Top teachers share their special projects
State Teachers of the Year exemplify excellence in teaching in a variety of ways. In addition to providing exemplary classroom instruction, many of these outstanding teachers also have developed special programs that benefit their classes, their schools, and their communities. This past summer, Reading Today interviewed two such teachers, both 2006 State Teachers of the Year.
Even little people can make a big difference. That’s the philosophy of kindergarten teacher Stephanie Seay, 2006 South Carolina State Teacher of the Year. Over the years, Seay’s students have visited retirement homes and sewed quilts through Project Linus for children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need.
The goal is to “engage children in projects that teach them about empathy,” Seay says. She involves literacy skills by reading newspapers, Internet sources, and books—both fiction and nonfiction—with the students.
One of Seay’s most ambitious projects involved helping to build a home for a family in Mexico. One of her student’s fathers had traveled to Mexico through a mission project and learned about families that needed homes built. He also found out that in some rural areas it cost as little as $1,000 to build a home.
Seay and her class decided to help. They set up a shop in the classroom to sell products to their families and the broader community. These student-produced products included woodworking projects, toys, and clothes. Over a period of four to six weeks, Seay and the students did lots of reading and research about what products might be popular and what kinds of materials might be used to make them. “We did lots of reading and writing for authentic purposes that served others,” Seay said.
In all, the class raised between $200 and $300 in a single evening. “That’s a good bit of money for a group of 5-year-olds to raise,” Seay says proudly.
Using the student’s father as a contact, the class donated money to his church, which was sponsoring the mission project to help specific families. Students saw photos of homes that were in the process of being built. In some cases, one wall was built and then weeks would pass until more money was raised to build the next one. Students could see concrete examples of the progress.
“I think they took away from this experience the knowledge that they are empowered to make a difference,” Seay said. “Also, they realize that reading and writing have a purpose and can assist them in making a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others.”
Seay spent the 2005–2006 school year on sabbatical, and she got to serve on several state-level committees. “I realized the tremendous impact I could have on issues relating to professional development, teacher certification, and more,” she said. “I had the opportunity of serving as the voice for classroom teachers. I am extremely grateful that our state offers the opportunity for teachers to have their voice heard.”
Donna Tardif, Maine’s State Teacher of the Year for 2006, has used a home reading program to help young learners at Montello Elementary School. She looked at research for incoming kindergarten students based on the screening device the school uses and realized that many children didn’t have “book skills.” Often, they didn’t even know how to hold a book and turn pages or how to distinguish words from illustrations. “The trend was rising,” Tardif said. “We were getting more and more kids who were coming to school without a basic awareness of print.”
A team from the school got together and brainstormed ways to get books into homes. The group included administrators, primary teachers, Title I personnel, and special education teachers. After discussion, the group came up with a home reading program, which involved writing a grant to get baskets of books for each classroom.
Students in grades K–3 trade the books in and out, kind of like a small lending library. Each classroom basket has about 100 books purchased using grant money, parent donations, and funds from the school’s business partner. (There are about six classrooms at each grade level.) The school rotates books among classrooms each quarter so there are always new books for the students to read. “We don’t worry if a book doesn’t come back,” Tardif added. “That’s a sacrifice we anticipated, but the trade-off is being able to have books in the hands of our youngest readers.”
After the first year, the school conducted a survey of families, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Parents enjoyed the program, and students were taking home as many as five or 10 books a week. The program is now in its fourth year.
“The goal was that if we could get more books into our emergent readers’ hands, they could practice at home the skills and strategies they were learning in school,” Tardif said. The school’s population of English-language learners is growing rapidly, and she noted that “in some cases, children are modeling for parents or grandparents how to read in English.”
The school conducts family events to explain the program and showcase it, as well as to provide training. For instance, an expert teacher modeled how to read with children. “We wanted to work with the homes and make it a partnership,” Tardif said.
“We have seen a positive impact on the students’ reading,” Tardif noted. She attributes a portion of this success to the program. “Children who didn’t have books at home now have an opportunity to read for pleasure.” There are also more students moving out of the Title I program and succeeding in the regular classroom program.
“As a classroom teacher, I know it’s working from conversations I have with parents,” Tardif concluded. “I know it’s powerful for families. It’s another way of getting books into the homes; that was our overarching goal.”
Engaging young students in reading. (February 2007). Reading Today, 24(4), 42.
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