P.A.W.S. For Success

Purpose: With the increased demands accompanied with economic strains on the family unit, it is imperative that schools partner with parents to facilitate the social learning process. Given the demonstrated relationship between social skills and their influence on academic achievement, our broadcasts will reach and benefit our entire school.

Goals: Students will use reading, writing, and drama skills to create skits exhibiting desired social behaviors within school and life. Students will also gain technology skills as they video, use I-Movie software, and edit their own productions to air on our school-wide morning show.

Procedure: Each month of the school calendar, second grade students will focus on one of the P.A.W.S. (Pledge to do your best, Accept responsibility, Work together, Show respect) expectations. Areas of focus may include: motivation, developing a problem-solving attitude, setting goals for yourself, becoming responsible for your learning, being truthful, having integrity, taking pride in yourself, accepting differences, and working through disputes with peers. Students will use creative writing to design weekly skits, showing what the expected procedure looks like. Providing these concrete examples for students will insure they have been given the tools necessary for successful implementation. Through this consistent reinforcement of desired social behaviors, students will begin carrying over these within their daily lives. Students will take on leadership roles as they begin to see themselves as experts in training. Students must see themselves as the leaders they wish to become and therefore set the highest example for other students within our school.
In addition, students will become a part of a production team where they will learn to record, edit, and air their own productions over our school-wide morning show. A peer team of upper grade students will be appointed to assist the second graders as they train in the new technology. This project-based learning will become engaging and remain exciting as we accomplish multiple goals within each task completed. These videos will also be available to individual classrooms to use as a reteaching tool or to extend lessons. Although this will initially be a year-long project, we anticipate its popularity to be great and will continue indefinitely.