2009-2010 Teacher Mini-Grants Award Booklet - The Education Fund

TEACHER MINI-GRANTS SPONSORED BYASSURANTANCIENT EMPIRESHistory classes go pre-Columbian throughan extensive investigation into the culturesand contributions of the Aztecs, Mayas,and Incas. Eighth-grade students select acivilization and make a model replica of abuilding or monument associated with theculture to accompany a story board onthe religion, government, innovations, artsand crafts, and agriculture of the complexand advanced ancient civilization theyhave chosen.Nancy HowardMays Middle SchoolFUEL CELL POWER RIDEAlternative energies in the classroom areno longer an invitation to the principal'soffice, this project asserts, when seventhgradestudents immerse themselves in labexperiments exploring energy resourcesfrom the present and future. Students startwith the scientific fundamentals of energy,speed, and motion, then contrast fossilfuels with solar, hydroelectric, geothermal,biomass and wind power. Their researchculminates with a working model of ahydrogen fuel-cell car. Careers in engineeringand technology are highlighted aswell as the influence of business on theenergy field.Kitchka Petrova,Ponce de Leon Middle School"HI" NOTESMiddle-school students with intellectualdelays will learn about recycling, measurement,money, jobs and businessthrough the craft of paper-making andcreation of unique note cards andenvelopes. Students will develop theircards, created from recycled papercollected from around the school andrendered through paper-making techniquesthat involve each student. Theproceeds they collect from marketing andselling their "Hi Notes" will be used topurchase a Wii-gaming system forSpecial Olympics training.Jane McCrawCampbell Drive ElementaryHOOKING LIFE'S PURPOSETHROUGH READINGThese 10th- and 11th-grade students willread self-exploratory works of literaturefrom a list of biographies, autobiographies,memoirs and diaries written byauthors from Zora Neale Hurston toFrank McCourt to Elie Weisel. Keeping ajournal, analyzing the rhetorical stylesand techniques in group discussions, andcreating PowerPoint programs will preparethe young scholars to present theirnovels to the rest of the class in a "BookTalk" day. Examining life lessons as toldby the writers will invite introspection bythe students and expand their horizons,as they must choose a new novel to readover spring break.Michelle SinghRobert Morgan Educational CenterPILKEY, DAV: YOU'VE INSPIREDA "WRITING WAVE!"Second-grade students are enamoredwith the animated children's books ofauthor Dav Pilkey, and excited to emulatehis captivating adventure stories withtheir own original tales and adaptedrenditions. This project indulges thecreativity that stems only from childrenhaving fun, as they read, write, illustrate,edit and even bind their stories intobooks to be displayed in the schoollibrary. In addition, they will participate ina read-a-thon, write letters to the authorand read their stories to Kindergardenand first-grade classes.Mayra PerezCoral Reef ElementarySMartist BOOKSMarrying text with art is an ideal task forcomputer art technology, and the perfectopportunity for these middle-schoolstudents to study both, while learning thelatest tools and techniques in digital artmedia. Students will first conduct in-depthresearch to discover which internationalartist they wish to feature in a creativetraditional and digital compilation. Theywill then take part in workshop hosted by afamous book artist and finally use theircreative tech skills to produce, critique andexhibit their own artists' books on the Weband in an art show.Marilyn PolinSouth Miami K-8 CenterTREASURE TRACKERSCartography, topography, road atlas, acompass? These once-essential devicesof direction are all but ancient relics to21st-Century, GPS-spoiled middle-schoolstudents. At least that's the case beforethey are lured back into the longitudinallessons and latitudinal learning this projectdelivers. With the objective of locatinghidden treasure, students examine 3-Dmountain models to create 2-D maps, useroad maps to remote spots in the U.S. andGoogle-Earth online searches to traverse theglobe. They will track hurricanes, navigatewith hand-held compasses, create originaltravel brochures and write reports on dreamdestinations. The results are off the map.Georgina KochGlades Middle SchoolWRITING ROCKS!This schoolwide project challenges middleschoolstudents to connect writing withtheir required reading, by focusing eachmonth on a creative genre they arecurrently studying, such as poetry, nonfiction,short stories or editorial essays. Astudent creative writing club will read thecompositions and award prizes like anMP3 player or movie tickets to the bestentries per grade each month. The mostexceptional pieces will be compiled overthe spring and published in a creativewriting magazine.Keisha McIntyre-McCullough,Toi Scott & Sami HamdanHomestead Middle School8 The Education Fund - www.educationfund.org