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Excellence in Education Awards Silvia Castaneda, Catherine Emrani, Rochelle Lapides, Olivia Ledezma de Robles Haddon Avenue Elementary School 10115 Haddon Avenue, Pacoima Lorraine Mason, Principal A LEARN School San Fernando Cluster - Maria Reza - Cluster Administrator RESULTS: After 135 days of school, 89% of the teaching team's kindergarten students correctly answered 70% or more of the items on a five-page test covering phonics, letter recognition, counting, number recognition, critical thinking and reading. Students are writing sentences using punctuation. They also demonstrated substantial gains on the Kindergarten Checklist given at the beginning of the school year in their primary language and again in January 1999 in English only. Four kindergarten teachers work in a collaborative team in which two relatively new teachers are paired with experienced colleagues.The team organizes subject matter to make it into a comprehensive whole. At all team planning sessions teachers work to interrelate ideas and information within and across subject content. The team uses a variety of instructional strategies in order to reach each child. During "Discovery Time" each student chooses one of six learning activities and teachers move about the room providing assistance or coaching. The activities relate thematically to what students are studying in literature, art, phonics, social studies, math and science. At the end of the period students share their work with the class, providing teachers and students with an opportunity to encourage, praise, motivate and assess progress. Over a two-day period, the class works on assignments together with five students in a group.Two groups work with a teacher, one with a paraprofessional and one a tutor or independently. One group may work on math while another is tackling social studies. Students go from one activity to the next and the activities are linked through a topic or theme. Every moment of the day is used as a learning experience. Even passing out snacks becomes a language learning opportunity or a math lesson.