March 2016 Grant Recipients

We have obtained the plans to make our dream a reality with a table top seed starting system. This would provide each grade level their own indoor garden. Students and educators will be building the units which they can use with their science curriculum to investigate what plants need to grow. This provides students with a hands on opportunity to take ownership of their education. This will give students who may not have had the experience to have a garden at home, a chance to have one at school.

Assignments for this novel unit have, or may include: chapter summaries, personal responses, plot and character development, citing evidence, comprehension, literary elements, dioramas, media articles, vocabulary, and engaging discussions! Please help me to continue the tradition of teaching this wonderful classic! The second novel set I would like to purchase is, The Sinking of The Titanic. With CCSS in place, and its strong emphasis on nonfiction, I am in dire need of a nonfiction novel set.

The project will utilize iPad mini 4's to access developmentally appropriate children's literature to teach vocabulary and comprehension through Dialogic Reading. Data will be collected and compiled over a three week intervention to determine a positive effect. Although this project is listed as 3+ years in the document, it is done so, because the impact of the project has already been determined to make a positive impact on vocabulary development. This project can be implemented for the remainder of the program.

I hope to provide students with myriad activities to learn the sight words. I have asked for 2 i-Pads to allow students to access apps such as "Learn Sight Words" and "Sight Words by Little Speller" and "Sight Word Ninja." The three Snap Word items provide my students with a visual to connect to the sight word. My students struggle with memorizing the sight words. The visuals from these cards will allow scaffolding for students to "grasp" the picture before reversing the cards to the standard font displaying the sight word.

Building a solid foundation in algebraic thinking is essential for future success in mathematics. Using math manipulatives in first grade helps students to develop number sense. Achieving an understanding of the mathematical operations of addition and subtraction in first grade will lead to future success as students proceed to multiplication and division. Using manipulatives enables students to develop a variety of strategies to solve problems. Comparing current and end-of-year assessments will demonstrate that students have made progress.

"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall." I want to keep our first grade Lunch Bunch Book Club going. We had such success from our first annual book club, and I want to offer the same experience to my new students.

The AP biology and general biology students will be hatching harlequin duck eggs, a breed which is currently listed as critical on the livestock conservatory. The breed provides an example of Mendel’s laws and the importance of genetic diversity within a species. Students will study the origin of this breed and the genetic selection that occurred to create them.

The students spend hours writing and ask "when is writing?". Currently, our district has an older reading curriculum that isn't aligned with the new standards. My goal is to teach students to become lifelong readers, not only for entertainment, but because they want to be lifelong learners. Our world is moving so fast today and will continue to speed up. If students aren't always ready to learn something new as an adult, they may become unemployable and have to live a lower quality of life.