John Eliot School Audio Learning Library
Eliot | $3,407 |
The grant will purchase four listening centers and a wide range of audio titles and print copies of books which will be available to be used by the entire school. The listening centers will enable four children at a time to listen to and read along with the available texts, and will enable the listeners to control the speed of the narrator to accommodate readers of differing proficiency levels. Audio books are a proven means to help increase fluency, increase comprehension, support emergent readers, support English language learners and struggling readers, and provide enrichment opportunities.
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Little Theater of the Deaf “Fingers Around the World”
Eliot | $3,500 |
| The grant will fund two performances (one for K-2, one for 3-5) of the Little Theater of the Deaf’s “Fingers Around the World” series, and will provide for pre- and post-performance study guides and teaching materials to enhance students’ experience of deaf theater and sign language. The experience will promote social responsibility as it relates to etiquette among the deaf culture and recognizing the Deaf Community as a separate culture, as well as help the students to refine listening skills, express emotions through movement, and understand through role play. The program supports the Eliot School's goals for social/emotional learning, multi-culturalism and disabilities awareness. Further, the theater performance focuses on the culture of Africa, which compliments the school’s new and very successful African drumming program. |
Professional Library of Support Materials
Broadmeadow | $707 |
| Grant money will be used to establish a professional library to support teachers and parents as they address the diverse and varied learning styles of individual students. The library will include classroom materials, resources and specific information which will be available for all staff to borrow or lend to parents. The grant writers will conduct an inservice training session to familiarize staff with the new resources. |
Experiencing the Silk Road Through the Senses
Broadmeadow | $3,034 |
The purpose of this grant is to bring the experience of the Silk Road to fourth grade students and teachers, as part of their current curriculum on Exploration/Explorers. The authors of the grant will be traveling to China this summer on a Primary Source Study Tour, and will bring back artifacts and resources to create five kits about the Silk Road (one for each elementary school). Kits will include cloth, rugs, silk, spices and leather goods, along with books, CDs, photos and an iMovie for classroom teachers to use to explore the Silk Road. The grant authors will then hold two afternoon workshops for fourth grade teachers to explain the contents of the kits and suggest ways in which the resources might be used.
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Integrated Games Group
Broadmeadow | $3,500 |
In collaboration with The Academy of Physical and Social Development in Newton, this grant will draw upon an existing pilot program to create a new social inclusion program for both special needs and typically developing children. Offered through EASE (Elementary After School Enrichment), this program will use guided play to encourage growth of social, gross-motor and sportsmanship skills, as well as to actively develop self-esteem and social competence. This grant includes a training model with the purpose of training Needham Public Schools personnel to run the groups, phasing out of The Academy instructors, and expanding the program to other elementary schools.
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Art Quest For Broadmeadow
Broadmeadow | $1,700 |
| Broadmeadow Creative Arts Committee seeks to bring Art Quest into the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. This unique educational program integrates art history and art appreciation with current class curriculum. Third graders will participate in “The Art of Massachusetts,” 4th graders will experience “Native American Indian Art,” and 5th graders will explore “Immigration to America.” |
Urban/Suburban Collaborative
Broadmeadow | $3,175 |
| This grant seeks to expand the program that NEF helped to fund last year. The collaborative brings Simmons College interns into eight classrooms -- four at the Broadmeadow School and four at the Winthrop School in Dorchester -- and then promotes cross-cultural understanding by bringing the two schools together in various ways. This year, NEF would fund: a joint “waterways” project for the fifth graders; a joint field trip to the Museum of Science for the second graders, to participate in the museum’s multi-culture program; and the means for an electronic penpal relationship during the year. |
The Oak Tree: Understanding our World Through Naturalistic Observation and Drawing
Newman | $1,600 |
| Second graders at Newman will be exposed to naturalistic observation and drawing as an alternative way to explore the physical world. Gordon Morrison, artist, naturalist and author, will conduct presentations and classroom workshops for the students in which he will share his book The Oak Tree and his own field sketches of trees and animals. The program aims to help strengthen students’ observational and naturalistic drawing skills, enhance their interest in learning about the natural world, give them confidence in their artistic ability, and provide teachers with a repertoire of instructional techniques in the areas of art and science. |
Literacy Bridge Expansion
Pollard | $3,500 |
| The Readers and Writers Workshop model is currently being used with tremendous success in Needham Public Elementary Schools and was expanded this year to the 6th grade. The program relies partially on the use of appropriate literature as touchstone texts or models of quality prose. This grant will support the expansion of this program to the 7th and 8th grades at Pollard by purchasing professional texts for teachers and multiple sets of student texts to be used in the classroom throughout the year as models for the genres of memoir, essay, and nonfiction. |
Provoking Thought: Art as Social Conscience and Propaganda
High School | $500 |
| Robert Larsen, editorial cartoonist for The Needham Times, will present a three-part seminar to high school art students. Drawing on his expertise as a cartoonist and his knowledge of the use of the editorial cartoon as social statement, Mr. Larsen will lead students as they examine of the role of the editorial cartoon in shaping public opinion, analyze historical examples, and express their own points of view on a social or political topic or cause through this unique art form. |
Portable Sound Equipment for Choral and Ensemble Performances
District Wide | $2,800 |
| This grant will support the purchase of two complete portable sound amplification systems to enable the schools’ numerous ensembles to present concerts in a wide variety of community and school settings that do not have sound systems available. The equipment will also be available to students for developing skills in singing/performing with microphones and operating sound systems. The equipment can be used to simultaneously amplify recorded sound and live student performances, which is especially critical for jazz ensembles, summer jazz classes and vocal ensembles. |
Using Digital Recording Technology to Improve Music Instrument Learning and Ensemble Performance
District Wide | $3,500 |
| This grant will purchase seven M-Audio (MP3) handheld digital recorders with built–in microphones and 1 GB flash cards. Instrumental music teachers at all levels will use them with their students to help make the learning process more individualized and productive. Teachers will be able to create a music portfolio for each child which will be used throughout the year to assess progress, and which will be augmented and used by each successive teacher as the student moves through the school system. Additional possible uses for the digital recorders include, but are not limited to: communication of assignments for at-home practice; recording instrumental ensembles; recording students’ individual performances as part of an ensemble; and recording rehearsals and performances for assessment. |
| Total | $30,923 |
