Student+Audience

These units are designed for students at Clinton Central Elementary School. CCE is located in a rural, farming community in Clinton County, Indiana. The school has 543 students in grades K-6. The student body is 95.2% white, 3% Hispanic, and 1% multiracial. Forty-one percent of the students receive free or reduced price school lunches. On the Spring 2011 ISTEP exam, 80.2% of the students passed both English/Language Arts and Math. There are four sections of each grade level with 17-22 students in a classroom. One section of each grade level (first-sixth) contains a cluster group of students labeled "high ability." After completing sixth grade, the students move to Clinton Central Jr./Sr. High School which is located next door on the same property.

The kindergarten students attend school all day. They participate in Writer's Workshop every day in their classrooms, and they view themselves as writers and illustrators. The kindergarten classes are each comprised of students with a wide range of academic proficiency. By spring, there are students who are still learning their letters and sounds as well as students reading at a late-second grade reading level. The students are generally enthusiastic about learning. They love using computers, but they do not visit the computer lab on a regular basis and still need assistance with most functions on the computer.

The fifth grade students have had opportunities to engage in information-gathering "research" projects since second grade. During library class, they have had instruction in locating resources in the library and online, but they still need some guidance identifying valid, reliable Internet sources. They have begun to learn about citing sources, but most still cannot properly cite without assistance and reminders. The students are accustomed to demonstrating new learning in a variety of formats, including models, posters, PowerPoint presentations, and written reports.

School data obtained from IDOE Compass.