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.

Renzulli Online Learning

The Alliance funded initial teacher training and student subscriptions to the Renzulli online learning system.  The Renzulli system allows teachers to quickly prepare student self-directed educational experiences which will provide pre-screened, educationally sound, age appropriate, engaging and ready to go content from original sources on the Internet.

Jennifer Harris Enrichment Fund

The Jennifer Harris Enrichment Fund, within the Alliance For Excellence, was established in memory of Jennifer Harris, the beloved daughter of Mrs. Cynthia Harris, a long-time teacher at East School in Lake Bluff. Donations to this fund are designated for use at both Lake Bluff Elementary School and Lake Bluff Middle School, and will be used to support programs and materials that meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Enhance literacy through presentations and workshops with visiting authors, illustrators, or other literary professionals.
2. Engage students in reading and writing activities that fuel a life-long love of literature and reading.
3. Enrich existing reading and writing elements across all curriculum.