PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE PAGE 6
Reading Wonders continued from page 1
Technology
The biggest change families may notice is the robust at-home learning opportunities , which are made possible with technology , according to Ranae Case-Evenson , the district ’ s director of elementary curriculum , instruction and assessment .
“ There ’ s an amazing at-home connection with this ,” she said . “ So all of the text and reading materials — families will have access to online . Students can have self-directed learning opportunities anywhere they have access to the online tools .”
Those opportunities include games and activities that are tied to their daily lessons , and vocabulary and spelling lists that are automatically pushed out , and even the books they ’ re reading , Case-Evenson said .
“ It allows parents to be as handson as they want to be ,” she said . “ Materials are at their finger tips so they can work on things at home , or if they go on vacation , or whatever the case may be .”
That said , a technology-enhanced curriculum doesn ’ t mean the end of paper and pencils .
“ What ’ s great , too , is that Reading
Wonders is technology-enhanced , but not technology dependent , so families who don ’ t have technology at home — teachers can provide everything as a hard copy too , so they can take them home ,” Case- Evenson said . “ The ways kids can learn with this are limitless .”
Already getting started
“ As a parent , I may be wondering , ‘ wow , this is a big shift . Are teachers going to be ready ?’ The answer is yes ,” Case-Evenson said .
Not only are a host of classrooms already using Reading Wonders with great excitement , but also , the rest of the district ’ s elementary school teachers have begun their professional development and will continue to do so .
Other details
Reading Wonders will cost Anoka-Hennepin $ 3.1 million , which includes materials , shipping and seven years of professional development , Case-Evenson said .
Because technology is such a strong component of Reading
Wonders , up to $ 2.2 million in technology purchases using capital dollars will be made to purchase interactive whiteboards , Chromebooks and iPads . ■
Champlin Park High School Music Listening Team wins state championship
Knowing their Tchaikovsky from their Chopin paid off in a big way for a trio of talented teens who brought home Champlin Park High School ’ s ( CPHS ) firstever Music Listening Team State Championship .
Seniors Maria Arriola , Jacob Coenen and Kathryn LeMon spent hours and hours listening to and learning 50 pieces of classical music to prepare for the Feb . 5 competition at Augsburg College , which pitted them against 22 teams from around the state .
The contest , which partners high schools , colleges and Minnesota Public Radio , is a non-profit organization that aims to inspire students to become lifelong participants in the musical experience .
Teams were quizzed for five rounds on pieces spanning from the medieval period all the way to 2009 . They had to know the music so well that they could identify the piece , composer and period just by listening to a 10 to 30-second clip .
“ You have to be able to identify them at any point in the song ,” LeMon said .
During the lightning round , teams heard clips that lasted only two to 10 seconds . “ So in two seconds , you might get two chords ,” said the team ’ s coach , International Baccalaureate music teacher Sieglinde Grivna .
Other rounds of the competition included questions about music terms , music theory and music history , as well as a mystery round with songs that were not included in the study material , but by composers that were .
“ It ’ s hard because you have composers that were born in the same era , and they take styles from each other because they ’ re so significant in that time period ,” Arriola said . “ And then it ’ s like , ‘ I can ’ t tell if that ’ s Beethoven copying Mozart or if it ’ s Haydn .’”
To add to the pressure , spelling counts . Which is no small thing when you ’ re dealing with composers named Liszt and Shostakovich .
After five rounds , a final Jeopardy-style round had the two teams with the highest points squaring off against each other .
“ During the rest of the rounds you just have to know things , but in that round you have to know them fast ,” Coenen said . “ And the whole audience is watching .”
To prepare for the contest , teams were given a study guide with three CDs . The Champlin Park team chose to study using a divide-and-conquer strategy : each member took on one CD and learned it , backward and forward .
The Champlin Park High School Music Listening Team took home the school ' s first-ever state championship last month . From left to right : Jacob Coenen , Maria Arriola , and Kathryn LeMon .
And they listened . They listened in the car , they listened on their iPods , they listened while studying at home . They listened and listened , and listened some more .
Arriola joked , “ I don ’ t remember what my life was before this competition .”
Arriola has been on the CPHS music listening team for three years . She recruited her good friends Coenen and LeMon this year because she thought they would make a good team . She was right : They scored 93 out of 100 at regionals in January . The team with the next highest score in their region got 85 .
The CPHS team went on to score a 92 at state .
“ One of the judges said it ’ s brilliant to score that close to your regional score at state ,” Grivna said . “ They were so impressed .”
All three team members play in orchestra , so they already had a familiarity with classical music . But prior to this competition , classical was not necessarily their music of choice in their free time .
“ I didn ’ t really listen to it a whole lot for pleasure ; I listen to metal ,” Coenen said . “ I definitely enjoyed it before , but it wasn ’ t like I would plug headphones in and listen to Beethoven . But after this competition I ’ ve been listening to it more and more .”
Arriola said she has always listened to classical music , and she thinks there ’ s enough variety within it to appeal to everyone , including her peers .
“ If you say classical , maybe they ’ ll think of a Mozart piece that at first seems not very exciting , but if you played the opening measures of Dvorak ’ s Ninth Symphony , they might think it ’ s more cool ,” she said . “ But I think most people would enjoy the Romantic and early Contemporary stuff .”
For their efforts , each of the team members got medals and three tickets to the Minnesota Orchestra .
Arriola said she ’ s glad she ’ s participated in the competition for the past three years , because it ’ s really evolved her ability to appreciate all kinds of music .
“ And there are so many years of it , a thousand years of it ,” she said . “ I ’ m very happy that I ’ ve been able to do this . And win .”
Grivna is hoping that enthusiasm will encourage more students to participate in the event . “ They ’ re going to be my prime recruiters for next year ,” she said . ■
SAVE THE DATE NOW !
Dueling pianos ! Great food ! Much more !
REGISTRATION OPENS IN AUGUST .
Saturday , October 15
Golden Wings Flying Museum , Blaine , Minn .
• Tickets are just $ 30 per person .
• Registration opens in August .
www . anoka . k12 . mn . us / AHEFShoutOut