SEM Successes 2009/2010

Each year, we establish goals for SEM at Laurel Mountain. Many of the goals are simply restating the foundations of the program, while others may extend previous successes to new areas in the curriculum.

Enrichment Clusters and E-slot Electives

During the course of the year, we executed 46 different enrichment clusters in grades K through 5. Additionally, our 2nd, 4th and 5th grade levels participated in 21 various E-slot Electives, a notable increase from six E-slot Electives last school year. I'm especially proud of the 54 student helpers from 4th/5th grade who worked with the 2/3 and K/1 enrichment clusters.

Several enrichment clusters centered their product or service on a service learning product:

Mrs. Joanie Marshall led quilting/blanket making enrichment clusters in all six grades this year. Her enrichment cluster students made 23 different blankets for donation to The Linus Connection, whose mission is to provide a handmade security blanket to every child in a crisis or at-risk situation in Central Texas. This is Mrs. Marshall's third year donating the quilts to this worthy organization.
The 4th/5th grade Knitting for a Cure enrichment cluster created over 30 scarves for the American Cancer Society, who will give them to patients for warmth and comfort during cancer treatments.
The 4th/5th grade Beads, Strings and Knots cluster made macramé friendship bracelets, and donated them to the patients at the Dell Children's Hospital.
The 2nd/3rd grade Paws and Claws cluster hand-made cat treats for the Williamson County Animal Shelter.
The 2nd/3rd grade Future Change Makers cluster learned about local and global philanthropy organizations. These students created displays to educate the community about various causes, such as animal testing, the earthquake in Haiti and endangered animals.

Libraries of Love

A group of 4th/5th graders planned the kick-off assembly and publicity for our 3rd Annual Read-a-thon. This event rose over $11 thousand for the Libraries of Love and challenged our students read an amazing 116,804 minutes.

Grants

Mrs. Rhonda Hieronymus received a 3M Ingenuity grant for her 3rd grade garden. Along with her class, she will work with kindergarten students to learn about pumpkins during the 2010-2011 school year, which will support plant unit in science. Mrs. Hieronymus and her class helped the K and 3rd grade students with their butterfly units, part of the life cycle unit in the science curriculum.

Acts of Kindness

Our 3rd grade students donated about $900 to UNICEF during Halloween.
Mrs. Castro's 5th grade class coordinated the school-wide Soles4Souls project. These students collected about 1,200 pairs of shoes and helped box them up to be sent to the people of Haiti after the earthquake disaster.
Mrs. Sorrell's 5th grade class created Veterans' Day cards for Captain Mike Powell, an army officer currently serving in Iraq.
Mrs. Tipton's 4th grade class completed the Patch Pal Program through "Keep Austin Beautiful".
Our kindergarten classes created turkey centerpieces for the HEB Feast of Sharing during Thanksgiving.
Ms. Davies' 3rd grade class made Veteran's Day cards for soldiers and, along with Ms. Wilson's 1st grade class, made valentines for the elderly.
Mrs. Krause and Mrs. Wheeler's 4th grade classes planned and organized Flickerball Philanthropy. The event, originally set for May 14, was postponed to Friday, May 21. The entry fee to play or watch is a new package of socks and/or underwear, which will be donated to the Round Rock ISD Clothes Closet. See the following article for more information.

Enrichment in the Everyday Classroom

Primary Education Thinking Skill (PETS) lessons were taught throughout the year in K, 1st and 2nd grade.
Lego Education Kits/Robotics was taught in grades K through 5. Ms. Tissie Elliott and Mrs. Cathy Miranda facilitated enrichment clusters for our kindergartners using the Primary Lego Education Kits. The 1st grade teachers used the newly purchased Lego WeDo Kits in their classrooms. 2nd graders learned about levers with Ms. Elliott using the Lever Lego Education Kit. In 3rd grade, Mrs. Levitan taught students about gears using the Gears Lego Education Kit. Ms. Lynette Bockhorn and Mrs. Levitan used the newly purchased Simple and Powered Machine Lego Education Kits with our 4th graders to learn about wheels, axels and gears. Finally, Mr. Ben Johnston worked with the NXT Lego Mindstorm Kit in his classroom and with a 4/5 E-slot Elective group.
Mrs. Levitan worked with 4th graders who compacted out of specific math units. Students who demonstrate a level of proficiency on a pre-test in a specific math concept are allowed to exchange instructional time for accelerated and/or enriched work.

Tours and Showcases and

For the first time this year, parents had the opportunity to tour our enrichment clusters. Mrs. Levitan led eight different tours giving parents the unique opportunity to see enrichment clusters in action.

We had three successful enrichment cluster showcases this year, giving the children and parents an opportunity to see what the various clusters created.

Training

Mrs. Levitan offered Parent University for parents to learn more about the enrichment opportunities at Laurel Mountain. The classes focused on four specific areas: An Overview of SEM, E-slot vs. Enrichment Clusters, IIM and Renzulli Learning System.

Parent and Community Involvement

We worked very hard on arranging parent and community volunteers to help with enrichment in the classroom and during enrichment clusters. We are very proud of the increased levels of participation this school year - 111 volunteers compared to 73 last year.

Enrichment in the Everyday Classroom: Primary Education Thinking Skill (PETS) lessons were taught throughout the year in grades in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade.

Lego Education Kits/Robotics was taught in grades kindergarten through 5th grade. In kindergarten, Ms. Tissie Elliott and Mrs. Cathy Miranda facilitated enrichment clusters using the Primary Lego Education Kits. This year, the 1st grade teachers used the newly purchased Lego WeDo Kits in their classrooms. The 2nd graders were taught levers using the "Lever Lego Education Kit" by Ms. Elliott. In 3rd grade, Mrs. Levitan taught the students about gears using the "Gears Lego Education Kit". Ms. Lynette Bockhorn and Mrs. Levitan used the newly purchased "Simple and Powered Machine Lego Education Kits" with our 4th graders. The 4th grade students learned about wheels, axels and gears. Finally, Mr. Ben Johnston worked with the "NXT Lego Mindstorm Kit" in his classroom and with one E-slot Elective group of 4th and 5th graders.

Mrs. Levitan worked with 4th graders who had compacted out of specific math units. This means that after students had shown a level of proficiency on a pre-test in a specific math concept, a student was then allowed to exchange instructional time for accelerated and/or enriched work.

For the first time this year, parents had the opportunity to come and tour our enrichment clusters on Fridays. Mrs. Levitan led 8 different tours this year and several parents took advantage of this unique opportunity to see the enrichment clusters in action.

We successfully had three enrichment cluster showcases this year.

Mrs. Levitan offered "Parent University" classes that were taught in four different areas throughout the school year. The topics were "An Overview of SEM", "E-slot vs. Enrichment Clusters", "IIM" and "Renzulli Learning System". Once again, several parents came to learn more about all the enrichment opportunities at Laurel Mountain.

Finally, we worked very hard of getting parent and community volunteers to help with enrichment in the classroom and during the enrichment clusters. I am proud to say that we had 111 volunteers this year with enrichment, compared to 73 last year. Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for our SEM program.