This grant will also increase brain activity, promote self-esteem, self-motivation, cooperation and many other developmentally appropriate skills. It will enrich the students sensory development, encourage growth and nurture their curiosity. Students can ignite their imagination and innovation during our STEMscopes lessons. This grant will enhance our classrooms by providing more opportunities for hands-on learning to all of the GES kindergarten students. The value of these tools in the classroom have been proven to be effective in developmentally appropriate learning for kindergartners. We have seen how successful the light table and manipulatives have been as shown by an increase in student excitement for hands-on learning and differentiated instruction. As of today, only three out of the four kindergarten classes have a light table and a few manipulatives to share.
As mentioned previously, kindergarten students need to be given a variety of learning opportunities that allows multiple ways to learn a skill. The success of this grant will be providing kinesthetic learning opportunities across the curriculum to all of the GES kindergarten students. However, the addition of the manipulatives allows us to integrate the light table across nearly all subject areas taught in the classroom. The light table, which is already integrated into 3 of the classrooms in the Kindergarten classrooms, would complete the classroom sets. In our experience, much of the standard curriculum tools we use in the classroom are not tailored this way, and often challenge the teacher to seek new ways to teach the same skills. In general, manipulative tools in the classroom are meant to support kinesthetic and tactile learners. These tools would be used daily in Kindergarten, and in many cases, be shared between the classrooms of the Kindergarten team. These tools, in addition to the standard curriculum tools we already have, are meant to create a more engaging approach to learning those foundational skills. When learning the foundational skills we have mentioned earlier, it is important to consider that the delivery of those skills must be sufficiently differentiated across multiple learning modalities, ensuring equitable access for all of our students. They enhance some of the foundational skills and social-emotional development that are an indispensable aspect of our curriculum - writing,vocabulary development, literacy development, peaceful play, scientific inquiry, fine motor skill development, phonemic awareness and more. Collectively, these tools are highly engaging and can be used in a multitude of ways for all of our students. The accessories include a Manipulative Center, Translucent Magnetic Blocks, Magna Tiles, Crystal Building Blocks, Crystal Climbers, Alphabet Tracing Tiles, Simple Words Tracing Tiles and Counting Trays. With the support of an Excellence in Education grant, we hope to purchase a Light Table, as well as a number of accompanying manipulative accessories. At Glenshire Elementary School, our Kindergarten team prides itself on the rich learning experiences we bring to our students everyday in the classroom, and are always seeking new, engaging and innovative ways to enrich our students' learning.
We rely on a number of different curricula and teaching tools to incorporate this integrated level of instruction for all of our students. As teachers, we must focus our efforts just as diligently on social-emotional learning, motor skill development, phonemic awareness, classroom norms and routines, language development and so much more. Kindergarten instruction goes far beyond foundational skills and content standards. By the last day of school, they leave as scholars - ready to continue their learning journey for years to come. Over the course of the year, the transformation that they all go through is truly remarkable and is a product of the multi-tiered teaching that guides their instruction. When they enter the classroom on the first day of school, they truly are babies - unaware of the norms and routines that guide any classroom. Kindergarten is truly a magical year in the school life of a young scholar.
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