October 2023 Grant Recipients

My first grade students will use a butterfly kit to observe caterpillars metamorphizing into butterflies. We will prepare the habitat, spend approximately 10 days watching the caterpillars grow and prepare their chrysalis, and observe the chrysalis for approximately 10 days until the butterflies emerge. We will spend 2 days observing the butterflies in the cage, and then we will release them into the wild. During this time, we will read books on caterpillars and butterflies, and we will create an art project showing a caterpillar (cotton balls on a clothes pin) emerging as a butterfly (adding coffee filter wings) through a cardboard paper towel roll.

We are developing a cooking life skills class for SPED students that will help them after high school with functional math skills. It will help them to read and understand measurements and how to read a recipe. This will also help them with planning and time management.

Students will have cooking skills that will enable them to be more independent after high school. The ability to be familiar with cooking utensils and how to work in a kitchen is vital to the student's future independence and well-being.

I teach middle school special education. My goal is to incorporate curriculum that is researched based, systematic, and explicit to meet the needs of my students in the area of phonics. I found a program called "Phonics for Reading." This Program aims to guide and build students' learning by introducing skills in phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, and reading fluency.

The project learning outcomes include: students will know how to read one- and two-syllable words by using knowledge of letter-sound relationships, know how to read structural units such as root words and word endings, and know how to read multi-syllable words as well as structural units such as prefixes and suffixes. All of these skills allow students to become proficient readers.

Our elementary school's special education department is in need of various resources and materials to support our increased number of students with a variety of developmental delays; such as autism, language impairment, or other health impairments. This last year there has been an influx of students that need additional support in the areas of communication, life /functional skills, and/or behavioral supports. For this project, I would like to be able to purchase the necessary materials and resources to enable special education students to be able to identify and regulate their behaviors, assess learning in various ways in order to bridge the gap between them and their peers, and be able to communicate through various formats. These products would be utilized in a small group teaching setting or for individual daily use depending on the students individual needs.