NORMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL FOUNDATION

GRANTS TO TEACHERS

Fall, 2009

1.   I’ll Take Better Test Scores for 1000! – Cari Elledge – Adams Elementary - ($735.95 fully funded)

            Since students love games, peer interaction, and technology, what better way to prepare our students for classroom curriculum tests and the criterion referenced tests while having fun creating your own Jeopardy review game tailor made to meet the needs of any learning situation!  Students will LOVE to play the interactive Jeopardy game system purchased with funds from this grant and have so much fun doing it that they will be left asking for more!

2.   Engaging Centers and Games to Promote Reading Success! – Megan Moser – Adams Elementary - ($854.17 fully funded)

            This grant will be used to purchase literacy centers and games to promote meaningful, engaging practice in the core literacy areas of accuracy, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary development.  These centers and games will provide children with the motivating hands-on practice they need to develop their reading skills.

3.   Book Club – Amy Brooks – Cleveland Elementary - ($357.17 fully funded)

            The Book Club is a reading endeavor to purchase novels that will facilitate authentic book discussions among upper elementary readers.  Since the books are selected by the small group, book club reading creates a culture of reading for fun and enjoyment.

4.   Lift, Match, and Learn! – Jamie Daniels – Cleveland Elementary - ($49.95 fully funded)

            A Lift and Learn Memory Board will be purchased with the funds from this grant.

5.   Do You Hear What I Hear? – Jeanne Salmon – Eisenhower Elementary - ($599.24 fully funded)

            Do you hear what I hear?  It is the sound of English Language Learners reading thanks to the Listen and Learn Phonics and Letter Sound Program.  This grant requests both components of the program, eight headphones and an eight-way junction box that will allow students to listen to recordings of English phonemes in the context of the lesson.

6.   Can You Hear Me Now? – Brad Talley – Jackson Elementary - ($254.90 fully funded)

            Can You Hear Me Now is a grant proposal for a classroom PA system.  With one in the classroom, students will be able to hear the lessons and other students’ presentations better.

7.   I Want to Listen to and Read Stories Again! – Jane Dmytryk – Jackson Elementary - ($358.92 fully funded)

            This grant will provide funding necessary for the purchase of CD/cassette listening centers and a collection of books on CD’s.  These materials replace outdated cassette tape listening centers and will be utilized as part of the literacy program designed to develop a love for reading and a desire to become an independent reader.

8.   One Hundred Books! – Sandra Dansby – Jackson Elementary - ($778.75 fully funded)

            This grant proposal will fund guided reading books and supplemental materials that will be used throughout the year.

9.   Literacy Listening Station – Miranda Beatty – Kennedy Elementary - ($427.95 fully funded)

            Listening Centers build fluency, pacing, information, expression, comprehension, and accuracy in readers.  A Portable Listening Center, books, and CD’s will help our students to become more accurate and fluent readers while fostering a love of various forms of literature.

10.    A.M. Architects, Part 2 – Kim Lindsay – Kennedy Elementary - ($341.90 fully funded)  

            This grant is to fund sets of building materials for a before-school morning club open to all students.  By manipulating these pieces, students will strengthen their spatial skills, foster creativity, and stimulate the brain.

11.    Counselor Corner – Bonnie Meisel – Lakeview Elementary - ($504.91 fully funded) 

            The grant titled Counselor Corner will provide a variety of resources for the School Counselor to use in classroom guidance lessons promoting study skills, test taking skills, social and emotional growth, student’s motivation, and building positive character habits.  The resources will be used in all classrooms for grades Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade.

12.    Problem-Solving Practice with Puzzles – Kim Hager – Madison Elementary - ($367.90 fully funded) 

            The Problem-Solving Practice with Puzzles grant consists of Literacy and Math puzzles for all levels of early childhood students.  This will help a wide range of students practice Literacy and Math skills individually or in small groups.

13.    Manipulating Knowledge – Christy Wheeler – Madison Elementary - ($429.45 fully funded) 

            This grant will provide the funds to purchase math and science manipulatives for daily use in the classroom.  Students will develop understanding of math and science concepts through manipulation, observation and experimentation.

14.    Growing Great Writers – Jamie Johnson – McKinley Elementary - ($446.83 fully funded) 

            This grant would supply our students with award winning literature to read, and serve as tools for writing instruction for our teachers.  Each of the books requested provide models for teaching students how to organize their writing, choose strong words, develop ideas, as well as using correct grammar and punctuation.

15.    Library Media Specialist – Audrey Gramling– Monroe Elementary - ($737.76 fully funded) 

            Students need to have someone read to them.  This grant will purchase 15 audio devices loaded with a quality intermediate novel for students to check out and enjoy.

16.    Math Matters – Heather Pogue – Monroe Elementary - ($194.60 fully funded) 

            Children need opportunities to work with manipulatives to explore mathematical concepts so their learning can become concrete.  The resources in the proposal will help children build their mathematical concepts and develop an understanding that math matters!

17.    The Bare Necessities – Sharon Wayne – Roosevelt Elementary - ($980.82 fully funded) 

            The purpose of this grant is to request a minimal quantity of items needed for instruction in the classroom.  These items include books, instruments, DVD’s, DC’s, movement supplies and equipment.

18.    Listening for Success – Kori Ann Usry – Truman Elementary - ($994.90 fully funded) 

            Funding this proposal will provide funds to purchase a classroom listening center, including an 8-station junction box, eight sets of headphones, a classroom CD/cassette player, as well as sets of quality classroom literature and reading activities.  Use of this listening center will help build fluency, comprehension, and phonemic awareness for all students, including a growing English language learner population and students with emergent reading skills.

19.    Learning is Just a “Click” Away – Cindy Taylor – Washington Elementary - ($1000.00 fully funded) 

            This grant will fund the purchase of a Classroom Performance System (CPS) to work in conjunction with the Exam View Assessment Suite – a complete toolset that generates, administers, and analyzes teacher-created and publisher-created tests.

20.    Pre-Kindergarteners Moves and Grooves to Learn Math and Alphabet – Melinda Barrett – Wilson Elementary - ($546.07 fully funded) 

            This proposal would supply lots of physical learning for math and alphabet learning for the current and future pre-kindergarteners with the following tools: Walk the Wave Balance Beam, hula hoops, balls with numbers, color work and number beanbags, jump ropes, a hopscotch carpet, balancing balls games, and Let’s Get Moving Activity Mats.

21.    Oh What a Sight the Zorb brought! – Monica Carpenter, Jessica Faircloth, Renee’ Hensley, Fran Jensen, and Vanessa Synder – Wilson Elementary - ($354.00 fully funded) 

            The funds provided by this grant will allow the teacher to purchase a Caron Zorb Digital Microscope.  This microscope will greatly enhance the student’s ability to utilize computer-based resources in the classroom, making our teaching more engaging and increasing student learning.

22.    More to Read, More to Love – Maureen Goldsberry – Alcott Middle School - ($770.00 fully funded) 

            This middle school has made reading a priority this year so all of their teachers are reading with their advisories at least once a week.  They need more class sets of age appropriate reading materials.  The funds from this grant will enable the teacher to purchase the new class book sets for reading and checking out.

23.    Science and Technology for Children – Cheryl Privett – Alcott Middle School - ($709.95 fully funded) 

            Science and Technology for Children Solids and Liquids Kit is a modular unit that will capture the student’s natural curiosity and stimulate their interests in everyday science concepts.  Students will compare, analyze, problem-solve, and conduct experiments involving physical science concepts.

24.    Exploring The Unseen – Cheryl Berry – Irving Middle School - ($1000.00 fully funded) 

            Four microscopes will be purchased with the funds from this grant.  More microscopes provide learning experiences for greater number of students. Microscopes unlock the world of the unseen.

25.    Modern Balance – Cristin Pinkham – Irving Middle School - ($920.50 fully funded) 

            The funds from this grant will purchase five Ohaus-Scout ProSeries-SP601 electronic balances.  The class set of electronic balances will enable students to make more accurate measurements of metric mass on equipment similar to what they may use in higher level science courses.

26.    Balancing for the Masses – Branda Gilpin – Irving Middle School - ($920.50 fully funded) 

            The funds from this grant will purchase five Ohaus-Scout ProSeries-SP601 electronic balances.  The class set of electronic balances will be used in several science classes during various labs to help students learn to make accurate and precise measurements.

27.    “I can already read in Spanish?!” – Meghan Ryan – Longfellow Middle School - ($736.67 fully funded) 

            This grant will fund class sets of Spanish literature and dictionaries to be incorporated into middle school Spanish curriculum of all levels.  It will also fund teacher’s materials for the literature, along with sing-along DCVs to reinforce the grammar and vocabulary taught in the novels.

28.    Learning That Clicks! – Jennifer Tupper – Whittier Middle School - ($1000.00 fully funded) 

            The funds from this grant will be used to purchase a new Classroom Performance System, “clickers” for Language Arts.  The CPS technology can be used daily to provide instructors and students with real-time feedback on comprehension during instruction.

29.    Reading, Eating, and Meeting, Oh My! – Karin Perry – Whittier Middle School - ($1000.00 fully funded) 

            Students need the opportunity to read and discuss a variety of literature.  This grant will provide book sets to use during a Lunchtime Book Club.

30.    Let’s Get Connected – Kim Rice – Norman High School - ($820.00 fully funded) 

            Let’s Get Connected is a state-of-the-art, interactive website built for art faculty and students.  The site will be used to store digital portfolios, display student art, and maintain classroom assignments, examples, and writing prompts.

31.    Cell Wars 3D – Deborah Hill – Norman High School - ($800.00 fully funded) 

            This grant will purchase a site license for Nano Legends, a high quality and engaging 3D video game to help students learn all the cellular concepts required for the EOI exam and more.  This includes a 200 page lesson plan developed by Kendall Hunt Publishers that has been shown to increase cell science knowledge by 148%.

32.    Making Math Fun – Ashley Tomson and Abbey Kupec – Norman High School - ($171.25 fully funded) 

            Funds from this grant will purchase 2 classroom sets of 24 Game Advanced Math Club Kits, which include six 24 Games varying from multiplication and division to integers and algebra, two timers, an activity guide, and an instruction booklet.  The use of 24 games in the classroom allows students to have a fun, engaging, and challenging ways to practice mental math and basic algebraic skills.

33.    Seeing is Believing. . .In Yourself – Kendel Krause – Norman High School - ($483.17 fully funded) 

            Often times, struggling readers focus on the letters in a word rather than glean the meaning of the word or words as they are put together.  This constant struggle deteriorate a struggling reader’s self efficacy with reading and pushing them away from reading all together; however, graphic novels, a book made up of words and pictures (much like a comic book), help create interest in reading, increase comprehension levels, and encourage higher-order thinking skills.

34.    Map it Out! – Margo Loflin – Norman High School - ($719.95 fully funded) 

            Map it Out! is a request for a wall mounted roller map with 19 individual maps about U.S. History.  The maps cover a range of dates from American exploration in 1500’s to the end of the Cold Era in the 1990’s.

35.    Let There Be Light – Joye Oakley – Norman High School - ($528.00 fully funded) 

            With funds from this grant, the newspaper staff will be able to purchase two flash attachments for staff cameras.  At this time the staff photographers can’t take photos for public that take place in low-light environments.  The use of flash attachments will greatly increase photography opportunities in both photography skill development and in quality of publishable photos.

36.    Toner Cartridges – Diana Miller, Valerie Carrasco, Tanner Ray, and Gary Harper – Norman High School - ($264.95 partially funded; $464.95 requested) 

            The grant will fund printer toner cartridges for the computer lab classrooms.

37.    Charging up with Battery Power – Julie Bonner – Norman High School - ($259.96 partially funded; $459.96 requested) 

            The funds from this grant will be to purchase AAA batteries for 25 graphing calculators.  The batteries will make it possible to use calculators for five math classes to help students with visualization, problem solving, exploration, discovery learning and making connections between tables, graph and numeric representations of graphs.

38.    Lab Quest Vernier Probes: Data Collection Technology – Chris Yohn and Kevin Warren – Norman North High School - ($1,000.00 fully funded) 

            Lab Quest Vernier Probes will allow all advanced and CP Science classes to collect data in a 21^st Century system which integrates technology.  This system can graph data with or without a computer interface.

39.    Hands On, Headache Out – Todd Peterman – Norman North High School - ($132.50 fully funded) 

            This grant request will fund the downloadable application of Hands On Equations to the Smartboard program.  The students will be able to visually move and touch the equation to be solved.

40.    Why I can’t get a job – from school to work – Trudy Conners – Norman North High School - ($1000.00 fully funded) 

            What skills must the individual have to become a more effective person?  This is the question we must ask ourselves as we reflect on the needs of students.  Teaching daily living, personal-social and occupations skills must be intertwined into the curriculum for students to become successful productive citizens of our community.  Many skills are not being taught at home and as teachers we must step up and prepare our students for the world of work.

41.    Read to Succeed Library – Robert Stickney – Varangon Academy - ($928.65 fully funded) 

            The Read to Succeed Library will improve the reading and language arts performances of at-risk students.  Students will discover and understand that reading isn’t only a need but a key to their materials, meeting PASS standards, increasing core academic performances and improving their future is the goal of the Read to Succeed Library.