To support executive functioning with consistent expectations across grade levels, the Alliance funded the purchase of 30 Teacher Timers. These visual timers provide a further breakdown of the day into specific blocks of time and can help manage student behavior, support smooth transitions, and hold students accountable for completing tasks within a certain amount of time.
Kindergarten Non-Fiction Writing Resources
The Kindergarten Non-Fiction Writing Resources grant allows teachers to purchase classroom sets of books about living and non-living things, sea creatures, and plants. These books will be utilized during expository writing units and for research on various topics as they develop their informational writing skills. The texts will help the kindergartners take notes, examine an author’s craft (how an author writes and shares information), and learn how to write informational books of their own.
Orff Instruments for K-2
Testimonial from Mrs. Susan Haugland, K-2 Music Teacher
“I can’t thank the Alliance for Excellence enough for their support of the arts programs at Lake Bluff Elementary.
This year, the Alliance generously funded an Orff Instrumentarium (xylophones and glockenspiels) in my classroom. This allowed students in my classroom to have the same access to instruments as they do in Mrs. Ellis’ music room. Since becoming an Orff certified music educator, I have seen first-hand the benefits of this learning process and the xylophones and glockenspiels are integral to the curriculum. These are lovely instruments that not only have a pleasing sound, but also facilitate kinesthetic, visual, and aural learning of pitch and rhythmic relationships in both ensemble and solo performance.
Every student at Lake Bluff Elementary benefits from the generosity of the Alliance for Excellence. Thank you so very much for all you do for us!”
GenMove
Testimonial from the LBES Wellness Team:
“The GenMove equipment is great for our classes. They can be used in every grade, there are so many different uses for each piece of equipment and the kids love using them. The goals are by far the best piece for our classes. They are circles that can be scored on at a low level with a ball rolling in or the kids can shoot equipment through the top hole. They really give kids lots of opportunity to be successful at any age and skill level. The kids love the omnikin balls. They are big blown up multi purpose balls that float though the air and make it easier for kids to catch, strike and even kick. We also love the noodles and noodle pieces that came with the set. They make for great things to collect during games and there are tons of uses for the noodles.”
Single goal (4)
GenMove Balls (20)
Stacker Set (2)
Disc Cones (30)
Noodle Pack (2)
Omnikin Ball (2)
Universal Games & Activities Book
K-5 PE Book
Outdoor Classroom
Outdoor Classroom Blueprint and Teacher Workshops:
Nature Explorer is a program offered by Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, which collaborates with Arbor Day Foundation. Their mission is to inspire children, families, and educators to connect more deeply with the world around them. The foundation provides research based design consultants, educator workshops, and hands-on resources to elementary schools with the interest of helping children connect more with nature in their daily learning.
Alliance funded the initial blueprint drawing of how the LBES Outdoor Classroom space could be designed, which included workshops for teachers on how to effectively implement and utilize the space.
Headphones for 4th Graders
Compass Learning offers students mini-lessons on needed skills personalized for each student and based on MAP scores. The lessons are engaging and can be loud and distracting. Since students often use the laptops while small group instruction is going on, it is nice for them to have headphones to block the sound from others in the classroom.
Digital Audio Books
Playaways provide another tool for differentiated reading instruction in our classrooms. They can be hooked up to a desktop speaker for whole class participation, or can be used with print material for audio-supported reading practice.
They support critical listening and reading skills for all students, and they allow struggling readers to experience a book at their interest level which may be above their independent reading level.The entire book is loaded on the durable unit, which is about half the size of a deck of cards and made of droppable plastic. The Playaway titles align with our guided reading groups, book clubs, and genre studies throughout the school year.
Sarah's Dream: Read with Me
The goal of “Sarah’s Dream: Read With Me!” is to improve literacy and foster cross-cultural friendships between children of neighboring communities. Watch the video below to learn about the program that was co-funded with the PTO.
Read With Me! brings students together from neighboring communities in order to share stories and a love of reading while improving literacy in Lake County, as well as creating a culture of compassion and cooperation among children from different schools. It involves mentorship, friendship, and fun, benefitting students and teachers alike. Books have been selected to reinforce these concepts. In addition, the last selection has been a non-fiction, reference-type book useful for introducing/teaching research skills. Throughout the course of the school year, the students get together three times, typically in October, December, and April. Lake Bluff Elementary School host two of those meetings; Oak Terrace and Clearview host once. This means a field trip to their buddies’ school, which is more often than not a rare chance to see the inside of another elementary school.
The hour-long session consists of: an icebreaker, usually involving an information sheet that the students filled out before their meeting (e.g. an All-About-Me postcard); a healthy snack, book-reading, and a comprehension activity. When it’s time to leave, the third graders get to keep the books they have been reading.
Read With Me impacts all involved and anyone that comes in contact with, or observes the program.
The students, first and foremost are given an opportunity they may not ordinarily experience. Not only do the students get to meet a buddy from another school in a neighboring community, but they also get to be a mentor or a mentee. Students get to help one another learn about being a kind citizen by welcoming someone into their school and hosting the buddy visit. They also share the experience of reading and discussing a book. The 3rd grade buddies are given the book but everyone leaves with new, fond memories and the anticipation of the next visit.
Teachers are impacted. Read With Me builds relationships between teachers and an opportunity for colleagues and professionals in neighboring communities to meet and see their students through a different lens as they engage in conversation with another student.
Visitors to the schools to view the program are impacted by the power of these new relationships and the value reading with a new friend can bring to children.
LBES student testimonials:
“My buddy and I both like math.”- 4th Grade Student LBES
“My partner really like the book and wants to make the nachos recipe in the book.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“We both like comic books.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“Me and my partner both like Goosebumps books.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“I learned about my partner’s family. She has one sister.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“I loved and liked it. We have everything in common except our favorite book.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“It was really fun. I found out that we both play soccer.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“We had a lot in common. We’ve both been on all the rides at Six Flags.” 4th Grade Student LBES
“We all like the same sport — soccer. I told them about a soccer game on my iPod.”4th Grade Student LBES
“We had a really fun time. We didn’t have a lot in common, but opposites attract!” 4th Grade Student LBES.
When asked if anyone felt like they made a new friend today, everyone raised their hand. :) 4th grade teacher. Everyone is also excited about traveling to visit their buddy’s school.
Testimonials from buddy schools
“I wish we could come here every day!” 3rd grade student Clearview
Increased Ingenuity with iPads
Increased Ingenuity with iPads for all Kindergarten students
This Charging and Syncing Dock Station Carts makes the iPads more functional and increases the outcomes from the iPads.
Pizza Garden
Kindergartners who planted seeds and seedlings last spring in the courtyard at LBES continued their work this fall as 1st graders. Harvesting the vegetables and herbs came first. Then with the help of local chef in residence, John DeRosier of Inovasi the students made their own tomato sauce and then moved on to make and serve their pizzas.
This started from part of a grant from The Alliance For Excellence and has now become a self-sustaining and repeatable project for our youngest students.
5th Graders Build Robots
Teams of 5th grade students worked together to build their LEGO Mindstorms robots before programming them with their laptops . The goal was to get the robots to move in precise measurements and angles, tying in with their lesson on motion and design. Students had to program everything and be accurate and specific. It gave students a chance to use their math and spatial reasoning skills. If they did not build it right, the programming won’t work. The experience taught students that engineers have rethink and retry.
Fiddles for All
Elementary School music teacher Susan Haugland was the recipient of a grant which enabled ALL 2009/2010 2nd graders to learn to play the violin and expand their musical horizons. This program will not only enhance the student experience but will further contribute to the award winning arts in our schools.
Testimonial from Mrs. Susan Haugland, K-2 Music Teacher: “We’re now in the fourth year of the “Fiddles for All” program where all second grade students learn to play violin as part of the general music curriculum. The beautiful instruments that the Alliance purchased for this program have enabled over five hundred children to experience the joy of learning to play a violin. Currently, fifteen students in grades 3-5 are enrolled in the after-school Horizons violin class and countless others have continued to study in private studios. This year, three Lake Bluff freshmen auditioned and were accepted into the symphonic orchestra at Lake Forest High School. I anticipate that those numbers will continue to increase as graduates of the “Fiddles for All” program make their way to the high school.”
Math Night at LBES
Mrs. Kregor, our LBES Math Enrichment teacher, put the first ever event together. Families not only learned new math games using dice but they were able to take them home for more practice.