Great Idea Grants bring iLibrary, other programs to local schools - Clarksville Leaf Chronicle

CLARKSVILLE, TENN. â€" The iPod Shuffle is used in an interesting way in Yosha Howe’s second grade class at Woodlawn Elementary School.

The iPod shuffle, used to store music and other audio files, is used in Howe’s class as a tool to promote literacy.

Howe, a second grade teacher, was awarded a $1,000 Great Idea Grant from the Education Foundation and used the money to purchase 10 iPod Shuffles and books on Compact Discs. Her 24 students read their books and listen to audio books on an iPod Shuffle in the School System’s first iLibrary located in her classroom.

“One of the problems I had was my listening station had portable CD players,” Howe said. “I was tired of buying batteries and the CDs were being scratched, broken and ruined. I had been searching for different educational grants, and I saw on a blog a teacher was using iPod Shuffles.”

Howe applied for the Great Idea Grant through the Education Foundation and was awarded one of the the 10 they gave to Clarksville Montgomery County School System teachers.

This year the Clarksville- Montgomery County Education Foundation awarded over $8,000 to ten teachers through the Great Idea Grants funds. Cornerstone Financial Credit Union also contributed $1,000 to support a teacher awarded this year.

This grant was established in order to provide funding to teachers in Clarksville Montgomery County Schools to bring non-traditional ways of learning into the classrooms, according to a news release from Candy Johnson, Executive Director at the Education Foundation.

Woodlawn Elementary is using the grant to help improve the student reading and writing skills by purchasing iPod shuffles. The iLibrary is set up to improve oral reading fluency. The goal for this program is to increase the mid-year oral reading fluency numbers by 25 percent.

In the three months since she instituted the iLibrary, Howe said students have responded in a positive way.

“I’ve seen gains in words per minute,” Howe said. “Most students have increased 10 to 15 words per minute.”

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Students at the second grade level should read 85-100 words per minute, she said.

The iLibrary is one of 10 projects in Clarksville Montgomery County Schools funded through the Great Idea Grant funds.

The following schools were also awarded grants for the following projects.

• Moore Magnet: Power of the iPad. Students use iPads to expand learning. It allows interactive lessons to engage students and help with reading, writing, math and science.

• Northeast Elementary: Assessing and Developing Math Concepts and RAH. After analyzing TCAP scores from the 2010-2011 academic year, the school saw a need to improve math scores. A diagnostic program is used to reveal a student’s true understanding of fundamental math concepts. Reading-At-Home (RAH) literacy packets are an innovative way to increase students potential in reading at home. Each student has a RAH folder with a leveled reader book to take home. Parents or guardians sign the RAH folder once a student has read a book. Incentives are provided for students who participate.

• Northeast Middle: National History Day Competition. A year-long curriculum to enhance students in discovering and interpreting historical topics. Students have to select and research a topic within the guidelines of the year’s theme and develop some way to present their research.

• Ringold Elementary: Ringgold’s Assistive Technology for Students (R.A.T.S) designed to help students of all learning styles be included and reached within daily learning. Program kits are used for Kindergarten through second grade and in classrooms with low technology tools.

• Sango Elementary: Building Blocks for 1st graders, iPads and Building Scientific Minds: Building block are used o in first grade classes to hep students in areas such as math, science and some engineering. iPads are used in small group lessons to enhance student achievement Building Scientific Minds is an intitative using a hands-on method of teaching science to Kindergarteners.. All materials will be used in STEM activities and experiments that correlate with the common core standards.

• West Creek High School, Real Life Geometry: The project connects students with real-world relevance of geometry in Construction Core Classes. Students build and design storage caddies.

Howe said applying for the grant was simple and she is glad grants such as the Great Idea Grant is available for teachers.

“ It’s a great way to gain resources for our classes without having to spend money out of our own pocket,” Howe said. “The grants will allow the teacher to make larger purchases.”

Howe said she hopes to obtain 10 more iPod Shuffles so each student in her class can benefit from having one.