Notre Dame Marist Academy-Lower Division viewbook supplement by Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME MARIST ACADEMY LOWER DIVISION

What is the Primary Years Programme?

otre Dame is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School, offering the Primary Years Programme to students in Junior Kindergarten through 5th grade. The PYP focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The most significant and distinctive feature of the PYP is the six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The programme offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas. • Who we are • Where we are in place and time • How we express ourselves • How the world works • How we organize ourselves • Sharing the planet

The Five Essential Elements

The five essential elements—concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action—are incorporated into the PYP framework so that students are given the opportunity to: • gain knowledge that is relevant and of global significance. • develop an understanding of concepts, which allows them to make connections throughout their learning. • acquire transdisciplinary and disciplinary skills. • develop attitudes that will lead to international-mindedness. • demonstrate deeper learning and responsible behavior through responsible action; a manifestation in practice of the other essential elements. The Learner Profile

The learner profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigor and the establishing of a personal value system leading to international-mindedness. The programme encourages students to become:

Inquirers

Risk-Takers

Thinkers Principled

Knowledgeable

Open-Minded

Caring Balanced

Reflective

Communicators

IB in Action

What’s different about Notre Dame? Students learn with purpose. Consider some of these major lessons and how they fit into the IB framework. Kindergarten

4th Grade

Kindergartners benefit from experiential learning, with field trips to places such as the Detroit Zoo and Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. As part of their unit “How the World Works,” students investigate the significance of motion in their lives through a visit to the Ann Arbor HandsOn Museum. Here they are able to inquire, explore, observe, learn, and apply their knowledge through hands-on activities. At the end of the unit, students use several apps on their iPads to demonstrate motion in their lives, while also engaging in a one-on-one interview with their classroom teacher. Through the interview, students explain why they chose their pictures and how those images represent motion in their world.

When considering the transdisciplinary theme “How We Organize Ourselves,” 4th-grade students investigate how a country’s industries and resources contribute to its economic success. To demonstrate their understanding, students participate in a classroom “Mini-Economy” project, for which they are asked to conceptualize a unique product, do market research to see who would be interested in purchasing the product, then create, advertise and sell the product to the student body. Through this unit of study, 4th-graders gain knowledge of concepts impacting our global economy, such as supply and demand, profit, loss and cost.

1st Grade When presented with the transdisciplinary theme “Where We Are In Place And Time,” 1st-grade students explore how people and events of the past affect our lives today. Students take a field trip to the EL Johnson Nature Center in Bloomfield Hills to experience what it is like to live like a child in the pioneer days, spending the morning in a real log cabin furnished with all the comforts of a home from the late 1800s. As a summative assessment at the end of the six-week unit, students utilize their technology skills to create a digital story with Web 2.0 tools, such as Prezi or Animoto. These stories reflect students’ understandings of the similarities and differences connecting generations.

5th Grade Each spring every 5th-grade student participates in the Exhibition, the culminating project for the Primary Years Programme. Students are placed into small groups based upon their interest in a topic meaningful to them, then work collaboratively over a six-week period to research the topic, conduct interviews with experts, and synthesize their findings for an oral and visual presentation. Students also must present an action plan to explain how they will help solve the problem they have discovered in our global community.

Special

Notre Dame is

Students at Notre Dame Marist Academy—Lower Division have many opportunities to explore beyond the traditional “three Rs.” BEYOND THE Rs

All students at Notre Dame take traditional classroom subjects, as well as Religion, every day. They also take additional classes—referred to as “specials”—in Spanish, Music, Art, Technology, Library and Physical Education. The frequency of those classes on a weekly basis is detailed below.

1st 2nd 3rd

4th 5th

Spanish

Music

Art

Technology 2x

Library

Phys Ed

From the start Guilford (Gil) Guthrie joined the Notre Dame family as a 2nd grader in 2003, the year the Lower Division opened its doors. From then on he took full advantage of everything the school had to offer, including a 10-day

cultural tour of France and Spain in summer 2013. Now a NDP graduate and a freshman at Xavier University, Gil has come to epitomize a Notre Dame student. Prior to graduating in May 2014, Gil established himself as a dynamic member of the school community.

He served on the Campus Ministry Retreat Commission, earned and maintained membership in both the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society, volunteered as a Student Ambassador, and competed for the cross country and track and field teams. Gil’s top priority, however, was to his schoolwork, and ultimately earning the International Baccalaureate Diploma following a two-year course of study. “I chose to pursue the IB Diploma in order to gain a global and interdisciplinary perspective in my studies,” Gil says. “While the IB program is challenging, I certainly felt prepared for it.” As a senior, Gil took a full course load of eight classes: IB English, IB Biology, IB/AP Psychology, IB History, Christian History, Honors Spanish 9,

Honors Calculus, and IB/AP Macroeconomics. During his 11 years at Notre Dame, Gil heard inspiring messages from a number of influential speakers, went on countless educational field trips to a variety of locations, participated in multiple leadership initiatives, and learned new skills, such as 3D design in Notre Dame’s one-of-a-kind CATIA class through Dassault Systemes. “Notre Dame has given me numerous opportunities and experiences that are completely unique,” Gil says. “More than that, though, the best thing about Notre Dame is the loving and accepting family of friends and teachers I have found here.”

NDP graduate Gil Guthrie, left, started his Notre Dame career in the school’s lower division.

Notre Dame Marist Academy—Lower Division (Grades JK-5) 1425 Giddings Road Pontiac, MI 48340 www.ndpma.org Admissions: 248-373-1061