DeCember 9, 1994 The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana 13
ily MARY ANN HUGHES
Message staff writer
Math Their Way program incorporates cooperative learning, art, literature
There was once a time when
students who were working on
a Thanksgiving art project sat
at their individual desks and
colored a mimeographed sheet
featuring a turkey.
Last week, kindergartners in
Helen Pesavento's classroom at
Holy Rosary School,
EVansvil.
vL_ _ .e' prepared for
:nkving using the Math
he": ay program and incor-
• aecl art, literature and co-
Operative learning into their
project.
They b 'an by learnin the
poem The 'l" - g
vt ouquerque Turkey.
'aea, they incorporated infer-
mation they had learned about
math into their art project. As
Pesavento explained, "In math,
everything is a pattern, so we
are looking for things that re-
peat." As she lined up different
colored paper feathers, she
showed her students how to
line the colors up in a pattern,
using the letters A, B, C, and D
for corresponding colors.
"Any hands-on thing makes
it more concrete," she said, not-
ing, "the number five is very
abstract, but if you have five
beans in front ofyou," the
number five becomes more con-
crete.
As the children began work-
ing on their projects, they
worked together in groups of
four or five. This exercise in co-
uDeration brainstorm to be
"eat,00red in Catholic magazine
By MARY ANN HUGHES Brainstorm group consisted of
Message staff writer about 30 teachers from
a, The diocesan-re ^ Catholic schools throughout
io_ . . P gram, uper-
• " .'ramstorm, will be fea-
January issue of
tatholic Teacher
,_ ,,e article, which was
a by DOnna ,- • wnt-
iaator of S nalverson, coor-
Lh-,. Upport Servlces in
th fe-" gr fthe
• Ullre
• a the article
Plain ,r , Halverson ex-
Li0a-tlra.n e PUrpose of Opera-
Velonea',ast°_ rra, which was de-
ire,? °Y.Phyllis Beshears
[}, .ur O[ sc k_ , ,
ralllstor,, _. -eels: . . . to
d pb- "2 meas, concerns,
s ,,-as tbr rnakin
, chools a g diocesan
better .r u staff stronger and
[Cages .Pared to meet chal-
The "o. ae future."
tnal Operation
the diocese. During their strat-
egy sessions, they have devel-
oped ideas for Catholic Schools
Week, and the diocesan-wide
Penny Campaign was their
idea. As a result of students
collecting pennies, almost
$26,000 has been raised, and
used for professional growth
opportunities for teachers.
The group also proposed
grade level and subject area
meetings for teachers. Accord-
ing to Halverson, "These shar-
ing groups have given hun-
dreds of teachers an
opportunity to learn and grow
from each' other. This year a
group for first-year teachers
has been formed and future
plans will include a group for
pre-kindergarten teachers."
operative learning is important
Pesavento said "because more
adults lose their jobs because
they can't get along, than be-
cause they can't read."
As Pesavento walked
through her classroom and lis-
tened as each group discussed
its process, Rose Whetstine ap-
proached her. The kindergart-
ner said, "I don't like the pat-
tern."
Pesavento said, "Tell your
group."
When Rose's group finally
reached agreement on its pat-
tern, Nathan Stobaugh clapped
his hands together and said,
"Gosh, we've got it done. This
is going to be the best pattern
since sliced bread!"
Kindergarten students at Holy Rosary School, Evansville, get guidance from their
teacher, Helen Pesavento, during a Thanksgiving project.
-- Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes
"LINCOLN . MERCURY
JASPER
482-1200
Another language
Margaret Schutte teaches sign language to Natalie Dressel, Jessica Hamilton, Christian
Oliver and Matt Conklin, fifth graders at Westside Catholic Consolidated Intermediate
School in Evansville.
Basketball play
continues
The following fifth and sixth
grade basketball results front
league play Dec. 3 at Holy
Rosary Church, Evansville,
were submitted by Steve
Schlachter.
St. Theresa Red 53,
Evansville Christian 25; St.
Benedict White 39, St. Theresa
White 18; Good Shepherd 52,
Holy Rosary Green 16; St.
Benedict Blue 45, Christ the
King 17; Holy Rosary White
38, Holy Spirit 15.
I
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