Parsons Elem. giving tools to succeed to kindergartners

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Teachers involved with the "Tools of the Mind" literacy curriculum at Parsons Elementary are already calling the program a success.

The first-year pilot program focuses on individualized instruction, building self-regulation in order to build content knowledge, stay on task, have self-control and complete tasks.

Each morning, each child visits two different learning centers for 30 minutes each, such as word puzzles, make-a-book, story time or investigations, and must complete a sheet chronicling his or her work for the week. On Friday, the teachers meet individually with each student to go over their work and set new goals for the week ahead.

"The room atmosphere, it's always busy. They work as groups and as partners and individuals, so they're always working together," teacher Debbie Druker said.

Kindergarten teachers Lisa Rudolph, Laurie Gilmore, Jennifer Kluepfel, Gerry Agyeman and Druker assist their students, but each child is held accountable. A team captain supervises each group and then a study buddy checks his or her partner's work to see if it's correct.

The teachers also read with their students in small groups, and go over skills such as spelling, comprehension, word patterns, sentence variety, word sounds, letter formation, sight words, sentence quantity and punctuation. There are different themes every 10 days, such as the rain forest, the ocean and medieval times.

"As we read more and more, it develops their comprehension more," Rudolph said. "Their writing has gotten much better, their comprehension, their ability to work with partners and listen to each other … to know how to follow a routine. … They're able to do a lot more individual work and understand how to complete individual activities."

Fernando Colon, 6, said he has been reading since he was 5, and already reads aloud fluently and consistently. He said he enjoys the sound center the most because he likes to sound out letters and rhyme words.

"You can learn a lot of word patterns and you can also learn how to rhyme things and you can know a lot of stuff," he said.

Zelda Granger likes to read the "Biscuit" book series and therefore likes the make-abook station "because we make books." She said she likes to read and write.

Anika Chakraborti also enjoys make-abook "because you can decorate [the title page] any way you want and make pictures."

Druker said that the structure of the activities make the students more willing to learn because there is less pressure, and they are more determined to succeed. She said "Tools of the Mind" focuses heavily on memory skills, as lessons are revisited day after day. She said this helps them to achieve a higher grade-level potential, and helps those who are not native English speakers improve as well.

"We are constantly assessing children throughout the day," Druker said of the program, which she observed in the Piscataway school district last year.

She said another bonus is offering the idea of research papers to students, since their writing and drawings based on the chapters they read in class are collated to make a complete packet. The teachers also decorate the hallways to engage the students in an all-inclusive experience.

"The best thing is how much they love it. They come in so enthused every day. They're so happy," Druker said.

"This pushes them beyond the levels of kindergarten we thought they were capable of," Agyeman said.