This past fall 30 math teachers across the district took part in a 2-day workshop to develop effective strategies that will ensure students master number concepts consistently, fluently and with understanding. The workshop focused on understanding how children learn mathematics, why learning problems occur, and how to help them learn mathematics better.<\/p>\n
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Teachers and administrators found it so valuable that the district has expanded its work with Professor Sharma so many more staff members at all grade levels will benefit. He has since worked in a select classrooms and gave a community presentation on “Prerequisites Skills and Mathematics Learning.” You can check out\u00a0his handout here<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Below are what a few have to say about Professor Sharma’s work.<\/p>\n \u201cProfessor Sharma demystifies math instruction by showing how the development of numeracy parallels the development of literacy.\u00a0 For example, he\u00a0talks\u00a0about a kindergarten student’s understanding of letters and the sounds the letters represent, and then discusses the importance\u00a0of the corresponding concepts related to numbers.\u00a0This information\u00a0is critical for teachers to deliver quality math instruction, yet it is often absent from teacher training programs.\u00a0 As a result, Professor Sharma’s ideas are essential in helping students reach high levels of academic achievement.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMahesh Sharma\u2019s workshop is one of the best professional development offerings we have experienced.\u00a0 Staff feedback has been so positive, and we can already see how it will have a positive impact for our students.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n REF bough several IPADs for 7th and 8th grade teams to facilitate the\u00a0reading program at Coolidge Middle School.\u00a0 The English department has used them extensively.\u00a0 The Subtext app has allowed the team\u00a0to monitor students\u2019 reading comprehension by embedding questions in text that\u00a0lets teachers\u00a0see their\u00a0students\u2019 answers in real time.\u00a0 Students read online text and use online tools such as highlighters to monitor their comprehension.\u00a0 This practice is essential for them as they must read online for the new state assessments.<\/p>\n They\u00a0have also been able to develop a more extensive independent reading program as a result of\u00a0the grant.\u00a0 Subtext also comes with Accelerated Reader.\u00a0 It contains online quizzes for thousands of reading books.\u00a0 Students are able to choose a quiz, take it and the teacher receives the grade.\u00a0 This year, Team Polaris students alone have read close to 900 books because Accelerated Reader makes accountability for independent reading easier.<\/p>\n “The Coolidge ELA department is so grateful for your help and for improving the\u00a0reading culture at our school.”\u00a0– Laura Warren<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are are some great stories about some of our grants from 2015. Numeracy is the New Literacy: Elementary Math Teacher Training with Professor Mahesh Sharma This past fall 30\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grants-in-action","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Coolidge’s Team Polaris learning about \u201cEating with a Social Conscience\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Students on Team Polaris at the Coolidge Middle School have been enjoying the unit \u201cEating with a Social Conscience\u201d. \u00a0Students have read the book The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child<\/a><\/span> by Francisco Jimenez and have been discussing the role the migrant worker has in the production of food. Students have also started seeds in the classrooms to be planted outdoors in the courtyard.\u00a0 The team is investigating ways to build greenhouses to be placed in the courtyards to grow vegetables and flowers all year.\u00a0 Using recycled soda bottles seems to be the answer! The program also includes a guest speaker (a parent) coming in to talk to us about HYDROPONICS.<\/p>\nReading in the 21st Century: Coolidge 7th & 8th grade Teams using Subtext App on iPADs for Online Reading<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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