Partners in Education Foundation Board Members Visit Forest North

Last week I posted about our animal research projects in 1st grade.  We practiced doing research on animals with books and digital resources, and also had a lesson on presentation skills.  We invited the RRISD Partners in Education Foundation Board members to come watch us present what we learned on Friday, 5/15/15.  We were thrilled to receive both Vice President Ruth Ann Dickensheets and Board Member Lisa Cauble. They were so generous with their time to stop by and learn about animals with us.  Check out this video of our presentations and our time we spent with the Board members.

Thanks so much to Mrs. James & Mrs. San Miguel and their classes for opening their rooms to the PIE Foundation Board members and to me so that the library could show how the grant money was put to good use!  Our $1000 bought us many new animal books that the students used for their research projects this year, and provided a great springboard for showing how good research can be a blend between print and digital resources.

Presenting Research

Earlier in the school year, you may remember that I was a lucky recipient of a RRISD PIE Foundation Grant where I won $1000 to buy new animal books for the library.  It's really paying off now as 1st and 2nd grade are working on their animal research projects!  We used these new books to learn facts about new animals, and 1st grade is putting them into a poster or book to present to their classmates and other audience.

We have invited the PIE Foundation Board Members to attend these presentations next week and are waiting for a response, fingers crossed! Check out this lesson we've been working on this week with our 1st graders to teach presentation skills.

Library Grant

Mrs. Fournier and Ms. Decker co-wrote a grant together earlier this year to buy a Promethean Board for the Library. Promethean Boards are a fun way to learn! Imagine a huge interactive whiteboard that students can use to engage with by using their finger or a stylus to drag and drop pictures, draw, write or spell. The cost of a Promethean Board is $1772.70.

We found out today that we were awarded the full amount from the Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Foundation! This PIE Grant came to award the money to Mrs. Fournier with a big check in the middle of a meeting. Mrs. Fournier gets kind of nervous with surprises, but was still thrilled to receive the money.