Thirty-one teachers in Glen Ellyn School District 41 have received a total of $10,160 in grants—money they will use for projects that enhance classroom learning. Awarded by the Partnership for Educational Progress (PEP), the grants fund 13 diverse teacher proposals to help children learn to read, understand math, use technology for learning, and more. For example, Carol Barsotti and Christina Graves will use their grant to teach literacy using clay animation, with students working in teams to write and animate stories; Janis Pfister will use her grant to create a “fluency library” of books, tapes, scripts and tape recorders to be used in choral reading, partner reading, readers’ theater and other oral reading experiences; and a team of four teachers—Linda Benigno, Roberta Wheatley, Karen Dymit and Alexandra Angio—will use their grant to fund a foreign language film fest in which students present, film, edit and narrate their original films, learning film technique while improving their foreign language skills.

PEP is a charitable organization that has awarded more than 245 Teacher Grants worth over $125,000 since 1992. This year’s grants came directly from the District 41 Check Box program, in which donors can specify that their contribution goes directly to District 41. “Due to the generous response to the Check-Box program, PEP was delighted to be able to fund all District 41 teacher proposals it received this year,” said Terra Costa Howard, District 41 Board of Education member and liaison to PEP. “These innovative projects help children learn, and help teachers explore new ways to teach.”

PEP raises funds for the six elementary districts whose graduates attend Glenbard High School District 87 (15, 16, 41, 44, 89 and 93). The District 41 PEP Grant recipients are: Chris Abbott, Alexandra Angio, Hannah Barnard, Carol Barsotti, Arlyne Beedle, Linda Benigno, Tom Biggs, Dawn Bredfeldt, Dawn Cantore, Jeanne Chmelik, Patty Corwin, Marie Delahanty, Casey DePaepe-Douglas, Karen Dymit, Mary Elste, Christina Graves, Lynna Hildner, Karen Lundgren, Carol Montgomery-Fate, Janis Pfister, Molly Risberg, Debbie Rausch, Linda Schweikhofer, Julie Snyder, Mary Streckert, Kelley Vail, Ellen Weissbrodt, Julie Wenzlaff, Roberta Wheatley, Heather Wilson, and Jan Wright.

The annual Partnership for Educational Progress Grant Program is supported by tax-deductible gifts contributed by individuals and businesses and through other fund raising activities. More information on the foundation or the PEP Grant program is available by calling the PEP office at (630) 942-8605. Following is an overview of all 13 District 41 projects:

Differentiating Literacy Instruction in First Grade. (Mary Elste, Casey DePaepe-Douglas, Jan Wright, Arlyne Beedle) Students will work with puzzles, games, word tiles, learning kits and more to enrich and deepen reading comprehension. This approach is supported by brain research that using concrete materials helps involve more areas of the brain in learning.

Stories on Stage—A Fluency Library. (Janis Pfister) This project aims to increase student achievement through a variety of oral reading experiences: choral reading, partner reading, readers’ theater, and recorded reading. Fluency—the ability to read with speed, accuracy and expression—is developed through oral reading experiences.

Teaching Literacy with Clay Animation. (Carol Barsotti, Christina Graves) Students will create, assemble and present their clay animation story, and the stories will be published for the community to view online.

A Strong Start: Early Childhood Pre-K At-Risk. (Ellen Weissbrodt, Mary Streckert, Carol Montgomery-Fate, Hannah Barnard) Preschool students will engage in age-appropriate learning activities, and parents will be given instruction in parenting/child development.

Record It! (Chris Abbott) Students will be motivated to practice reading with the use of newly purchased headphones and microphones.

Family Math Bags. (Patty Corwin) The project provides students and parents with an easy way to learn key math concepts. The math bags will be sent home during the week so that families will have the opportunity to emphasize math knowledge at home.

Math & Literature Crates for Grades 3-5. (Linda Schweikhofer, Heather Wilson, Tom Biggs, Jeanne Chmelik, Patty Corwin) This project incorporates storybooks in the math curriculum to provide an easy framework for problem solving for the students. The crates will provide differentiated lessons, books, lessons and materials organized by grade in crates. Teachers will be invited to Math and Munch…lunch sessions to explore materials and model lessons.

Foreign Language Film Fest. (Linda Benigno, Roberta Wheatley, Karen Dymit, Alexandra Angio) This project takes the past practice of presenting and videotaping skits in foreign language to the next level by collaborating with literacy information teachers to teach students movie production skills. Teachers will provide feedback to the students on their pronunciation and vocabulary, and the films can be reviewed by the students to boost their comprehension skills.

Becoming a Love and Logic Parent Program. (Julie Wenzlaff) The program teaches strategies for parents to provide loving guidance to their children in a logical way, giving parents practical skills they can use immediately to build confidence in their parenting.

Improving Student Reading Fluency with Technology. (Carol Barsotti) A limited number of iPods and audio books will be purchased for each elementary school to be used by English Language Learners and special education students. This technology allows them to read, understand and participate in discussion on the same books their peers are reading.

Enhancing Reading Development in All Readers. (Marie Delahanty, Julie Snyder) Students will be given supplementary activities to help build their reading skills and to increase their enjoyment and appreciation of reading materials.

Math Facts Matter. (Lynna Hildner, Karen Lundgren, Dawn Bredfeldt, Molly Risberg, and Kelley Vail) The goal of this project is to improve speed, accuracy, retention of math facts among third graders and provide strategies that will help them learn and remember math facts for years to come. The activities incorporate movement, music, games, and projects that help students visualize and illustrate math facts.

Dancing with the Stars. (Debbie Rausch) This approach combines movement and memory skills. Each student will have a dance pad, and will try to imitate the feet movement arrows on a dance video projected on a screen. Researchers have noted that this type of dancing can lead to a boost in reading comprehension as well as provide an excellent workout.