3 Months in an Urban 1st Grade Classroom
Background on E.M. Stanton Elementary:
E.M. Stanton Elementary is a small, public K-8 Elementary School in South Philadelphia. It has a rich history with many supportive families, community members and community partners. In fact E.M. Stanton recently celebrated a successful campaign to keep the school district from closing it due to low enrollment. It's many years of academic success, rich cultural arts programming and positive collaborations with community partners allowed it to stay open while many other schools in the district were closed. See the following post from a long time Stanton supporter to learn more about the impressive community effort that kept the school open: http://thenotebook.org/blog/124565/stanton-supporter-reflections-community-organizing
I was placed in a first grade classroom with 19 students. The classroom I am in has a high focus on increasing early literacy skills. Everyday students participate in sustained independent reading and almost every activity has an associated writing component. Students also have 90 minutes of math instruction daily. The Stanton first graders are fortunate to get instruction in each of the specials (art, library, computers, and gym) one day a week. They have a limited amount of science instruction (about 2 lessons a week) which is not materials based but more of an integrated approach. A few of our students also benefit from participating in a mentor program where they are pulled out from class for one on one reading instruction with community volunteers.
I was placed in a first grade classroom with 19 students. The classroom I am in has a high focus on increasing early literacy skills. Everyday students participate in sustained independent reading and almost every activity has an associated writing component. Students also have 90 minutes of math instruction daily. The Stanton first graders are fortunate to get instruction in each of the specials (art, library, computers, and gym) one day a week. They have a limited amount of science instruction (about 2 lessons a week) which is not materials based but more of an integrated approach. A few of our students also benefit from participating in a mentor program where they are pulled out from class for one on one reading instruction with community volunteers.
Where is E.M. Stanton Elementary?
Community Assets
The E.M. Stanton community has many amazing assets within and surrounding the school's catchment area (highlighted in blue above). These assets include:
Demographics:
The following is demographic information for E.M. Stanton provided by the school district website (https://webapps.philasd.org/school_profile/view/2450):
