Belleville Project Lead the Way in the Classroom

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) continues to be one of the School District of Belleville's three initiatives for the 2016-17 school year, focusing on project based, hands-on learning for grades K-12. The school district had staff attend PLTW training this past summer to become certified PLTW Trainers. These teachers and administrators are now certified to instruct other teachers on how to implement PLTW in their classrooms. Additionally, Belleville's Technology Education teacher is a PLTW Master Teacher. The district is committed to meeting the needs of the community and believes applying PLTW in the classroom and providing quality PLTW instructors will positively affect the Belleville community.
Within PLTW there are five programs for students: Launch, Gateway, Engineering, Biomedical and Computer Science. Each program offers different modules that a district may decide to use in the classroom. This school year, Belleville will implement PLTW Launch for grades K-5, PLTW Gateway for grades 6-8 and PLTW Engineering for grades 9-12. Additionally, 4K students will be exposed to STEM and inquiry based learning as an introduction to PLTW.
In PLTW Launch, Belleville's K-5 students learn through exploration and discovery. Students become hands-on problem solvers and learn to collaborate with their peers through two modules, biomedical and computer science. Students begin each module with an engaging story, which introduces a challenge and then work together to solve the presented problem. Through a series of activities, students become confident in trying new things, learn from their mistakes and learn how to apply what they know to find solutions.
Students in grades 6-8 will dive into PLTW Gateway. This school year, all 6-8 grade students are studying the design and modeling module. Each consecutive year, they will build upon what they've learned by studying a new module, automation and robotics in 7th grade and computer science in 8th grade. This will provide a firm foundation and spark student interest at an early age for these areas of discovery and innovation. These students are given a real world problem, work together to design and provide a solution, and then present their ideas, all while developing team-building and goal setting skills. This school year, 7th and 8th grade students have finished their first project already, a foot orthosis for children with cerebral palsy. The intensity and collaborative effort the students made during their project was inspiring.
Students in grades 9-12 are offered three PLTW Engineering courses this school year: Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering and Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Additional courses will be offered in years following, including Engineering Design and Development and Introduction to Computer Sciences. Additionally, the prior Physics course is now incorporating PLTW in its curriculum. The Intro to Engineering course currently offered gives students the exciting opportunity to take the course for both high school and college credit, a large potential cost savings for families. The district's Trades classes have also been revamped to meet the growing needs of the 21st century world and growing job market in these areas. Students will take part in creating simple machines, programming code, and developing robotic arms, all while using a design process to first solve a problem and then apply it to the real world with a solution.
The school district is excited to continue sharing PLTW happenings throughout the school year. For additional information please visit our website at: www.belleville.k12.wi.us.