SE Illinois News

North Wayne Community Unit School District 200 issued the following announcement on Sept. 26.

Students peeking in the windows of Lincoln School’s 4th grade classrooms were shrieking with delight and curiosity on Friday, as their teachers put the last touches on their transformed classrooms. This day would feature an enthralling medical focus, and all three classrooms had metamorphosed into….hospital operating rooms!

Taking “college and career ready” to a whole new level, 4th grade Chiefs of Surgery Mrs. Tonya Saporito, Mrs. Cynthia Heilingoetter, Mrs. Joanna Wsol and Ms. Lynda Gilgenbach (EL) raised the bar to introduce to each of their students the possibility of becoming a doctor.

Complete with surgical masks and scrubs, sterilized hair nets, and stethoscopes, the teachers welcomed their “student surgeons,” into a multidisciplinary day of “medical-themed” experiences in every subject area. Like eager, young medical residents at a hospital, these 75 lucky students were met where they were at academically, and provided with a plethora of project-based learning to help emphasize each child’s area of strength and boost academic proficiency, while aligning with the D200 curriculum!

So what does this look like to different subject areas? For Math, each child was given an outline of a human body, with math equations inside it, which they completed, as a “diagnosis of addition.” From a separate page, the children extracted the bandaid with the correct answer, and glued it inside the body on the problem which revealed the same answer. Next, the students were given math task cards with real-life medical math problems (“A delivery of 800 band aids were dispensed…, 132 stitches were administered to a patient…., two IV units were managed by a doctor for every two patients…18 bouquets of flowers were delivered to sick patients…the insurance billing department charged the patient $12,321 for each….etc.)

Three compelling rounds of instruction were delivered during Social Studies/Science, which was launched by the head surgeons sharing four links on medicine during the Revolutionary War, and dividing the surgeons into four research and report groups sent “out into the field.” Topics commonly associated with the Revolutionary War era, such as Smallpox, Typhus, Women in the Revolutionary War, and Medicine During the Civil War were investigated, analyzed, and presented on in various “seminars,” ranging from a poster with facts and illustrations, to riveting -and at times, startlingspeeches!

Reading featured a doctor’s checklist to assist students in diagnosing the patient by finding the correct text feature, then providing post-op reports. Grammar, punctuation, analogies, synonyms and antonyms, and parts of speech were glued onto the patients needing “treatment.”

So what does creating and delivering a “classroom transformation” look like, for teachers who might be inspired? Fourth grade teacher Tonya Saporito had the “Hospital Day” epiphany while reading a teaching blog last year; over the summer, she dove into the Hospital theme. In a heartbeat, her three colleagues were on board, scouring dollar stores and medical companies for props to bring this idea alive. One teacher created the math center, one did writing/research, and another provided the tie-in to the Revolutionary War. “This is what teaching is all about-” stated Ms. Saporito,” giving the children experiences!”

“The Hospital Day and the transformation of my classroom into surgical units provided a level of engagement unlike any other experience,” stated Mrs. Heilingoetter, who oversaw the quality of her students’ surgical procedures and adherence to the code of conduct, adding, “I saw my students as risk-takers, engaged learners, and confident experts in their skills across disciplines!”

But, what did the students have to say? “I got there late that day, and I saw everyone with gloves and masks and a hospital name tag clipped onto their shirts. Everyone looked at me smiling and said, ‘Hello, Dr. Foley!’ I knew it was going to be a fun day! I have the most creative teacher of all time!” beamed 4th grade student Jameson.

“The most exciting part of my Hospital Day was when we got to study Typhus using computers. In our presentation we made a sick body named ‘Bob.’ I was real, real proud of learning college stuff and earning a college degree in fixing bodies! I will probably be a doctor when I grow up,” exclaimed Brycen.

“When I first walked in to my classroom, it looked so much like a real hospital that I thought we were going to have to ‘fix’ a real person!” said Tori, adding, “The best part was putting bandaids on the math problems! Can you believe Mrs. Saporito is doing this for us for the whole year?! The theme of the next (transformational classroom) day is a secret-but I can’t wait!”

It is true; none of Lincoln’s fourth grade teachers are leaking a word, but we all know it’s going to be a learning experience the lucky students will neverforget…and isn’t that really what exceptional teaching is all about?

Original source can be found here.

Source: North Wayne Community Unit School District 200