon Walpole, et. al. Our 5-8 grade language arts instruction is based on the MAISA Units of Study and units developed locally by our teachers.
Bookworms instructional materials have been structured around the Science of Reading. It is designed to expose students to a high volume of full-length, deeply engaging trade books to build knowledge and drive literacy instruction. These grade-level texts are read—by the teacher and through shared reading with peers—multiple times, each time with a different purpose. The curriculum’s systematic phonics-based foundational skills block features unique skill-based student grouping, supported by frequent assessments, with tailored instruction for each group including protocols that are clear and simple for teachers to follow.
Bookworms focuses all aspects of instruction, including knowledge-building, on full-length books. Each day, brief writing assignments reinforce the importance of attending to the text and topic. Students hear, read, and speak a high volume of words daily, focusing on how context determines meaning. Students also are encouraged and given time to read widely from highly regarded trade literature in their classroom libraries, where they can pursue their favorite authors and topics.
Through daily differentiated skills blocks, Bookworms guides students systematically in foundational skills. Every student is regularly assessed and grouped to accelerate skill development.
Renaissance actively supports educators in understanding how literacy best practices should be represented and organized in class-wide reading curriculum resources to provide daily instruction to students in all the skills and processes needed for reading at or above grade-level expectations. To this end, teachers currently receive job-embedded professional learning in these Essential Practices from our teacher leaders trained through the Gratiot-Isabella Early Literacy Network.
Mathematics
The Mathematics curriculum follows the Common Core State Standards approved by Michigan’s State Board of Education. One of the instructional tools teachers utilize is Savvas’s enVision Mathematics verified by research conducted by Dr. Randall I. Charles, et. al.
Science
The Science curriculum follows the Next Generation Science Standards as approved by Michigan’s State Board of Education. Teachers utilize Project-Based Learning instructional units utilizing instructional strategies promoted by Dr. John Spencer and verified by Renaissance teachers through our professional collaborative review process.
Social Studies
The Social Studies curriculum follows the C3 Framework Social Studies Standards approved by Michigan’s State Board of Education. One of the instructional tools teachers utilize is the Michigan Open Book Project verified by social studies specialists across the state. Teachers utilize Project-Based Learning instructional units utilizing instructional strategies promoted by Dr. John Spencer and verified by Renaissance teachers through our professional collaborative review process.
Enhancements
Renaissance students have multiple opportunities each week to explore the arts, be physically active, and engage with technology. An hour of daily instruction is dedicated to the broadening of students’ skills.
Instructional Approaches
Students are assessed at the beginning of each unit to determine what information they already know, determine which information they do not yet understand, and identify any misconceptions they may hold that need clarification. Using this information, teachers design their lessons to address the needs of their students and engage them in whole group, small group, and one-on-one instruction. Grouping practices are dynamic, changing based upon the needs of the students.
Students are treated as individuals. The same way of teaching may not work for all students. Teachers meet students where they are by building on their current strengths and abilities to reach grade level standards. This allows students who are performing above grade level to demonstrate understanding and move ahead to more advanced topics. Assistance is provided for students performing below grade level to reduce frustration as they learn new information.
Teachers allocate time to guide students as they set learning goals, self-monitor their progress, and reflect on their achievement.
Student Success
Student engagement in authentic learning activities is a crucial component of preparation for college, work and life. Teachers integrate technology into lessons to enhance student interaction with the topics of study.
Teachers explain to students why they are learning a given topic and help them to see the connection between their learning and its application in the outside world. Students are encouraged to explore learning opportunities according to their interests.
Assessment
The instructional staff at Renaissance Academy has made a concerted effort to focus instruction based on individual student achievement. We have developed a learning continuum for each content area to describe the specific skills and content standards with which students will actively engage. Student progress is shared with families three times a year using our standards-based progress report. Students also present their learning to their families in the fall and spring during our Student-Led Conferences, or SLCs.
Renaissance Public School Academy administers the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth Computer-Adaptive Assessment three times each year to students in the kindergarten through eighth grades. Renaissance also administers the DIBELS literacy assessment, the Walpole-McKenna Informal Decoding Inventory, and the AddVantage Math Recovery assessments to students identified as potentially needing additional support based on their NWEA results.
Resources
Prodigy is an interactive math game that covers skills learned in Grades 1 through 8. This highly engaging site invites students to solve math questions to earn spells, which they use to battle monsters as they move through a variety of worlds on the way to the Wizard Academy. Children have fun while practicing math.
Khan Academy is a comprehensive site with hundreds of instructional tutorial videos covering math concepts for early elementary learners all the way through college graduate level course work. This popular site has expanded beyond math and now includes content from a variety of disciplines. Use it for a quick refresher or to support learning something new.
Bed Time Math is an engaging app that allows parents and children in Grades K-2 to have a brief math conversation each evening. It’s the math version of reading a story before bedtime. Download the app for iOS or Android devices to make it convenient. After downloading, select Community Edition, use “MI” as the community code, and search for Renaissance Academy.