Curriculum Overview

Everywhere you go in P. S. 161 you see children busily working on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and all the other curriculum areas. This is especially true in the two Technology Labs. When you pop into Lab 301 you will catch a glimpse of the smaller children working with Ms. Gorman and Mrs. Engram, you will hear a lot of computer keys clacking and you will see children learning the technology skills they need to succeed.

In keeping with District 17 goals all Technology projects are cross-curriculum with a strong emphasis on Literacy. If the children are working on a science project, they might be using "Imagination Express: The Rain Forests" but they are also using a word processor to "publish" their report. To further the rain forest experience, children can use "Amazon Trail" to travel to Brazil.
            

The younger students spend their time with software like the Reader Rabbit series which is designed to reinforce phonics and word attack skills. We also have several projects based around Broderbund's "Living Books" series. Children young and old love to have the computer "read" to them and at the same time they can add these titles to the list of 25 books that they are required to read during the year.
            

Even Art becomes part of the Literacy curriculum when we use Kid Pix to help create an Alphabet Book or to illustrate a report on landmarks in New York City! Kindergarten children master shapes, numbers and sizes with "Millie's Math House" and "Let's Start Learning." They also use "Bailey's Book House" to reinforce phonics and help them to begin to write stories of their own.
            

Second graders are beginning to learn keyboarding skills using "Type to Learn" and they are learning to use these skills when they use a word processor (The Writing Center) to "publish" their creative writing. We look forward to continuing these projects and to creating some new ones in the future.