Spring Hill Elementary's Proposal
Spring Hill Elementary School
1351 Damas Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
412 323-3000
Proposal for Second Year Site
December 15, 1993
Submitted by
Christopher Bassett, Primary Teacher
Virginia DiPucci, Administrator
Fran Goldstone, Speech/Language Specialist
Judith A. Lesniewicz, Science Teacher
Pamela D. Lyden, Intermediate Teacher
Michele L. Rogers, Spanish Teacher
Julie M. Swartzentruber, Librarian
Tony Woods, Early Childhood Teacher
Summary
Spring Hill Elementary School proposes an interdisciplinary
Weather Project using the Internet to collect and analyze weather data
locally and worldwide. Ninety students in three classrooms (ages 4 to 11)
will begin working with the seven teachers who designed the project.
Detailed planning and development will begin in February 1994,
along with gathering the baseline data to be used later for evaluation.
The teachers will work with Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh personnel and
community members throughout the planning phase.
Problem Statement
The demographics of the Spring Hill Elementary School community
(Appendix A) are such that many of our students are unable to see their
connection to locations outside their neighborhoods and do not recognize
the relevance of education to their lives and their futures. These
socioeconomic and geographic disadvantages do not allow for access to the
widening world of technology and to other resources such as libraries and
thriving businesses. Our students need more opportunities to see beyond
their restrictive environment. Likewise, teacher isola- tion in the
classroom continues to be a problem, despite our being a restructuring
school.
While many of our students use video game technology, they have had
little opportunity to see computers used in the real world. Currently,
computers at Spring Hill are used for word-processing, databases, and
educational games. Access to the Internet will add another dimension to
computer use, give students ownership of a wider knowledge base, and
provide students and teachers with a link to the world.
Traditional teaching methods that do not address higher-order
thinking skills and cause-and-effect relationships have proven to be
inadequate, especially for students with limited life experiences.
Students need to understand and apply broad scientific principles, not
simply know them. Ideally, the integration of all subject areas builds a
solid foundation which leads students to apply, evaluate, and synthesize.
We plan to place an emphasis on students' higher-order thinking skills and
incorporate all subject areas under one theme: Weather. We chose to focus
on weather because it is relevant to all age levels and interdisciplinary.
Students' progress will be assessed by use of parent and student
attitude surveys before and after the students participate in the project
(Appendix B). Changes in their responses will be recorded. Evaluation
will include teachers' anecdotal records of students' work and time spent
online. Each child will begin to add electronic samples of their work on
disk to their current cumulative portfolios.
The use of computers as a mode for learning is imperative as we
prepare children to live and function in a global society. The worldwide
resources of the Internet will facilitate our restructuring school's
progress in developing an inter- disciplinary curriculum by giving
students and teachers access to the best educational tools that technology
can offer.
The Curriculum Project
Our project is to use network technologies as a means to explore
and analyze the weather locally and worldwide. In our restructuring school
schedule the students will learn about weather during the morning block of
time from 9:00 to 12:00, when there are two teachers in each classroom.
Our restructuring design focuses on education for life-long learning using
a whole-language thematic approach to teach all academic subjects. We
infuse the multicultural strands adopted by the Pittsburgh Public Schools
into the curriculum themes with a special emphasis on collaborative work.
Using weather as an interdisciplinary theme, students will use network
resources as the primary learning tools in their academic experiences.
The technology component of the original 1992 restructuring plan
for Spring Hill School called for computers in every classroom linked by a
network. This architecture enables students to connect with other
classrooms, other schools, other cities, and other countries. Students
will be able to access the Internet weather resources from any computer in
the building. As the students gain knowledge about the Internet through
their study of the weather, they will become familiar with the research
capabilities of network technologies. Using newsgroups, bulletin boards,
and electronic mail, teachers will also benefit from open communication on
the network, thus diminishing traditional classroom isolation.
In our interdisciplinary Weather Project, students will learn
about weather in many ways. They will come to understand the components of
weather, the patterns of weather, and the impact of weather on themselves
and other people around the world. For many of these activities, the
intermediate students will teach the primary students how to access
weather information from the Internet. The subject emphases include the
following:
SCIENCE (physical, chemical, earth, environmental)
The students will:
-learn about the water cycle
-use the Internet to collect weather data (precipitation, temperature, sky
conditions, wind speed) daily�local, national and international
-measure the temperature inside and outside the school using interfacing
probes
-collect acid rain or ozone data through hands-on activities to analyze the
effects of the world's ecological quality and share the information with
another site
-download weather maps from the Internet to explore weather conditions
around the world
-share their weather data with others on the Internet by generating
materials that can be put online for others to use
-create a Spring Hill Interdisciplinary Weather Project on the network
MATH
The students will use Internet data to:
-graph temperature and precipitation data locally and globally
-identify and analyze weather patterns
-calculate average temperatures and precipitation amounts for daily, weekly,
monthly, and seasonal time periods
-graph differences of nighttime and daytime temperatures
-compare Pittsburgh temperatures to those of other cities in the world
-prepare charts and tables showing the relationship between collected
data and observed weather (real-world situations)
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS
The students will:
-read the weather data on the Internet working in pairs, primary with
intermediate
-locate weather data to relate to the settings of stories they read
-create a survey to observe student behavior in regard to the weather
-collect data both before and after the Weather Project to show how
students' choice of school clothes relates to the daily weather
-compare and contrast through written description weather data collected at
Spring Hill for morning/afternoon; inside/outside; upstairs/downstairs;
ceiling /floor
-establish electronic pen pals to share written descriptions in the form
of letters
ART
The students will:
-draw sky observations using the art elements of space, line, color,
value, and the principles of design to illustrate weather data
-recognize standard weather symbols and use them to create weather charts
-create landscape/seascape drawings to compare and contrast various weather
data from time to time, place to place, and season to season with warm and
cool colors
-use cartography skills to make large wall maps to display world weather data
-utilize collage, watercolor, tempera, crayons, and markers for their
charts and drawings about the weather
SOCIAL STUDIES
The students will:
-collect weather data from the Internet
-use a graphic application to make a visual representation of weather
-display weather data on local, state, national, and international maps
-compare the local weather to weather conditions in several Spanish-speaking
countries and discover why weather is different there compared to
Pittsburgh due to differences in geographical location, latitude,
longitude, and topography
-compare historical methods of predicting weather with modern-day
meteorological technology
This project will be implemented by the team of seven teachers who
designed and wrote the project. The students initially involved will
include a group of 4-5 year olds, a group of 6-9 year olds, and a group of
8-11 year olds. The teachers will plan together in their collaborative
planning period and will team teach throughout this project. The students
will use the weather forecasts from Channel 11 and the Carnegie Science
Center to compare with National Weather Service data from the Internet.
Students will communicate with other students via electronic mail. A
parent group will develop a "backyard predicting" component to expand our
data collection beyond the school and into the community. Through our work
with Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh, the Weather Project Team will share the
curriculum with other educators on the Internet. We will prepare and
present our project at a workshop during a National Science Teachers
Association annual convention or a Pennsylvania Science Teachers
Association convention.
Expanding the project into the other classrooms of the school will
occur over time (a five-percent increase every nine weeks) as the students
move to other rooms, bringing their technological experience with them.
We hope to create partnerships in our local community with the Carnegie
Science Center and Channel 11. The students will communicate with
personnel at these institutions to ask questions about weather, thereby
opening up the community to the students. We would like to establish a
data-gathering weather station on the roof at Spring Hill School for
students to track weather using meteorological tools, and then share this
information on the Network.
To facilitate this project, the staff at Spring Hill School will
need various types of support from Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh. The main
support needed is connectivity to the Internet. The staff requires
inservice on the basic use of the Internet. The Weather Project Team needs
time to develop curriculum. Technical support will be needed throughout
the planning and implementation of the project.
The Internet resources we will expect to use are the following:
Bulletin Boards, Newsgroups, Electronic Mail, University of Michigan
Weather Under- ground, University of Illinois at Urbana Weather Gopher,
Online Databases, Online Libraries, and NASA Spacelink.
To evaluate the students we will use parent and student surveys,
log the time spent using the Internet, record expanded student use of the
Internet beyond the Weather Project, keep anecdotal records, and monitor
the students' electronic portfolios. These assessments will be guided by
the Chapter 5 Pennsylvania Student Learning Outcomes. The specific
outcomes relevant to the Weather Project are listed in Appendix C.
The anticipated outcome for Weather Project teachers is increased
communi- cation with one another, with teachers throughout the district
(K-12), with institu- tions in the neighborhood, and with people on the
Internet worldwide. With this decrease in isolation, teachers will find a
new sense of enthusiasm that will transfer to their students.
In the fall of the 1994-95 school year, all classrooms
participating in the Spring Hill Weather Project will have at least two
computers and access to the Internet. The Weather Project Team teachers
will begin to implement the activities as defined above in each of the
discipline areas. The curriculum at Spring Hill School is
interdisciplinary, and will drive the pace at which these activities will
be introduced. We will first introduce the weather locally using our
network capabilities to communicate from room to room. As the students
become familiar with the computers they will branch out to other
Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Carnegie Science Center, and Channel 11. At
this point we will offer weather information online for other schools to
use. Once students understand the concept of local weather information
they can begin to investigate weather in other areas around the state. By
the spring of 1995 the students will be gathering weather data from around
the world.
Through the use of the parent and student surveys, we will gather
base line data to diagnose the needs of our students in regards to the
Weather Project. Teachers will use this data to individualize student
instruction. The students will move through this project at their own
pace, developing an electronic portfolio throughout. Teacher observations
of the students will be recorded showing time spent and expanded use on
the Internet. Student work during the project will parallel the
Pennsylvania Chapter 5 Student Learning Outcomes (Appendix C). In the
spring of 1995 we will again distribute the parent and student surveys,
compare and compile this data with the above-mentioned assessments to
evaluate the students' performance and growth.
Planning Process
In February, 1994, the members of the Weather Project Team (Chris
Bassett, Fran Goldstone, Judith Lesniewicz, Pamela Lyden, Michele Rogers,
Julie Swartzen- truber, and Tony Woods, along with other Building
Technology Team members and parents) will begin specific planning to
expedite the implementation of our interdisciplinary Weather Project for
Fall, 1994.
Throughout the Spring, the Weather Project Team will continue to
explore the Internet, noting resources that can be used in our classrooms
by both teachers and students. We will schedule trips for Team members to
visit first-year Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh sites to observe, gather
data, and talk with the staff about their projects. We will also begin to
communicate with new Common Knowledge sites to discuss possible joint
activities related to our Weather Project.
The Weather Project Team will meet regularly with the Common
Knowledge: Pittsburgh staff to further refine our proposal and to review
software packages and online resources available. During these meetings,
our team will also utilize Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh staff expertise to
create a resource bank specific to the Weather Project activities. These
resources might include copies of the proposal's objectives and desired
learning outcomes at each age level, annotated bibliographies of print and
audiovisual materials related to the Weather Project and its components,
lists of network resources already available within our building, and
handbooks of step-by-step instructions for using online resources.
Before the end of the 1993-94 school year, we will coordinate
teachers' Fall schedules so that team members are paired in classrooms.
Core teachers Chris- topher Bassett (ages 6-9), Pamela Lyden (ages 8-11)
and Tony Woods (ages 4-6), will be paired with specialty teachers Judith
Lesniewicz (science), Michele Rogers (Spanish) and Julie Swartzentruber
(library), for team teaching during the morning block of time from
9:00-12:00. Fran Goldstone (speech/language specialist) will work with
students and teachers in all three classrooms as needed. At this time, we
will also arrange a block of time to begin writing curriculum to support
the Weather Project at our school .
Implementation Scenario
The goal of transforming students to become active rather than
passive learners will guide the implementation design. The planning
process will include scheduling and coordination of activities. This will
allow for student cooperation in projects�bridging communities and age
groups within the classroom and school.
As the 1994-95 school year begins, the goals of this proposal will
be achieved through Spring Hill's whole language approach to learning. All
subject areas will be integrated within the weather theme while students
simultaneously learn to navigate the Internet.
Early in the Fall of 1994, Weather Project Team members and their
classrooms will use the Internet. Our project with the Common Knowledge:
Pittsburgh will eventually extend to all staff and students, since Spring
Hill's design involves trans-disciplinary teaching and the pairing of
teachers changes every nine- week cycle.
By the end of April 1995, students will be storing work in their
electronic portfolio. They will be working independently and
collaboratively to analyze and share their weather data. Family and
community involvement will be actively pursued at this time.
From April through June 1995, post-evaluation tools will be
implemented: follow-up surveys, monitoring of students' independent
network use, comparison of discipline referrals generated in the beginning
of the year with those at the end of the school year, and evaluation of
criteria set forth in each student's Personal Instructional Plan. Results
of the ongoing and end-of-year evaluations will be used to plan for the
second year of the project.
Personnel
The following staff persons make up the Spring Hill Weather
Project Team and collaborated in the planning and writing of
this project proposal:
Christopher Bassett�Core Teacher, 6-9 year-olds
Fran Goldstone�Speech/Language Specialist
Judith Lesniewicz�Project Co-Coordinator, Science Specialist
Pamela Lyden�Project Co-Coordinator, Core Teacher, 8-11 year-olds
Michele Rogers�Spanish Language Specialist
Julie Swartzentruber�Library Specialist
Tony Woods�Core Teacher, Entry Level.
The Weather Project Team met on a regular, weekly basis throughout
October, 1993, and then more frequently throughout November for the
writing of the project proposal. In early December, the group met almost
daily to revise, edit and complete the final proposal. After extensive
group brainstorming and discussion, team members wrote, edited and revised
this project.
Planning, implementing and evaluating this project will be
accomplished through regular meetings where we will monitor and assess the
project, trouble- shoot, and develop quality assurance strategies. The
Weather Project Team members will work in conjunction with the Common
Knowledge: Pittsburgh staff and the Spring Hill School Technology
Committee (which includes individuals from the School Support unit) to
educate and support students and staff.
Technical Architecture
Currently there is one Macintosh LCII computer with ethernet card
and a printer in every classroom. One additional network-ready Macintosh
LC 520 computer has been ordered for each class. Included with this new
order are the pieces for a Local Area Network (a Net Blazer/Router,
HighSpeed Modem, Concentrator/Repeater, a Multimedia station, and a
Workgroup Server). The wiring for telecommunications is already in place.
This architecture will enable our students to access the Internet weather
resources from any computer and from any classroom in the building. To
begin our project, we require connectivity to the Internet and technical
training for teachers.
APPENDIX A: School Profile
School: Spring Hill Elementary School
Address: 1351 Damas Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Telephone Number: (412) 323-3000
Fax: (412) 323-3008
Principal: Virginia DiPucci
Secretary: Linda Kennedy
Custodians: David J. Rukavina and Margaret Clemens
Physical Plant: Spring Hill Elementary School is a two-story building
consisting of eleven classrooms, a library, a gymnasium, an
auditorium, a main office, a teacher resource room, a nurse's office, a
developmental advisors' office, and a dining room.
Student Population: The student population is comprised of 304 children in
levels Kindergarten through fifth grade. Approximately 91% of the
children participate in the free lunch program. 57% of the students are
African-American, and female students make up 48% of the student
population. Spring Hill is a working-class, urban neighborhood with
an unbalanced racial mix with a minority of African-Americans. The
racial mix for the school is achieved through bussing.
Staff: There are 25 full-time staff members, 8 part-time staff members,
and 1 intern.
Staff with e-mail addresses:
Bassett, Christopher A. bassett@pps.pgh.pa.us
DiPucci, Virginia dipucci@pps.pgh.pa.us
Haymon, Linda D. haymon@pps.pgh.pa.us
Lesniewicz, Judith A. lesnwcz@pps.pgh.pa.us
Lyden, Pamela lyden@pps.pgh.pa.us
Roble, Helen L. roble@pps.pgh.pa.us
Rogers, Michele L. mrogers@pps.pgh.pa.us
Sumler-Wooten, Edith wooten@pps.pgh.pa.us
Swartzentruber, Julie swartzen@pps.pgh.pa.us
Wooddell, Donna M. wooddell@pps.pgh.pa.us
Woods, Tony twoods@pps.pgh.pa.us
Appendix B: Sample Parent and Student Attitude Survey Questions*
Student:
Please answer the following questions as honestly as you can.
Don't write your name on this survey.
Circle the number that best identifies your feelings RIGHT NOW.
1 represents - Not At All
2 represents - Somewhat
3 represents - Very Much
1. School is important to me.
10. I am proud of my work.
14. I like to use the computer.
18. I would take time away from my
favorite school activities to learn
more about the computer.
19. I could use the computer to do
research.
Parent:
Please answer the following questions as honestly as you can. All answers
will be kept confidential. The information we are seeking is on how
parents feel about Spring Hill Elementary School and computers. Please do
not place your name on this survey.
Circle the number that identifies how you feel RIGHT NOW.
8. I am very active in my child(ren)'s
education.
11. Spring Hill has a good computer
education program.
17. The main thing a computer can do
for a child is teach him/her how
to type.
18. The main thing a computer can do
for a child is teach him/her more
about Mathematics and Science.
21. Computers should mainly be used
in the classroom for playing educa-
tional games.
*The survey will be revised with assistance from School Support Unit staff.
APPENDIX C: Selected [Pa.] State Board of Education Student Learning Outcomes*
Section 5.202.
[[(f)]] The mission of public education, in conjunction with families and other
community institutions, is to prepare all students to be:
(5) Adaptive users of advanced technologies.
(6) Concerned stewards of the global environment.
[[(g)]] School districts shall prepare all students to attain the
following STUDENT LEARNING outcomes:
(1) Communications.
(i) All students use effective research and information
management skills, including locating primary and secondary sources
of information with traditional and emerging library technologies.
(iv) All students write for a variety of purposes, including to narrate,
inform and persuade, in all subject areas.
(2) Mathematics.
(i) All students use numbers, number systems and equivalent
forms (including numbers, words, objects and graphics) to represent
theoretical and practical situations.
(ii) All students compute, measure and estimate to solve theoretical
and practical problems, using appropriate tools, including modern
technology such as calculators and computers.
(iii) All students apply the concepts of patterns, functions and
relations to solve theoretical and practical problems.
(vi) All students evaluate, infer and draw appropriate conclusions
from charts, tables and graphs, showing the relationships between data
and real-world situations.
(vii) All students make decisions and predictions based upon the
collection, organization, analysis and interpretation of statistical data
and the application of probability.
(3) Science and technology.
(ii) All students demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts and
principles of physical, chemical, biological and earth sciences.
(iv) All students explain the relationships among science, technology
and society.
(vi) All students develop and apply skills of observation , data
collection, analysis, pattern recognition, prediction and scientific
reasoning in designing and conducting experiments and solving
technological problems.
(4) Environment and ecology.
(ii) All students analyze the effects of social systems, behaviors and
technologies on ecological systems and environmental quality.
(5) Citizenship.
(i) All students demonstrate an understanding of major events,
CULTURES, groups and individuals in the historical development of
Pennsylvania, the United States and other nations, and describe
themes and patterns of historical development.
(iv) All students examine and evaluate problems facing citizens in
their communities, state, nation and world by incorporating concepts
and methods of inquiry of the various social sciences.
(vii) All students demonstrate their skills of communicating,
negotiating and cooperating with others.
(ix) All students demonstrate that they can work effectively with
others.
[[(6) Appreciating and understanding others.
(i) All students explore and articulate the similarities and
differences among various cultures and the history and
contributions of diverse cultural groups, including groups to which
they belong.
(iv) All students work effectively with others, demonstrating respect
for the dignity, worth, contributions and equal rights of each person.]]
[[(7)]] (6) Arts and humanities.
(iv) All students produce [[and]] , perform or exhibit their work in
the visual arts, music, dance or theater, and describe the meanings
their work has for them.
[[(8)]] (7) Career education and work.
(ii) All students assess how changes in society, technology,
government and the economy affect individuals and their careers and
require them to continue learning.
*[Pennsylvania] State Board of Education. "Student Learning Outcomes."
Pennsylvania Bulletin 23 (July 24, 1993), part 2.