Beth DeRuyter at Oscar Howe Elementary will receive $2,172.40 for her proposal, “Working on Word Work.”

Beth will purchase materials that will be used by 115 students in all five kindergarten classes, and the supplies include magnetic letters, word, spelling, and alphabet puzzles, reading blocks, alphabet cones, sight word magnets, linking letter monkeys, alphabet rockets, and letter and word puzzle cards. In the application, Beth wrote, “Word Work activities need to change often as there are different expectations for different ability groups. While one group of children needs to focus on letter and sound identification, another group might need to work on sight words. One week, students might be expected to form consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words using magnetic letters or matching puzzle pieces with corresponding letters and pictures. The next week, students may be forming sight words using foam pattern blocks. We rotate the activities to encourage student engagement and to meet the evolving needs of each group. The activity might also change depending on a new skill being taught, such as long vowel sounds, beginning and ending sounds, or rhyming words. Keeping students engaged for the entire Word Work period is essential to the success of our Being a Reader period and to their growth as beginning readers.”