Grants Awarded for the 2012-13 School Year
1. Science & Social Studies Workboard Activities, Grade 1
Tiffany Shaw, Hanscom 1st Grade Teacher
Kristy James, Hanscom 1st Grade Teacher
Carol Mahn, Hanscom 1st Grade Teacher
Mary-Ann Sullivan, Hanscom 1st Grade Teacher
The first grade team at Hanscom developed science and social studies activities to add to their workboard system. The complex workboard system currently offers activities in phonics practice, reading response, writing, and poetry, providing yet another wonderful opportunity for 1st graders to have hands-on, innovative, and authentic learning.
2. A Visit with Artist/Illustrator, Bryan Collier: Connecting Children to History & Humanity through Watercolor & Collage
Nancy Rote, Hanscom Library Media Specialist
A renowned artist and illustrator, Bryan Collier’s illustrations make sometimes difficult historical subjects accessible to younger children and encourage a love of reading. His powerful presentation encouraged students to talk to each other about their own experiences, and tell their individual stories through their own art.
Read an article about his visit here >
3. Journey North and Fourth Grade Social Studies
Carolyn Dwyer, Lincoln 4th Grade Teacher
Sarah Wood, Lincoln 4th Grade Teacher
Melissa D’Agostino, Lincoln 4th Grade Teacher
Scot Dexter, Lincoln 4th Grade Teacher
The Lincoln School’s 4th grade team enhanced the successful Journey North Online Project by integrating it with the current social studies curriculum. This wonderful program links social studies, current events, math, science, and language arts. It beautifully complements the 4th grade curriculum that focuses on a student’s place in the community and in the world, locally, nationally, and internationally.
4. Diverse Families in Pictures and Words
Matthew Reed, Lincoln 1st Grade Teacher
Lincoln 1st Grade Teaching Team
Mark McDonough, Lincoln Technology Integration Specialist and Diversity Committee Member
Matt Reed and the Lincoln School 1st grade team, along with Mark McDonough, Diversity Committee member, teamed up to present a photo collage that showcases diversity in the families at the Lincoln School. Each 1st grade student provided a family photo and wrote a short story about their family. The resulting exhibit celebrated the commonalities that our families share and their differences as students come to understand that all types of families make up our Lincoln School community.
Read an article about this grant here >
5. Database of Digital Resources for Small Group Reading Instruction
Judy Merra, English Language Arts Content Specialist
Judy Merra introduced digital books to students in kindergarten through 3rd grades. Literacy specialists added the digital books to their curriculum, enhancing a child’s ability to derive context from text and pictures.
6. Teaching in a Technology-Rich Environment
Mary Sterling, Assistant Superintendent, Lincoln School District
Erich Ledebuhr, Principal, Hanscom Middle School
A technology-based grant from Lincoln School District administrators promoted new technology initiatives among K-8 teachers and staff on both campuses. This grant provided funds for teachers to attend a day-long, interactive seminar to learn about technology principles and practices that they can integrate into their classrooms.
7. Web-based Curriculum Resource Development
Mary Sterling, Assistant Superintendent, Lincoln School District
Cindy Matthes, Curriculum Leader for Technology
Alice Sajdera, Lincoln Library/Media Specialist
A technology-based grant from Lincoln School District administrators promoted new technology initiatives among K-8 teachers and staff on both campuses. A group of teachers and administrators worked cooperatively to research and explore various models of organizing web-based resources and develop a set of criteria for evaluating them, all with an eye toward creating a directory of high-quality resources that can be used across campuses.
8. 21st Century Technology for 21st Century Skills
Blake Siskavich, Lincoln Kindergarten Teacher
Lincoln Kindergarten Teaching Team and Gwen Blumberg, Lincoln Literacy Specialist
Collaborators: Lincoln/Hanscom 1-2 Classroom Teachers, Technology Integration Specialists, Hanscom Literacy Specialist
This collaborative, cross-campus, multi-grade initiative led by Blake Siskavich brought listening center libraries into the 21st century. Materials on each campus were updated to a digital format. Multiple students reading at different levels will be able to access the listening centers at the same time, facilitating one of the “Daily Five” literacy initiatives, “Listen to Reading.” An added component led by Gwen Blumberg and based on NPR’s “StoryCorps” will build a listening library created by parents, grandparents, family members, faculty, and students from across the community.
9. Yoga for Youth: 5th through 8th Grades
Scott Burke, Lincoln Middle School Wellness Teacher
Tara Rachel Jones, M.Ed., Lincoln, MA
Scott Burke worked with a professional yoga instructor to bring yoga to middle school students. Students learned yoga while the wellness instructors observed and learned how to lead the students in simple yoga moves to provide flexibility, strength, and a sense of calm as they deal with the stresses of adolescence.
10. The Flipped Classroom: Inverting 7th Grade Social Studies
Keith Johnson, Lincoln 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Building on the success of the flipped classroom piloted by Josh Gold on the Hanscom campus last year, Lincoln School 7th grade Social Studies teacher Keith Johnson created “vodcasts” for students to watch at home. The following day, Mr. Johnson used classroom time to delve more deeply into the lesson the students listened to on the vodcast. This flipped classroom approach allows the teacher to more easily differentiate instruction and provides more time for students to explore what most interests them.
Read an article about this grant here >
11. Interactive eBooks for 2nd Graders
Alice Sajdera, Lincoln Library/Media Specialist
Lincoln 2nd Grade Teaching Team
Alice Sajdera purchased several eBooks written by Steve Jenkins. The digital books use an engaging interactive format to teach math and science concepts while encouraging students to practice critical reading skills.
12. 21st Century Classroom: Using Electronic WhiteBoards
Scot Dexter, Lincoln 3rd Grade Teacher
Joe Colombo, Lincoln 3rd Grade Teacher
Another grant in line with the 21st Century Classroom theme is Joe Colombo and Scot Dexter’s grant for interactive software and electronic whiteboard technology updates for the 3rd grade curricula.