Mid-Del Public Schools Foundation

"A project like this helps students on so many levels," explains gifted and talented teacher Destiny Warrior. "We combined physical activity with reading and math challenges in a fun way that challenged kids to stretch themselves to do their best."

The Reading, 'Rithmetic and Running project was the brainchild of Ms. Warrior, based on a project she saw in St. Louis a few years ago. She took the idea and developed it into a successful effort starting at Steed Elementary that encouraged students to read 26 books, master 26 math facts, and run a total of 26 miles − culminating in running the kids portion of the Memorial Marathon in Oklahoma City.

Not only did the students experience learning opportunities in those three areas, but built into the project were other lessons. "So much of our lives is about instant gratification. There is nothing instant about long-distance running. It's important that our students experience something like this early, so they learn to motivate themselves to keep working through challenges to achieve a long-term goal. That perseverance will empower them as they grow older," Ms. Warrior emphasizes. "In academics, learning gets hard sometimes and students need to know that they must persevere, keep going and not give up."

Because they were building up to running the kids portion of the Memorial Marathon, related Ms. Warrior, this event also allowed her and her team of teachers, administrators, and parents to talk with and connect with the students involved on issues related to being kind to others, the impact of violence, and learning from people different than ourselves.

Ms. Warrior and her team just completed the second year of this project, which this year had expanded to include East Side students in addition to Steed students. A four-mile run one Saturday morning each month was added so that the students from both schools had a chance to get to know each other.

The adults involved are discussing their learning this year as they plan for year three. "This is a great project for our kids," adds East Side Elementary physical education teacher Ms. Fade. "We will be ready to do it again next year."

In addition to involving the Mid-Del students who actually participated in the project, it may well be adopted in other schools and districts in coming years. Ms. Warrior presented the program at the state Encyclomedia Conference, the Oklahoma Association of Gifted and Creative and Talented state conference, to all Mid-Del physical education teachers, and to the Norman Public Schools.

"The Foundation is imperative to our work inside and outside of the classroom. We thank them for their generosity and leadership," says Ms. Warrior.

For more, read the Eastword article (April 28, 20100) at http://eastword.net/oklahoma/article-1796-elementary-students-plan-to-run-in-memorial-marathon.html#dComments.

Blog written by involved teachers: http://podcast2.mid-del.net/users/smarathon/.

2010 Grant Recipients

Profiles

Elementary Chess Clubs

"I have one student who was new to our school at the beginning of this year," explains Melinda Ryan, the Advanced Learning teacher at Soldier Creek. "He is very quiet, and was having a hard time fitting in and making new friends. He was recommended by his teacher to be tested for Advanced Learning and he qualified."

She continues, "While informing his mother of this test results, she noticed the Chess Club board in my classroom. She asked about it, and mentioned that he was extremely good at chess. I told him when Chess Club met, and he has been there every time since. While playing chess he has met many students from all different grades, made many new friends, and enjoys sharing his chess knowledge with others. He is now very happy and social in school."

Beginning last spring, children in all of Mid-Del's elementary schools began to be introduced to chess, thanks to contributors to the Mid-Del Public Schools Foundation. The grant allowed project team coordinator Dr. Nancy Campbell to purchase 800 chess sets, and 15 teaching wall sets for the teachers to teach with. But it was a team of 17 teachers who learned to play and took chess learning back to each school.

Dr. Campbell can recite a long list of the many ways chess enhances and spurs learning, like developing analytical and decision-making skills, using higher order thinking skills, analyzing actions and consequences, visualizing future possibilities, reinforcing math and science skills, and so on.

However, the teachers this year are witnessing many unanticipated benefits. "I have an elementary student who has been diagnosed as clinically depressed and was also contemplating suicide," shares Tammy McKee, an advanced learning teacher with Traub and Cleveland Bailey elementary schools.

"We have been working closely with him and his family. Once a week, the student and I meet for lunch and also play chess. It is his favorite thing to do. We play chess and it gives me the opportunity to talk with him. I have created a very positive relationship with him and chess was my way to reach out to him."

Chess playing and chess clubs have also proved to be something that brings families closer together. "I can’t believe how many of my kiddos have taught their parents how to play chess," says Dr. Toni Pantier, Advanced Learning teacher at Tinker Elementary. "In a day and age where families buzz around to sports, fast food, etc., and family time has taken a back seat in many households, the thought of kids and parents playing chess together opens the door for lots of communication time. . . . Everyone benefits!"

Dr. Pantier also tells how chess has helped two twin brothers whose relationship had been deteriorating. One brother is intellectually gifted and skipped a grade so he is now in third grade, while the other takes longer to learn and is in the second grade. The third grader told Dr. Pantier that he felt badly that all of the activities he loves to do - like puzzles, brain teasers, read Harry Potter books, etc. - are too hard for his twin brother. So he felt badly about how he was growing away from his brother, while his brother was also frustrated and irritated.

However, Dr. Pantier continues, the third grader "taught his brother some basics of chess this summer. His brother certainly doesn't play on the same level as [he] does, but he is so proud to be there with [the third grader]. . . . Chess has helped pad the wedge that is naturally coming between the two boys."

"We were first interested in this idea because we see chess as a learning tool," states Dr. Campbell. "Our main goal was raising test scores. But it has turned into so much more."

The Elementary Chess Clubs are reaching all kindergarten through fifth graders, approximately 6,725 students. Mid-Del's first intra-district chess tournament was held in February at Carl Albert High School, with 133 participating in five games. The project's goal is to have 20 percent of each elementary school playing chess on a regular basis by the end of this school year - or 1,345 children. The instruction and clubs will continue in future years.

"George Washington was a general in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of our country," proudly states the Barnes first-grader who plays the part of a classroom teacher in this school program. "Many call him the father of our country!" This rousing welcome is followed by George Washington confidently striding out on stage.

On March 8, an audience of parents, community members, and school officials were treated to a "Patriotic Program" at Barnes Elementary that was delivered by approximately 60 first graders. Barnes first grade teacher and 2010 Foundation grant recipient Lisa Doonkeen proposed and won a Foundation teacher grant that allowed the first graders to make history a fun, hands-on, and meaningful experience.

"This project gives children the ability to transform themselves into famous people in America's history," explains Ms. Doonkeen. "It allows the opportunity for students of all ability levels to engage in active learning about our nation's beginnings, famous leaders, heroes, and symbols of freedom."

The program began with the ABCs of U.S. history, as children came on stage and explained the significance of the history represented by their letter. After "B is for Betsy Ross," "C is for the Capitol," on through the alphabet, the children honored active duty military and veterans, enthusiastically sang a series of patriotic songs, and told history jokes. Every first grader participated in a well-performed program.

Ms. Doonkeen's underlying purpose for creating this grant project was to help her students develop an interest in history by experiencing it as a creative, living area of learning. She'll determine the success of the academic portions of the project by using Oklahoma's P.A.S.S. standards as she and the other first grade teachers observe and document each child's interest, motivation, and participation in the history lessons and activities.

"Something like this project," she explains, "helps students increase their understanding and develop higher level thinking skills. Its purpose is to help instill a love of learning about American history at an early age. It may even inspire students to seek out careers as historians, professors, political figures, or possibly inspire one to be our future President!"

While Wednesday's program was the culmination of this project, it is neither the only activity nor the last. Ms. Doonkeen utilized the costumes purchased with grant funds to teach about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other holidays and their history and meaning.

The approximately 60 students in Barnes' first grade are directly benefiting from Ms. Doonkeen's history project. However, she estimates that 500 students or more will be able to benefit from the materials purchased in years to come.

Science Celebrations

Epperly Heights science teacher and 2010 grant recipient Patricia Pierce is being kept busy as a classroom full of active students gets to discover what owls eat. Some students cheer as they uncover tiny bones in the owl "pellets" - clumps of indigestible feathers, fur, and bones. Others are asking Ms. Pierce for help identifying the tiny bones they have found.

The fourth graders' excitement is obvious. Before this hands-on activity, they studied the life cycles of owls and other animals, and pored over diagrams of skeletons of mice, snakes, birds, and other of owls' prey so that they'll be able to determine what their owl consumed.

They've learned that since owls don't have teeth, they consume their food by swallowing it whole or in large chunks, torn apart with their beaks. The owls slowly digest their food, leaving whatever is not digestible to be regurgitated as a "pellet." This makes for fun discoveries as the students pull out tiny mouse skulls and other bones.

In talking about the genesis for her project idea, Ms. Pierce reflects, "In our jam-packed school day, there's not a lot of time for children to experience science the way it was intended: hands-on and up-to-your-elbows in learning."

"I want children to feel the joy there is in figuring something out," Ms. Pierce adds. "I want them to enjoy the process of learning." She says that the few hands-on activities she got to do with her students last year were met with such eagerness and excitement that she realized her students were starved for this type of involvement. "Too often, science is reduced to primarily reading about things that would best be understood if the children can experience them." So Ms. Pierce set about developing a way that her students could throw themselves into science like it should be.

The students share their "finds" with each other and Ms. Pierce, gluing examples on sheets of paper and using their newly acquired knowledge and a reference sheet to identify what animal and which bone they uncovered.

Dissecting owl pellets is just one of the celebrations of science that Ms. Pierce has planned for this school year. Coming up are projects to construct simple machines, build electrical circuits, and create their own fossils.

Ms. Pierce plans to reach every fourth grade class in Epperly Heights with Science Celebrations - approximately 85 children - and much of the materials can be reused in future years.

"I could talk about the scientific method all day long," she explains, "but setting the stage for children to discover things for themselves will make this learning stick with them."

Children's Publishing Company

All across Mid-Del, early childhood teachers are reading stories to their children. It's a picture most of us can easily conjure - a huddle of boys and girls listening to teachers bring those stories to life. The children examine the illustrations, their faces reflecting the progress of a story. Sometimes there's even disappointment as a story winds to an end and the teacher closes the book.

That's exactly where Mrs. Vicki Dimmer's Children's Publishing Center at Traub Elementary begins. With funding from the Mid-Del Schools Foundation, Ms. Dimmer is creating a way for children to become even more active in reading and exploring the world of authors and illustrators.

Using high-quality early childhood literature, Mrs. Dimmer's pre-k and kindergarten classes become authors and illustrators as they respond to the stories they listen to read aloud.

Based on a program developed by early childhood teachers - who found that teaching skills through literature was far more effective in preparing children for later reading and writing than isolated drills and skills practice - Mrs. Dimmer's grant-funded program allows the students to create their own books.

 Research has shown that - on average - by the age of three, children from middle-income families have heard approximately 30 million words, while children from low-income families have just hear 10 million. This translates into a large gap in pre-literacy skills, and greater challenges in reading and writing for the students entering with lower exposure to rich vocabulary.

"When I was in kindergarten," Mrs. Dimmer explains, "we learned to tie our shoes, write our name, identify colors, and listen quietly while our teacher read a story. Such is not the case today. There are now more than 26 typewritten pages of standards for pre-kindergarten students to achieve."

The Children's Publishing Company project directly addresses the gap in language skills teachers see between children entering from families of different income levels. By creating a classroom activity in which all of the children hear and learn to understand new and challenging vocabulary, and then use that vocabulary as they create their own books, all of the students have the chance to enrich their vocabulary and learning experience.

This year, approximately 80 children are involved in Mrs. Dimmer's program. Since the books and other materials can be used year after year, however, pre-k and kindergartners for some years to come will benefit from the program.

"This project will not just help children in their pre-k or kindergarten year," adds Mrs. Dimmer, "but will have a powerful impact on their ability to read and write later on, as well as their love for books."

Music Periods Times Three

"I think art and music go together and help you have a creative mind," relates Sydney Joiner, fifth-grade Parkview Elementary student. She and Sydney Petersen - the "Two Sydneys" - are two of music teacher Linda Sharp's fifth-grade students.

This year, thanks to a Mid-Del Schools Foundation grant, the "Two Sydneys," along with their classmates, are enjoying an in-depth exploration of music history, learning about the Baroque, Classical, and twentieth-century periods.

Actually, reports Ms. Sharp, "Over half of the musical instruments in my room have been purchased through Foundation grants."

"Giving the students an actual instrument in their hands to perform with is invaluable," she continues. "The students develop basic competency in rhythms and coordination, not to mention problem solving skills. Playing the instruments is one of their favorite things to do in my class."

Beginning in December, students were assigned to a learning community, which allows them to work collaboratively in a group of approximately 10 students researching, practicing, and performing.

MP3 will involve approximately 220 fourth- and fifth-grade Parkview students this year, while the instruments, sheet music, and CDs will continue to benefit hundreds of students a year for the foreseeable future.

Grant Spotlight: Write On!

 "I really want students to be successful as they're learning to write," says Del City Elementary teacher Ms. Merry Gaddy.

Every year, Ms. Gaddy sees her eager kindergarten children coming with a wide range of skills. Some are already writing and some need help with pre-writing skills.

With a Foundation grant to set up a writing center this year, Ms. Gaddy is helping each child develop, using a variety of methods and activities. As one parent noted, "The students have more fun and and show more interest in writing when they have so many different tools to use."

The ability to write letters, words and numbers is not necessarily something that comes easily to every child. While some seem to absorb it with little effort, others need more practice and time to learn these building blocks. With the variety of tools, Ms. Gaddy explains, "Students who need to focus on pre-writing skills will be able to do so, and students who are ready for more challenging writing will be able to do so as well."

Students are, indeed, eager to demonstrate their abilities using tracing letters, magic boards, print and wipe boards, and other items. On a recent visit by Foundation staff, children were finishing up a writing assignment. As they finished, they walked over to the classroom Post Office to "mail" their creations to each other and to Ms. Gaddy. They then divided up to work at different stations where some traced letters, others practiced making the strokes that writing requires, and still others wrote their names.

"I had one student who first told me that he couldn't write his name, and he wouldn't even try to print the letters on his paper," Ms. Gaddy confides. "He is now writing his first name and is even attempting to write his last name on his work."

Steed 4th-grade teacher Christine Paradise is using the draw of robots to excite her students in the subjects of science and math.

"Our students' test scores confirm that, like students on a national level, their problem solving skills, basic mathematics abilities, and algebraic reasoning are not up to the high standards we expect," Paradise explains. "Our minority students are falling behind in these areas. This project allows us to teach these skills in a way that  engages all of our students."

As part this Foundation-funded project, Steed 4th-grade students are building robots using graphing calculators, and program the calculators to run the robots. The programs use everything from basic mathematical calculations to more complex algebraic equations, and are easily adapted to the ability of each student.

"Here, let me show you," Paradise says as she grabs one of the calculator-robots to demonstrate." Setting a lunar rover robot on the ground, she gives a quick demonstration of how answering a series multiplication equations correctly causes the rover to move forward across the carpet.

Paradise is especially interested in ways that this inquiry-based, creative way of using math and science skills can supply extra support and encouragement for girls and students of color in subject areas where these populations tend to experience waning interest and achievement.

"The Revelation of Robotics" will involve approximately 75 Steed students this year, and will impact additional students in future years, since all of the equipment can be reused.

Elementary Chess Clubs

It's surprisingly calm in this Del City Elementary classroom, considering that about 15 third graders are sitting together, cross-legged on the floor. Dr. Nancy Campbell is explaining to the students the basic moves of the chess pieces she has pictured on a demonstration chess board affixed to the wall.

She walks the children through what the pieces look like, their names, and the ways they can move - tying it to some of the game's history as she explains. After some questions and answers, the room comes to life as the students divide up into pairs, get their boards and pieces, and start their games.

Thanks to Mid-Del Foundation donors, kids in all 17 of Mid-Del's elementary schools are learning chess and starting clubs as this project continues. Chess is credited with boosting math skills and memory, improving creativity and critical thinking, and development problem solving abilities - and the students are loving it.

Attendance is overwhelming, and the advanced learning teachers and administrators are surprised at how enthusiastic the students are. In a chess tournament on September 25, 2010, Del City Elementary took first place in the under-500 students, K-4 category. Two of the 4th graders who won their games had just learned to play!