Harris Elementary School

A recent visit to Harris Elementary School showed many effective teaching stratgies in action which are designed to facilitate academic success for all students. Here are some glimpses of what's going on:

Teri Farina leads a small instructional group in her all day kindergarten class.	In addition to using Instructional Assistants, she is able to further break students into smaller groups by utilizing volunteersl	Here a student teacher is working with a group of students on the same lesson.
Jane McCleery's 1/2 day alternative kindergarten has many small groups of students, too.	Students work indipendently on choices they have contracted with the teacher.	Although students work alone or in groups, adults are nearby for guidance and assistance when needed.
Celia Heilbronner's class is an example of differentiated instruction.	Students are grouped by needs and interests for instruction.	Small groups allow for closer monitoring of student skill and knowledge acquisition, and for needed attention.
Bobbie Reed's class expressed an interest in studyiing about the planets, and even made their odwn models.	Here one of her students shows off his glittery planet with it's shiny rings (made from a recycled cd disk).	Students hung their planet models from their own "space mobile." One student demonstrated his learning by showing his chicken nuggets "in orbit" during lunch!
In Vickie Buck's 5th grade class, Kermit Horn shows them how to do a science journal, paying critical attention to details.	Next door in Mary Christiensen's class, students draw out a storyboard to go with their "how to" expositions.	They have to pick the critical points in their essay for each illustration in order to show it effectively.
Later in the day, Ms. Christiensen's class comes to work with Ms. Reed's 3rd graders.	After students are paired, they spend some time getingt acquainted (and having some cookies). They'll be writing a collaborative story together.	A sign language interpreter follows the teacher who is showing students a story co-written by previous teams of 3rd & 5th graders.