VCLD 2004-2005 Grant Winner

Suzan Quezenberry

For the last three years I have been teaching third grade at New Bridge School in Henrico County. I was chosen as the VCLD grant winner this year. I was delighted to receive this grant because of the extreme needs of the students in my room. They struggle with the academics, which then often leads to frustration and behavior problems in a general education classroom setting. Consequently we have 12 or fewer students in each classroom.

My grant proposal was to combine math and literature into specific activity packets and send them home for parents to help their children. I had seen this done in several different ways commercially but nothing seemed to fit exactly the needs of my students. In creating these packets, I took a math concept and found a book that went along with it. I recorded the book on tape, purchased math manipulatives, a tape player, and I made file folder games for most of them. I took all of these items and put them into duffle bags. I decided to call them M.A.D. Bags, Math After Dinner. The students take home a bag a week, each with a different math concept. Ideally I want them to read the book with their parents and then work with the manipulatives and the file folder games. If a parent was not available, then they could listen to the book on tape and play a file folder game with a sibling or friend.

This project has been a huge success for the students in my classroom. They certainly don’t allow me to forget to send home the bags. As for supporting data that sending the bags home is helping, the students take tests every two weeks to prepare for the SOLs. Their scores indicate an increased understanding of the material.

I am grateful to the members of VCLD for letting me be able to put together a wonderful project that I will use for years to come.