The following is a small sampling of some of the REACH grants awarded over the past few years:
Cherry Lane Elementary
Kids Incorporated
Fall 2008
Fourth grade students will work in cooperative teams and within budget constraints design, manufacture, market, advertise & sell a product of their choice at the school store. Parent & community volunteers will assist students. Supports Jr Achievement PTA program. Ea. “company” of 4 children will be given $40 budget.
Junior Meteorology Center
Fall 2009
Area of classroom for 2nd graders to research, perform experiments & record observations about weather in our community. Will present multimedia weather broadcast.
iTouch Apps to Enhance Learning
Fall 2010
Use iTouch in clasroom for apps that support literacy, math, science & social studies learnings in ways that will motivate students.
Connor Elementary
Junior Meteorology Center
Fall 2009
Area of classroom for 2nd graders to research, perform experiments & record observations about weather in our community. Will present multimedia weather broadcast.
Magic Circle
Fall 2010
As part of our Character Education Curriculum, the first grade teachers would like to begin a new program where we stop what we are doing, (same time for all classes) and sit in a circle on the rug. We will call this our “Magic Circle”. During this time, we will use a program called, The Second Step, which encourages students to make wise, positive choices through hands-on lessons that help identify feelings, solving problems and getting along with others. We are requesting puppets and table top puppet theaters that can be use for multiple reasons (ie: acting out stories, role playing, etc.).
Songs for a Singing School
Spring 2011
Songs & Stories for a Singing School program presented by Peter & Mary Alice Amidon school-wide assembly, participatory in nature. Students taught a few songs ahead of time & learn new songs & stories during the assembly. Allows school to gain a sense of community by making music together. 2nd grade students participate in folk dancing workshops with the Amidons in addition to assembly.
Montebello Elementary
Balance & Motion in Our Lives
Fall 2010
Science & physical education integration model to deepen understanding of concepts of balance & motion including balance, counterweight, center of gravity & stability. Use engineering STEM engineering design model to observe unstable systems & modify to reach equilibrium. Students will discover different ways to produce rotational motion, & explore & describe variables that influence spinning of objects. Materials for project can also be used in fitness/athletic programs to train proprioception & stabilization.
Differentiating with iPod Touch
Spring 2011
Students with disabilities will use iPod Touch with specific applications to target reading, math, writing & social skills. Infuses small group instruction with motivating technology. Allows small group instruction & support, facilitating parallel teaching during use of promethean board for students not participating in primary lesson. Visual icons on iPod Touch effective for younger special ed students frustrated by multi-step process required to access PC-based learning programs. Classified students can use Stories2Learn application w/built-in camera.
Viola Elementary
Graphic novels: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Discovery
Fall 2009
Students create graphic novel w/themselves as lead character. Can choose side-kick. Choose from 3 senarios: take on a super hero characteristic to work for good, be an adventurer/protector like Indiana Jones or fight for a noble cause like Harry Potter or Star Wars. Writing process, visual art skills, critical thinking skills applied.
Terracycle
Fall 2010
Educate students about recycling & the environment while earning money for Viola School. Viola collects used juice pouches, chip bags & cookie bags to be upcycled into new products. Viola PTA receives 2¢ per item. Project will provide collection bins for each classroom & will work with 5th grade bolunteers to collect recycle weekly. Project also educates student body on importance of recycling.
Multi-Sensory Word Work
Fall 2010
Students will work either independently or in small groups using multi-sensory materials to gain better familiarity with sight words and basic word families. Materials chosen address the varied learning styles of the students and provide a means of gaining hands-on practice with both sight words and word families.
Sloatsburg Elementary
Therapy ball/overlays
Fall 2009
Use therapeutic ball chair to help students focus & increase trunk strength to sit independently via proprioceptive input. Overlays during reading activities to decrease glare & visual distraction to improve eye tracking.
Building a Student Garden
Fall 2009
Plant herb & vegetable seeds in green house; build raised garden bed to transplant seedlings. Make periodic donations to food pantry of herbs & vegetables.
Let’s Chat
Spring 2010
Purchase 2 copies of Level I Rosetta Stone program to help staff communicate with Spanish speaking community. If successful with staff, may be used in FLES classes.
Studio Time
Spring 2011
Elementary students will have the opportunity to study themselves and famous art works through observation and lessons to understand the elements of art in a more comprehensive manner. Use prints, mirrors & art materials to create self-portraits that will be exhibited. Students need and want more “art materials” that they can be inspired by and learn from. The materials I requested would help create deeper, richer art lessons that students can use year after year, grade to grade. The students want more visuals to encourage their own drawing, painting, etc.
Suffern Middle School
Digital Literacy
Spring 2010
Purchase 35 Mac compatible headphones for lab/classroom. Initial use is for Digital literacy project where students use digital research notes to create a script to produce a multimedia project. Improves student research, improves online resource fluency, create entertaining & pursuading projects for online audience. Students won an award for the presentations they created using this equipment!
Digital Literacy Aided by Headphones
Fall 2010
All 6th grade students take Digital Literacy course for 10 weeks, dealing with multimedia including audio files. Project provides new headsets to allow students to hear their own research projects without interfering with other’s work, & to create projects enhanced by incorporating audio.
Green Team School-Wide Recycling
Fall 2010
Implement a school-wide recycling plan since there is none currently existent . Student volunteers will monitor lunchrooms to ensure proper recycling practices as well as empty appropriate bottle and can containers as needed. Will save the district money in garbage hauling and teach students to properly care for and respect their environment.
Nook eReaders in the Library
Spring 2011
Explore the potential of eReaders -text and image-based publication in digital form- as a way to increase reading enjoyment and reading levels of our middle school students. RCLS library books can be downloaded free of charge, & every book we purchase for the library will be available on all the eReaders simultaneously and will be a permanent part of our library collection. Goals: increase engaged reading through the multimedia features of the NOOKcolor, raise comprehension level & increase enthusiasm for reading
Are Wii Fit?
Spring 2011
Wii Fit Plus to introduce physical activity to majority of students who don’t play competitive team sports. Yoga, running, pushups, hula hooping, skiing, etc. Some games can also be adapted to students with physical limitations (e.g., bowling or tennis by swinging arms from bean bag chair). PE station rotation and/or lunchtime activity.
Suffern High School
Aspira-SUBA Trip
Fall 2010
Trips to Museo del Barrio & Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture for ASPIRA & SUBA Clubs, including tours + hands-on educational programs. One visit in Fall & one in Spring. Students are expected to present knowledge gained with SHS community.
Virtual Tour of SHS
Fall 2010
Build an Internet based virtual tour of the high school for incoming first year students. Club’s president will create a 3D model of the building in an independent study. The club will import that model to create a virtual tour of the building for incoming freshmen. The software we wish to use, Unity 3D, is freeware. The club wants to make a game where you walk through your schedule before physically stepping into the building. Unity 3D is non-standard software; BOCES will not allow it to be run on existing school computers or network.
Camp College 2
Fall 2010
Recruit group of approximately 12 students for 3 day residential college summer program for 1st generation, low income/traditionally underrepresented 4 year college students. Activities support college readiness, teamwork & self-advocacy, meeting w/counselors & mentors. Program is free but transportation costs to Marist College required (partially funded by school).
