Curricular Programs

Walk Throughs

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live at the time of the colonists or during the gold rush era? Our fourth and fifth grade students are able to experience first hand with our "Walk Through" programs. Fourth graders learn about the history and geography of our great state of California. while the fifth grade students experience life during the American Revolution.

Students are led through the period by guides who bring history to life for the students. Students are encouraged to dress in period clothing for the day and experience games, artifacts and reenact some ot the historical events of the period in a very special way! Many classes even bring food for the occasion. It is definitely one of the highlights for each year.

Reading Counts!

At Lomitas---Reading Counts! This is a favorite slogan of ours as we encourage children to read often and read a variety of texts. This program, by Scholastic, Inc., is a technology based reading program allowing our students to increase their comprehension skills while earning rewards with school-wide incentives.

Students choose a book from over 3,000 texts for which we have quizzes. After reading the book they take a ten question quiz testing their comprehension of the text. If the student is able to pass the quiz successfully they earn points based on the length and difficulty of the text. We have seen a marked increase in the motivation of our students to read, their reading abilities and acheivement levels in reading! We continue to add texts to our quiz bank as budgets allow.

If you would like to know more about Reading Counts! please visit the Reading Counts! website. You can also see a list of the books Lomitas has in their quiz collection by visiting our Quiz Link.

Scholastic Reading Inventory

Scholastic Reading Inventory is an assessment tool we use at Lomitas to measure our students abilities to comprehend texts at various levels. We use this assessment to adjust instruction in the classroom and match students with books at the appropriate reading level in the Reading Counts! program. After completing the assessment students are given a "lexile" level which they can use to choose books for themselves. A lexile is a measure of the students ability to comprehend a given text. If you would like to learn more about lexiles you can visit The Lexile Framework for Reading website. Please visit the Scholastic Reading Inventory website if you would like to know more about that program.

GATE

Our gifted and talented students have the benefit of being clustered with a certificated GATE teacher beginning in the third grade. While they remain at the site in a traditional classroom, these students are challenged in new and different ways by their teachers using the latest in research for giftend and talented students. Qualification for the program is based on a variety of factors including performance of the battery of achievement tests, classroom performance and teacher recommendation. Visit the following links for infomation on Gifted and Talented Education: National Association for Gifted Children, Hoagie's Gifted Education Page, The Gifted Resources Home Page

Fast ForWord

In the fall of the 2001/2002 school year Lomitas introduced the Fast ForWord family of reading interventions programs at our site. The program, based on years of brain research and current data, addresses the specific needs of "at risk" readers. The Fast ForWord family of programs include the Basics, Language, Language to Reading and Reading programs. Using a computer each program builds on the previous retraining the brain to recognize and process the auditory and visual signals necessary for successful reading. Data is collected and reported each day and student progress is analyzed and adjusted as needed.

We have been very pleased with the progress our students have made using these programs based not only on the success students have within the programs themselves, but also on student achievement data we have collected at the site. If you would like to know more about the Fast ForWord programs please visit the Scientific Learning website.

LEAP

Our "Leopards Excited And Proud" program offers students needing some work on reading skills the opportunity to get some extra practice time during the week. Each student recommended for the program works for an hour per week on reading remediation software in the computer lab. This is time for students to refine the skills necessary to be successful readers. The program is offered both before and after school to meet the specific needs of families.

Math Teams

If mathematics is a students' "thing" then our math teams provide them the opportunity to compete against classmates snd other schools in the district in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Students practice for months to sharpen their skills and expand their mathematical horizons. These math activities will challenge even the most gifted mathematician in an intense competition with all of the excitement of a sporting event!

Performing Arts Club

Move over Broadway, here come the Leopards! To address the needs of our musically and dramatically gifted students teachers at Lomitas formed the Performing Arts Club. Each year the Lomitas Performing Arts Club, with the assistance of parent volunteers and guidance of staff, puts on a performance to be seen and enjoyed! Students in the third through sixth grades compete for spots in productions which have included The Lion King and Annie. This year they plan to bring us 100 Years of Broadway Musicals and we look forward to their effort.

Thinking Maps

In our continuing efforts to help our students improve their achievement in all academic areas Lomitas adopted the Thinking Maps program for assisting students to organize their thoughts. This program is based on a set of eight different graphical organizers which students learn to use in their daily work and becomes a common visual language for staff and students alike. Teachers use the maps to organize content area subject matter in instruction and as assessments of student understanding.

Beginning in Kindergarten students are taught to recognize that certain tasks or assignments can be clarified by using a particular organizer or "map". Through the grades the maps become increasingly complex and even begin to blend one into another. These maps help students organize complex subject matter in a way that allows greater understanding and deeper knowledge of the core subject.

To supplement the program Lomitas purchased a "community license" of the software for Thinking Maps. This software allows students to complete tasks on the computer using the same maps they have previously drawn by hand. By purchasing the "community license" we have the ability to provide students with a copy of the software to use at home. If you would like to know more about this program visit the Thinking Maps website.

Write... from the Beginning

To improve student writing, Lomitas adopted the Write... from the Beginning program by Jane Buckner, Ed S.. This program was designed to be implemented in schools where staff and students had been trained to use Thinking Maps. Write... from the Beginning is a developmental writing program beginning in the earliest grades and focusing on those criteria that are necessary for successful writing achievement. Lessons and concepts taught to the children and sequential in nature and buile from year to year. Students learn to take control of their own writing by understanding improvement rubrics and discovering where they might need to focus more effort.

Instructional staff at Lomitas meet on a monthly basis to develop and maintain a common, targeted focus in instruction and to ensure shared schoolwide accountability for writing performance.

Scaffolding

Helping all students reach the national, state and district standards is the goal of the entire staff at Lomitas. To help those students identified as "at risk" we employ an instructional model known as "scaffolding". In this model, additional instructional staff are placed in a classroom to reduce the student to teacher ratio and better assist students to master the content area material. By using this model we can better address the needs of individual students and help them reach their full potential.

Skill Streaming

Conflict resolution, time management, organizational and personal skills are just a few of the components of this unique offering for students of Lomitas. This class, by recommendation only, seeks to help our students better prepare themselves for the bright future that awaits them.

Young Authors

Potential authors at Lomitas have the opportunity to create a unique work and have it published as a hard cover book through our Young Authors Program. Individuals, teams or classes can create a litereary piece and enter it in the competition judged by members of the Lomitas staff. Those selected are sent to a printer and returned as an actual "book". Students have the opportuity to purchase copies for themselves and some of the favorite books in our library are those penned by our own students.

Science Fair

Each year Lomitas holds a Science Fair to highlight scientific achievement by the students. Students complete projects based on scientific inquiry and report results to the student body and parents through display and demonstration. :Projects are viewed by the student body and select students move on to district, and possibly, county and state science competitions.