LLF grants promote learning opportunities at Harrowsmith PS

Julie Druker | Jun 24, 2015

Two recent grants from the Limestone Learning Foundation (LLF) have resulted in some interesting projects that have been completed by students at Harrowsmith Public School.

Thanks to one of the grants, students in Ms. Vogelzang's grade six class recently held an exhibition of the wooden waterfowl they created for a special project. The students researched and studied various species of waterfowl using SMART Ideas and each produced a finished piece of text that they published in a format of their choice. The students also designed and made the wooden waterfowl using rasps. They painted them and also painted wetland scenes as backdrops to their creations.

Upon completion of the project, parents and families of the students were invited to a special exhibition of their work at the school on June 22.

The second project involved students from Ms. Thayer's and Jane Ranson's grade 4/5 classes, who recently completed a project using 22 new iPads the school acquired through a separate grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation.

The project, in which the students designed a virtual resort for the Harrowsmith area, also covered specific curriculum requirements including Social Studies, Science, Math, French, and English. The students, who worked in groups, first used Google Earth to find an actual location for their resort and explained why it was suitable.

Next they used Survey Monkey to develop surveys to collect data about what people wanted at a resort, and based on that information they further developed the resort's plans, creating maps, posters and pamphlets to explain its special features and services.

Thayer said that to meet the needs of the special learners in the two classes, the teachers applied for the grant to acquire the iPads in an effort to make the project more accessible to all of the students in the class. “The iPads are very visual and have different apps that allow the students to tailor the work to their own special talents and needs. For example the iPad has a voice-to-text app that allows students who may be less skilled at reading and writing to create a higher quality work, which they might otherwise not be able to produce. They also give the students appropriate choices when they are searching for resources on the web.”

Grade five students Andrew Johnston and Kate Livie each completed a project and showed me their finished work. Andrew made a presentation about a virtual resort called the MUG Hotel, in which he and his group created a video presentation using green screen technology. Kate likes to use the scratch app on the iPad to create her very own video games.

When not hovering over their new iPads, students and staff at HPS also know how to have a good time on a hot sunny June day. The held an annual Water Fun Day on June 19 that involved over 150 students at the school, with the older grade 4/5 students taking the lead and organizing and running a number of water-based activities for the younger students at the school.