GRANTS FUNDED Fall 2006

W07MG1 – Earthquake Simulator Curriculum Enhancement

Matthew Lafond

$737.50

The Earthquake Simulator Activity would be to have an adjustable and repeatable way to test mini-earthquake-proof structures and further enhance the 6 th grade earth science curriculum. The simulator board will let students test their structures, and lead to studies of earthquake locations, type and intensity of seismic waves, and how people are adapting to the threat of earthquakes.

S07MG2 – Choral Music Library

Michael Gorgone, Music Teacher – Noyes

$750

To start a library of choral music to serve the students in chorus and music classes by providing them with a greater variety of appropriate music. Students will be exposed to a wider range of genres that are suitable for an elementary choir.

S07MG5 – Journey From Trauma and Toward Healing

Bill Schecter, LSRHS History Teacher

LSRHS Faculty and Staff

$750

Grant will be used to partner with FELS and Alumni money to provide stipends to those directly exposed to the trauma at LS on Jan 19. These stipends will be used to help finance a healing activity or retreat for each individual affected by the events.

W07MG2 – Introducing TI Smart View Emulator Software in LS Math Classes

Erica Wilsen

LS Algebra II thru Calculus BC courses

$675

To improve the teaching of graphing calculator capabilities, and therefore take full advantage of the calculator’s ability to illustrate and explore mathematical concepts in a number of ways through the use of Texas Instruments educational software TI SmartView 2.0 which emulates the screen and functionality of the graphing calculators.

W07MG3 – Odd Girl Out, the Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls – Study Group

Jennifer Neville

Study Group – Staff at Peter Noyes

$289

To have staff members become more aware of the covert way girl bullying occurs in our society and our schools. Outcome will be an increased awareness of the forms of bullying in our school.

S07MG8 – Audiobook Playaways

Gail Keene, Library Media Specialist – Loring

$750

Audiobook Playaways are self-playing digital audiobooks which provide an opportunity for students to listen to and absorb fiction and non-fiction text, without the concern of rewinding, etc… These “books” will benefit the entire school population, as well as specific segments within that population. Special-education students with language-based learning disabilities, reluctant readers and visually impaired students will all specifically benefit from listening to audiobooks.

W07MG4 – “Reasoning with Numbers” Materials

Joy Cooke

$750

A district-wide goal is differentiation and enrichment in elementary mathematics. Use of “Reasoning With Numbers” books will give classroom teachers supplementary materials for meeting the needs of a range of learners.

S07EG1 – Primary Math Assessment

Joy Cooke, Math Curriculum Specialist

$1739 (materials only)

W07MG6 – Making Science Matter

Karen McCarthy

$750

Attendance at the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers Annual Conference by a group of four teachers and the Curriculum Specialist for Science. Intention is to the use the experience to enrich their knowledge and understanding of current science content and pedagogy to support rich science instruction in the classroom. All information will be shared with district.

W07MG7 – Pick a Book and Playaway

Jan Durgin, Haynes School Librarian

$750

To fund the purchase of a variety of digital, self-playing audiobooks called “playaways”, making children’s chapter books accessible to all levels of readers.

W07MG8 - W07MG11 – Elementary Math Club

Principals pf Elementary Schools

$750

Creation of a Math Club for 4 th and 5 th grade students interested in and motivated by math. These students will have an opportunity to participate regularly in activities that are both enriching and challenging. Some activities and resources may have a “carry-over” effect in the regular classrooms.

W07MG12 – Raz-kids.com Talking Books

Kathy Lembo

District wide Learning Centers, Literacy Specialist, Grade level teachers

$599.50

az-kids.com is an online program that provides the opportunity to teach and reinforce reading to students. Helps with phonemic awareness, decoding, sight-word vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Students can read or listen to the interactive stories then test their reading skills with the quizzes. Teachers can track progress with an online management system.

W07MG13 – Fiddling Enrichment Project

Nathanial Erde

$585.00

Project will provide students an opportunity to explore traditional Barn Dance fiddling, which is a part of New England’s musical heritage. Students will learn from master teacher, Janet Farrar-Royce, an expert in both teaching and performing the style of fiddling. They will continue to develop fiddling skills in weekly classes, culminating in a spring elementary concert.

S07EG8 – Purple Loosestrife Bio-Control Project

Paula Feynman, 6th Grade Science Teacher

$4877.61

Grant would support a part of the Grade 6 Ecology unit, allowing students to set up an ecological site (wetlands); introduce plant life (purple loosestrife) and beetles to thereby observe the lifecycle of the beetles and their interaction with the loosestrife as way of controlling the loosestrife while allowing native species of plants to return in greater numbers.

W07MG14 – Peace Begins with Me – We’re Bully Free: A Teaching Concert

Kimberly Taylor

Asst Principa,l Loring Elementary

$750

This interactive performance teaches diversity, celebration, and the effects of bullying, teasing, and gossiping, self-esteem and self-respect, respect for others and the earth, and hope and empowerment. It would provide an enrichment activity to enhance the currently existing “Quit-It!” and “Bully Proof” curriculums being used in the SPS wellness curriculum at all grade levels.

W07MG16 – Elements and Principles of Design: Islamic Art

Jane Hundley, Curriculum Specialist, District-wide art classes

$378.18

Through the purchase of books on Islamic Art and Design, students will have the opportunity to connect Islamic Art and Design with math (geometry, shapes), art history (M.C. Escher and others), and science (hexagonal honeycombs or bees). Through these lessons students will begin to understand the importance of Islamic Art in history as well as in modern times and expand their knowledge of global art.

W07EG1 – Guitars for New Course

Thomas Grandprey, LSRHS Instrumental Music Teacher

$4199.86

Purchase of 14 acoustic electric guitars for a new course at LSRHS called Beginning Guitar and Piano. Acquisition of these instruments will allow the music department to reach out to a broader population of students, and provide a meaningful musical experience in order for them to gain skills that can be used throughout their life.

W07EG3 – Mathematics Enrichment Support

Joy Cooke, Curriculum Specialist, District-wide

$7361.28

To provide a basic set of materials for each grade level team in a school for the enrichment of math skills for highly capable math students. Would allow for meeting the needs, interests and strengths of talented students.

W07EG6 – Writing Strategies and Using the Six Traits to Teach Young Writers

Kathy Zito, Literacy Specialist Nixon Elementary School

$1050

Attendance by first and second grade teachers, as well as Literacy Specialist, to the BER workshop entitled “Writing Strategies That Work!”, would enhance writing instruction in the K-2 grades by incorporating the six traits of writing. Would also challenge and motivate writers of all ability levels to improve their written expression and spark their imagination.

W07EG7 – The LSRHS METCO Mural

Sue Rushfirth, Parent and METCO Liason

LSRHS Students and faculty – current and future

$750

As part of the ongoing beautification of the new school, the METCO Mural will celebrate the experiences and the history of the METCO program by representing the neighborhoods, the culture and the diversity of the students. It will bring to LSRHS a positive representation of the neighborhoods of Boston and a visual representation of the experiences of those students who do not live in Lincoln or Sudbury.

W07EG8 – Interactive Whiteboard Enrichment Project

Bob Kavanaugh, Technology Director

Grades 3 & 5 at Nixon and Loring

$4770

The need to acquire additional tools to supplement materials already purchased by the school department, which will support and enhance technology integration in a more meaningful way. ACTIVotes are handheld voting keypads that allow students to participate in classroom data collection in a variety ways. ACTIVslateXR is a graphics tablet that allows teachers to move around the room while still controlling the interactive whiteboard.