Copied in below is a Shawnee Mission Education Foundation Excellence in Education Grant 2010-2011 Application I submitted with Kathy Brodie, a specialist with the Shawnee Mission School District (at that time) who had not only helped classroom teachers with meeting the needs of all students but was a perpetual resource for current research findings and proven best practices.
I have not spoke with Kathy Brodie in a few years but have thought of this grant repeatedly in the last few months. In rereading the research and our goals I see themes that remain relevant in the current revisions to my district's delivery of broader services as well as the saturation of technology in the classroom with Apple 1:1 deployment and a shift to individualized learning paths. The needs addressed by our grant are more pronounced and relevant. We did not receive the grant (likely due to the cost of the technology components at the time, issues of replicability without a directly proportional increase in cost, and my tendency towards wordy explanations I see obscuring or blurring a few important areas of the proposal) but thought to post here for reference.
This is the digital copy; the actual submission with approval signatures and forms is omitted because this is the internet after all. I have included what I created. The "Overview" and "Quality Project Design" come from the district application cover page and are included for context.
This is the digital copy; the actual submission with approval signatures and forms is omitted because this is the internet after all. I have included what I created. The "Overview" and "Quality Project Design" come from the district application cover page and are included for context.
Overview
Excellence in Education (E2) Grants are designed to encourage innovation and are awarded at varying levels of funding, up to $3,500, for creative projects that foster innovative and challenging teaching and learning implemented by schools, school departments, teachers, librarians, counselors, nurses, and other district educators. All Shawnee Mission School District pre-K-12 educators may apply.
The application is the tool that grant reviewers will use to assess the quality of your project and how the proposed project aligns with the mission and core objectives of the SMEF. While certain basic information will be needed to review each proposal, such as a target participant group, detailed budget and thoughtful timeline of implementation, reviewers will look closely at the significance, approach and innovation of the project.
Quality Project Design
In preparing to complete your grant application, you may want to consider the following questions. Not all questions below will apply to any given proposal. These are suggestions and potential considerations that the grant reviewers may employ in the evaluation.
- How does your project address an important problem or strength?
- To what extent does your project employ research-based effective practices?
- How does your project promote innovative and challenging teaching and learning?
- Does your project advance discovery and understanding within its field or across different fields?
- Does your project develop concepts, approaches, tools, methodologies or technologies to solve problems in a new way?
- What is your plan for evaluating project implementation and progress toward meeting project goals and objectives?
- If the aims of the project are achieved, how will knowledge or practices be advanced and will the project, its results, products or benefits be exportable to other settings?
Shawnee Mission Education Foundation
Excellence in Education Grant
2010-2011
Application Cover Page
Applicant Name(s):_Tim Coleman and Kathy Brodie______________________
School:__Prairie Elementary_______________________________________________
Position: Tim Coleman - Classroom Teacher, Kathy Brodie – Autism Specialist
Grade: Third Grade
Project Title: _____Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Video Modeling for Awareness and Exploration of Social Skills______________________________________
Amount Requested (not to exceed $3,500): $2,274.94
Number of students who will participate or benefit: 25 students during first year, workshop to expand in subsequent years to include any students K-6 that need social skills modeling/practice
Assurances to be signed and initialed by the principal and signed by the applicant:
- Funds for this project supplement and do not supplant programs, projects and materials that are regularly included in the school budget. ________
- The project does not discriminate on any illegal basis. _________
- Funds for this project exclude expenditures for staff honoraria, salaries, or substitute educators. ________
- Expenditures do not include facility costs. _________
- Expenditures will be drawn down in a time frame consistent with the ability to accomplish proposed project goals and objectives in the 2009-10 school year. ______
- A final report, including program evaluation, will be submitted to SMEF by May 27, 2011. _________
- This project is not in conflict with the curriculum goals and site plans of the school. _______
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Shawnee Mission Education Foundation
Excellence in Education Grant
2010-2011 Application
Project Title: Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Video Modeling for Awareness and Exploration of Social Skills.
Amount Requested (not to exceed $3,500): $2,274.94
Targeted Participants: 3rd Grade students first year, subsequently opened to entire school population
Number of Students Participating: 25 regular education classroom students first year. During subsequent years this intervention will be available to any student in school environment that needs support in targeted social skills (students diagnosed with Autism, Pervasive Disorder Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Tourette’s Syndrome, Nonverbal Learning Disorder and Emotionally Disturbed.)
Number of Teachers/Staff participating: Two
Grade(s)/Department(s): 3rd Grade
Abstract (5 points): Briefly describe the project goals, intended participants, and project activities.
The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop provides third grade students the opportunity to learn, observe, evaluate, practice, and creatively engage targeted social skills by working on film and music projects within the scope of the language arts curriculum. Students will be taught targeted social skills through direct instruction and will then create several film and music projects that incorporate composing, performing, editing, and evaluating the dynamics of real and fictionalized social interaction. This multilayered approach includes video modeling of group collaboration, informational and narrative pacing, recognition of facial expressions, contextual voice overdubbing, storyboarding, and filming.
Project design (30 points): Please describe your project design relative to the following questions:
How does your project address an important problem or strength?
Educators are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of effective social skills to student success. Social skills are used whenever there is more than one person in a room. As such, appropriate social skills are needed throughout a student’s day. While a difficulty in math is mostly apparent in math class, social disabilities impact every environment the student enters. (Garcia-Winner, 2005)
Consequences of social skills deficits may lead to negative academic, behavioral, social and emotional outcomes. Students may experience poor academic performance, peer failure, rejection, isolation, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicidal ideation (Bellini, 2008).
Some students learn social skills simply by exposure. For others, direct instruction in social skill acquisition is necessary. In addition to instruction, multiple opportunities to practice are necessary (Bellini, 2008). Students at risk for poor social skills and in need of direct instruction include students with the following diagnosis: Autism, Pervasive Disorder Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Tourette’s Syndrome, Nonverbal Learning Disorder and some labeled with “Emotionally Disturbed.” (Garcia-Winner, 2007)
While the importance of good social skills to student success has been documented, it is difficult for classroom teachers to find the time within the day to devote towards social skill instruction. Academic instruction towards core district curriculum and state standards is an overriding priority for teachers. The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop supports and enriches the Shawnee Mission Language Arts curriculum. Through the instruction, development, and demonstration of targeted social skills, this project provides unique and in-depth support of tested indicators on Kansas State Reading Assessment for grades 3-6.
How does your project promote innovative and challenging teaching and learning?
Components of effective social skills training include declarative knowledge (what is the skill), procedural knowledge (how to perform the skill and then practice the skill), as well as perspective taking. (Bellini, 2008) This project is designed to teach targeted social skills through the components of declarative knowledge – making the students aware of social skills; providing procedural knowledge – how to perform the skill with multiple opportunities to practice the skill; and perspective taking – review of demonstrated social skills.
Our intervention strategies to teach social skills must meet the unique needs of our students. One such intervention is video modeling – a form of observational learning in which desired behaviors are learned by watching a video demonstration and then imitating the behavior of the model. Scott Bellini (2008) says that video modeling allows one to combine a broad range of strategies and can be used to promote skill acquisition (declarative knowledge), enhance skill performance (procedural knowledge), and reduce problem behaviors. He goes on to say that video modeling is without a doubt the most effective social skills intervention strategy that he has used. The use of video modeling incorporates visual learning, increases attention, decreases anxiety, increases motivation and increases self-awareness. Video modeling has been established as an Evidence Based Practice in the National Standards Report, from the National Autism Center.
With this research in mind, a video modeling intervention will be implemented, using student composed film and audio projects, in order to identify, examine, and demonstrate appropriate social skills both in peer group interaction as well as in the creation of a project. As the project involves a film or audio product, students will be able to review the skills they demonstrated throughout the school year. Groups of students will work on different skills; all students will be able to learn about all skills by watching or listening to peer projects. By using film and audio tools, we are anticipating high levels of student energy and ownership in the project.
Goals and objectives (15 points): Please state the specific results you expect to achieve with your grant project.
4 Primary Goals of Comedy and Storytelling Workshop:
1) Increase Students’ Awareness and Knowledge of Targeted Social Skills:
a. Teach social skills through direct instruction
b. Use visual cues and materials throughout lessons and posted/referenced in classroom
c. Social Skills that will be taught:
i. Recognizing Facial Expression of Others
ii. Recognizing Body Language of Others
iii. Recognizing tone of voice
iv. Making eye contact
v. Staying on Topic
vi. Taking Turns Talking
vii. Respecting Other’s Opinion
viii. Asserting Yourself
ix. Conversational Reciprocity
x. Considering Multiple Viewpoints
xi. Allowing others to assist
xii. Responding to questions asked
xiii. Compromising
2) Provide Students with Multiple Opportunities to Practice the Social Skills across School Environments:
a. Structured settings: regular education classroom
b. Informal settings: lunchroom, recess, and school related activities/presentations.
3) Support and Enrich Shawnee Mission Language Arts Curriculum:
· 1003.05 – Practice comprehension strategies and skills for a variety of text, including narrative, expository, persuasive, and technical.
· 1003.09 – Apply literary concepts to interpret literature.
· 1003.12 – Use different modes of writing for different purposes and audiences.
· 1003.13 – Use writing as a tool across the curriculum.
· 1003.31 – Participate in group discussion.
· 1003.32 – Practice appropriate presentation skills to convey meaning.
· 1003.33 – Apply presentation skills in creative dramatics and storytelling.
· 1003.34 – Adjust listening and viewing to gain knowledge in a variety of situations.
4) Provide Unique and In-Depth Targeting of Tested Indicators on Kansas State Reading Assessment (3rd Grade):
· 1.4.5 – The student uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions.
· 1.4.8 – The student compares and contrasts information (e.g., topics, characters) in a text.
· 1.4.9 – The student links causes and effects in appropriate-level narrative and expository texts.
· 1.4.10 – The student retells main ideas or events as well as supporting details in narrative and expository texts.
· 2.1.1 – The student identifies and describes characters’ physical traits, basic personality traits, and actions
Please describe your project activities, implementation plan, and timeline (20 points):
The first part of each Comedy and Storytelling Workshop is called “Workshop Process,” in which students learn, observe, and practice with each other the targeted social skills needed to complete the film or music project. The second part of the Workshop is called “Workshop Project,” in which students take the skills they have learned and the ideas they have generated and they create the film or music project. Each worksheet project/process is projected to take two weeks from start to finish. There will be one week between the end of each workshop and the beginning of the next for the monitoring and reinforcement of the targeted social skills in the regular classroom routine.
Project Activities:
1) Working in a Creative and Collaborative Way – “Evil Caricatures”
Process: Students learn there are a number of behaviors that support a collaborative effort as well as behaviors that will ruin it. Project: Students review how certain caricatures would act and then take turns in an improv skit where they act out each caricature.
2) Proper Pacing – too much/little information and going too fast/slow
Process: Students learn the importance of proper pacing when telling a story. Project: Students work on recreating a narrative with too much and too little information. Students discuss familiar fairy tales and perform a play in a set amount of time then perform the same play again in increasingly shorter and shorter time periods.
3) Pacing & Facial Expression Mini-Project – Voice Overdubbing
Process: Students focus on the relationship between facial expressions, lines of dialogue, and story pacing. Project: Students perform a new script while watching a soundless video and record in into a digital audio workstation.
4) Facial Expression Game
Process: Students learn about how people use facial expressions to convey what they are thinking and feeling by using video modeling segments. Project: Students play several versions of a facial expression game.
5) Storyboarding Final Project
Process: Students learn about the storyboarding process to visualize a long, more complex story while dealing with each segment on its own. Project: Students begin brainstorming a final project to be filmed that would incorporate each of the main topics taught and practiced.
6) Filming Final Project
Process: Students look at each of the scenes that need to be filmed and work individually and in small groups to discuss, plan, and practice each scene. Project: Students create a film for the comedy and storytelling workshop.
Implementation Plan/Timeline:
August-September
- Establish baseline for social skill awareness within classroom setting using skit of successful and unsuccessful social interactions. Teach targeted social skills through direct instruction.
October-November
- Workshop Projects #1 and #2
December-January
- Workshop Project #3
February-March
- Workshop Project #4 and review and application of Workshop Projects to Kansas State Reading Assessment
April-May
· Workshop Projects #5 and #6, presentation of final projects, & evaluation of project
What is your plan for evaluating project implementation and progress toward meeting stated goals and objectives? (20 points)
Project Implementation:
Project implementation will be reviewed on a monthly basis. If necessary, adjustments will be made in order to meet the projected timelines.
Evaluating Progress Towards Goals:
Each targeted social skill will be listed on a poster that is displayed in the classroom. The poster will be used as a visual reminder for the students to perform the skills throughout the day. It will also be used to make students aware each time the skill is demonstrated. Whenever the teacher or student recognizes a skill being successfully performed at any time during the school day, that skill will be marked on a poster with a star. Project implementers will be able to determine the growth of student awareness of social skills by the numbers of stars beside each skill.
Final Evaluation
Before instruction of social skills begins, student will be asked to watch a skit in which social skills are demonstrated both successfully and unsuccessfully. The students will be asked to list the social skills they observed and if the skills were performed successfully and unsuccessfully. As a final step in this project, the students will be asked to repeat this exercise by watching the skit and listing the demonstrated social skills and whether the skills were successful or unsuccessful. The student lists will be compared to see if an increase in knowledge of social skills has occurred.
Please detail the project budget and spending timeline (10 points):
- Apple MacBook MC207LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop Computer = $950
- Flip Ultra HD Camcorder ($159 each x 6) = $954
- Zoom H4n Handy Digital Portable Recorder = $299
- Book: Superflex…A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum by Madrigal and Garcia-Winner = $49.95
- 5-Pack 8xDVD+RDL Double-Layer Discs with Jewel Cases = $21.99
- Sandisk Cruzer 4GB USB Flash Drive ($14.99 each x 2) = $29.98
If this award does not fully fund the project, what are other potential sources of funding?
Alternative sources of funding might be the school’s Parent/Teacher Association or applying for grants from specific organizations, foundations, or groups that look to promote social skill instruction among various narrower populations than would be included in our program (i.e. students diagnosed as having Autism, ADD, ADHD, Tourettes, etc.)
Grant Project Evaluation and Summary
Grant evaluations are used as a source for the SMEF Annual Report. Please be as descriptive as possible when answering the questions below. SMEF reserves the right to return the project evaluation to the grant recipients and ask for more information.
School: Prairie Elementary
Teacher: Tim Coleman
Title of grant: Comedy and Storytelling Workshop: Using Film and Music Skills to Explore Social Skills
Description of project: The Comedy and Storytelling Workshop will provide autistic students the opportunity to work in intensive, small peer group (3-4 students total) on several film and music projects as a multilayered means to learn and practice social skills, express emotions and creative ideas, and strengthen self-confidence. During two-hour block sessions, students will meet with Workshop Facilitators to create several Comedy and Storytelling projects that incorporate composing, performing, editing, and evaluating the dynamics of fictional character social interaction. The projects will stimulate imagination, creativity, and will provide opportunities for all students to be the writers, directors, and producers of original artistic material.
