Students at the Wyomissing Hills and West Reading Elementary Centers are exploring new learning strategies with the implementation of new activities. At WHEC, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Wojciechowski, and Mrs. Heist-Albright created a “discovery room'' which provides students with an opportunity to engage in a variety of learning activities. These activities engage students in kindergarten through fourth grade providing age-appropriate activities for all. The room recently took on a snow theme and was complete with fiction and nonfiction books, stuffed animals, the evolution of the snowshoe, building stations to make snowmen and snowflakes, STEM bins to create igloos and launchers, and a matching game for students. In addition to other fun activities, there was a graffiti wall for students to write their “notices” and “wonders” as they explored various aspects of the room. Hughes, Wojciechowski, and Heist-Albright learned about the power of Discovery Rooms through their participation in the Total Experience Learning program with Albright College and brought the experience to life for our Spartans. These rooms help ignite student curiosity about a new topic, provide students with materials to jump-start their learning, and provide a variety of ways for them to engage with their peers while investigating new ideas.
At the West Reading Elementary Center, students in Mrs. Kozuch’s class learned about Civil Rights topics through an interactive bulletin board. The interactive activity requires students to read and summarize articles and to make connections to civil rights novels. Students can then use their knowledge of the article, novel, and personal passions to create a project explaining a specific movement or group of people during the civil rights movement. This interactive activity teaches students how to draw connections between their personal interests and historical events, as well as connecting historical movements to the modern day. Students shared that they feel the project helped them discover and explore their passions, allowing them to create something they feel proud of. Some students also feel that it allows them to push themselves to create a presentation different from what they have ever done before.
Shoutout to our dedicated educators who used their creativity to develop these valuable learning experiences for our students! We look forward to seeing more interactive bulletin boards, discovery rooms, and discovery tables around the District!