At Chets Creek we have been departmentalized from second through fifth grades for years. We realized a long time ago that to do things really well you had to specialize. Almost immediately after dividing to conquer it became a joke about which side you were on, English Language Arts (ELA) or Math and Science. Even at Leadership Meetings we began to notice that the Math folks sat on the left side of the table and the ELA folks claimed the right. It was a huge deal when our Standards Coach, Suzanne Shall, was swayed from Math side to the "dark side" of ELA coaching several years ago - I think she still gets teased to this day. The competition is real but all in good fun.This past year the ELA teachers embraced and kicked off a new tradition at Chets Creek that ignited the intermediate school about reading - Battle of the Books! It was a huge hit with students and teachers alike and is sure to take on a life of its own again this year. And of course, not to be outdone, the Math teachers have decided to breathe new life into the old Sunshne Math program for students. The results of their collaboration on revamping the program are outstanding. The kickoff this past week was AWESOME and the program is sure to be just as popular as the Battle of the Books. They even got the ELA "dark side" involved as cheerleaders and "rappers" for the Mathletes. Check out these videos:
All this effort wasn't so much about the competition over which side of the table is better, ELA or Math? It was all about getting kids pumped about learning and school, no matter what the subject. And as usual here at the Creek - EVERYBODY came together to pull it off.
Risk...Care...Dream...Expect...
5 comments:
First, the people that really planned this need a huge pat on the back. Anjellica, Roger, Melissa, the Poffersons, Wanda Woman, the good doctors in 4th grade, Ashley, Eric B-Diddy Blair, and others that have slipped my mind all worked really hard to make this come off.
I was stunned by the reaction of our kids in 4 and 5. So much for "it's really all about learning"! They want revenge for a long past ELA battle, and they mean to get it! All of the little number-crunching geeks were whipping out their generic rectangles and "cluster cards" getting ready to enter mortal combat.
That's sick:-} (in a good way).
Generally, I think it is kind of sad to see peeps venture from their field of expertise into the hip-hop/rap genre (Shaq-Daddy, the 85 Bears, Deon Sanders...), but the Poffersons are straight off the chain and fresh out of the meat locker. I didn't think that peeps from the mid-west could get their groove on like that, but, then again, Prince was from Minny. DA loved their act and their bling.
As for me, I sometimes wonder if Lord Vader(d.t.)will ever lure me over to the dark side, but then I go read a picture book about some "made-up" person on a moral mission, and I realize that I am right where I need to be :-}
WORD,
T-Cubed
We love Math! yes we do! We love Math! How about you? The Sunshine Math kick off was awesome! It was great to see the students so fired up. Way to go team!
Wanda :)
What a fun way to celebrate MATH and to inspire students to find the joy in a math challenge! It was a great kick-off!
Patti Bass
Hi there!
I love the idea of a "battle of the books" however I don't know how you did this? Can you please expand on what this meant in your school.
Thanks
Jamin
www.lietze.edublogs.org (Professional blog)
www.e3eclat.blogspot.com (class blog)
We thought that rap was really awesome!
Sincerely,
Other people who are not Lindsay and Lynn
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