At the conclusion of the summer, we had three one day teacher workshops
funded by the AEF. ... The EEE grant paid to pilot the use of the student resource
text, ...
Enriching Elementary Education Report – March 2010 2009-‐2010 grant activities: -‐ At the conclusion of the summer, we had three one day teacher workshops funded by the AEF. Grade 3 and grade 4 teachers created original curriculum maps integrating social studies, the arts, and reading, and grade 1 teachers met to revisit the map created last year and update resources found to use in instruction about folktales from west Africa and Mexico. -‐ The AEF paid for the Geography Alive: Regions of Our Country teacher resource kits for grade 4 teachers along one copy per school of the Regions of Our Country student text. This is a hands-‐ on investigations model of studying geography. For example, when students study the SW, they learn about the Colorado River, its history and importance to the region, and make proposals to mitigate threats to this vital resource. This purchase has had a tremendous impact, but teachers love it to an extent that I am receiving great pressure from them to find a way to purchase the kits for each teacher and the class sets of the student text. I am hoping that this can be accommodated in the next installment of the EEE grant. -‐ The EEE grant paid to pilot the use of the student resource text, Massachusetts, Our Home at the Thompson School and provided all 3rd grade teachers that participated in the summer workshop with a copy of this book. It is a beautiful hard-‐cover book full of engaging images, and the text is grade-‐level appropriate for 3rd grade. It is widely considered to be the best and most ethically inclusive resource available to elementary teachers teaching about the history of Massachusetts as part of the state frameworks. -‐ Primary Source presented an in-‐district workshop to all grade 1 teachers on Mexican culture, focusing on art and folktales in early October. -‐ We have had more than 10 APS teachers take Primary Source courses and workshops thus far during the school year, including an online course on teaching about Ancient China, a workshop on integrating Latin American voices into children’s literature selections, and a workshop on globalizing schools. As always, participation has been across disciplines and included teachers from the elementary, middle and high school grades. Two elementary teachers, Laura Goldstein and Nicole Feroleto, completed a modern China course and were selected to travel to China this summer with Primary Source. In the past the AEF has subsidized teacher study tours through Primary Source by $500, and I am hopeful that generous support with be extended to Nicole and Laura. The cost of the trip is $1950, and these teachers will pay the remaining portion out of pocket. ELA director Deb Perry will participate in a trip to China in April for district administrators at her own expense. Ottoson Spanish teacher Anne Zachary will be participating on a community service trip to the Dominican Republic with Primary Source at her own expense. -‐ Carolyn Shediac, grade 2 teacher at the Stratton School, has been nominated by Primary Source as the national recipient of the Elgin G. Heinz award for excellence in teaching about Japan. -‐ Needs for future for AEF funding through the EEE grant include: continued support for the Primary Source district membership and subsidies for two teachers per year to participate in study tours, an investment in grade-‐level appropriate fiction and non-‐fiction books about Japan for all grade two teachers and summer study group time for teachers to properly plan for the
use of these texts as part of the reading program, the expansion of the History Alive: America’s Past program in grade 5 and the Geography Alive: Regions of Our Country program in grade 4. As always, thank you for your support. In a district that has had no funds allocated for elementary socials studies for at least the past three years and faces even bleaker financial straits ahead, the ability for me to properly do my job as a K-‐12 Social Studies Director in making sure that elementary teachers have an opportunity to collaborate around best practices for teaching social studies with an up-‐to-‐date curriculum and the materials to do it right is entirely dependent on continued AEF support for the Enriching Elementary Education grant.
