Growing learners and project promise may 2018 report

MIAMI CHILDREN’S INITIATIVE PROJECT PROMISE / GROWING LEARNERS REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FUNDERS COLLABORATIVE Period covered: May 01 - 31, 2018

Program Overview Growing Learners is a program dedicated to children 3 -5 years old. Developed and supported

by Miami-Dade Public Schools and MCI, it began in Charles R. Drew Elementary School. The program has as its goal to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten through exposure to an enriched curriculum that addresses social, emotional, and cognitive and literacy development.

Through daily experiences that provide fun in learning through a play-oriented curriculum, children have had the exposure to fun-filled experiences in the community and at school that has helped integrate skills across the curriculum with field trips, music and art and classroom work.

Project Promise is a free afterschool program also located at Charles R. Drew Elementary School that provides students in grades K-5 academic and personal enrichment services including academic remediation, homework assistance, tutoring, mentoring, Project Based Learning, social skills training, arts education, and physical fitness.

Program Attendance Numbers Growing Learners

Project Promise

62

115 Growing Learners We have finally approached the end of the year! Our Growing Learners have learned so much and had fun while doing so. During the month of May, the children engaged in a variety of activities.

Some of the activities included: Hands on activities related to the weather and Mother's Day, Haitian Flag Day, and the Frost Science Museum.

Throughout the month of May, our Growing Learners have experienced multiple weather changes. Which was a perfect time to talk about weather cycles and the 4 seasons. Explaining to our young learners about the changes which occur during each season.

For Mother's Day, our children created their very own picture frame using Popsicle sticks to give to their mothers. To help facilitate cultural awareness and identity, our Growing Learners participated in Haitian Flag Day; where they learned about the history of Haiti and even performed the Haitian National anthem.

Kindergarten During the month of May the students finished their post-assessments for Common Threads, Positive Action, and PBL. In addition, we have been preparing for the Kindergarten Haitian Flag day performance. A few of the students recited poems about Haitian culture, modeled traditional Haitian clothing, and performed dances. The students are extremely excited about moving on to first grade. The staff has continued to prepare them for the first grade, by challenging them with reading assignments, addition and subtraction, and sight word recognition activities. We also continued our use of play dough to display math concepts and began an art unit for expressing what they love and how they should respond in a variety of scenarios during character education.

1st and 2nd Grade During the month of May the children worked hard to complete the post-test for their PBL’s, Positive Action, and Common Threads. The students also worked intensively on reading comprehension, writing, and vocabulary. The staff helped the children with their vocabulary by playing sight word Jenga. They also worked on their writing skills by playing Punctuation, red light, green light. Finally, they used a story Sequencing activity to help with their reading comprehension. They continued to also work with mathematics- specifically multiplication tables and commuting them to memory. They used the white boards to engage in competitive races with addition, subtraction, and show symbolic depictions of multiplication. The children also performed during the Haitian flag day performances. The first graders used their classroom to educate their peers about the cities in Haiti and its culture. The second graders performed several dances and modeled traditional Haitian clothing in the fashion show.

3rd Grade This month students worked on a Haitian Flag Day dance for the showcase. Students and parents enjoyed the show and the potluck of Haitian food after the show. Students and parents were able to learn a lot about Haitian culture through the learning centers that showcased fun filled activities which highlighted different parts of Haitian culture. The third graders also visited the Frost Science Museum, where they learned about science, the ecosystem, and the human body. Our third-grade girls worked for several weeks on a performance with several high school instructors from Dance Xpress. The girls performed their dance routines in the UNICEF fundraiser and music concert. Finally, our staff continues building on student skills and

knowledge to prepare them for 4th grade.

4th and 5th Grade The month of May is when the majority of the FSA assessments were administered. With this in mind our primary focus for fourth graders were test taking strategies. For the month of May, the fourth-grade class has been working with the math matters packet in addition to the FSA math and reading packets. Students worked in small groups on benchmarks needed for the FSA assessment.

During the month of May students also learned about Haitian culture. Students learned about Haitian art, music, dance, literature, and about people that were influential in Haiti gaining independence. On May18, 2018, we had a culminating activity where students went from class to class learning about the Haitian culture which culminated with a performance in the auditorium and a taste of Haiti where students and parents sampled a variety of dishes costumed from the island of Haiti.

We also continue with homework help. In addition to the homework help, each student was provided with a minute math package. Students continued to do their sparks activities and worked on their teamwork, listening skills, and communicating skills while learning the basics of basketball, soccer, and football

TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY In closing, MCI celebrated teacher appreciation week with a Cinco de Mayo themed luncheon for Charles R. Drew K-8 Center staff. The MCI staff transformed the media center into a Mexican dance hall and were dressed in traditional Mexican clothing, while Drew staff enjoyed eating Mexican Food and listening to Mexican music. It was MCI’s way of showing the staff at Charles R Drew K-8 center that we appreciate all that they do for the students and MCI.