Junior School Library and Digital Skills
Library and digital skills courses at the Junior School help young students develop a well-rounded set of literacy skills.
Literacy skills are crucial to develop at a young age. That’s why we focus on these skills in more than just language arts class. Students gain information, digital and computer literacy skills in additional courses in their weekly schedule.
Library and Information Literacy
To complement language arts, library and information literacy class is designated time for students to focus on their reading, writing, speaking and research skills. There is a strong correlation between a love of reading and achievement at school. That is why the SMUS Junior School library is the heart of the school.
"At the heart of the library program at our Junior School is honouring and celebrating the essential act of engaging in and with literature: holding a book, turning its pages, reading, making connections, sharing stories, and discussing and expressing new ideas." — Whitney Davis Hochhalter, Junior School teacher-librarian
Applied Design, Skills and Technologies/Digital Skills
Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 take an ADST course that introduces them to the design thinking process. This hands-on course prioritizes tinkering and makerspace projects that really allow children to stretch their creativity through inventing and prototyping. Embedded in the experience are challenges that allow students to uniquely develop skills such as resiliency, collaboration and curiosity.
In Grades 3-5, students take a digital skills course that focuses on developing digital competencies through the design process, including graphic design, filmmaking, coding and 3D modelling.
Technology at the Junior School is introduced in safe and appropriate ways, and students gain skills related to using different technologies. Through our ADST program, students learn using the age-appropriate tools and fun materials in our Imagination Lab.