Students show what they know

Each month, third-graders at Spring Hill Elementary put on a show for their families that demonstrates what they are learning.

By JOY DAVIS-PLATT

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000

SPRING HILL -- Rachel Yungmann has come up with a way to involve parents in the studies of her third-grade students. Each month, her kids show what they know.

The Spring Hill Elementary School teacher said that since she started "Show What You Know Night" at the beginning of the school year, she has seen her students come alive.

"I haven't had any discipline problems since we started doing this," said Yungmann, who invites parents and other family members to see a half-hour production integrating lessons children have learned in the classroom.

The theme of a recent show was apples. The children sang songs about verbs, prepositions and geometric angles. The show also included a skit, "Mrs. Toodle Bakes a Pie."

A bit nervous before the big show, Lindsey Lacich, 8, prepared for her role as Mrs. Toodle.

Mrs. Toodle "asks her children to help her, but they just want to keep watching TV," said Lindsey. "And so they miss out on all the fun."

Ashley Resto, 8, played Tonya, one of Mrs. Toodle's lazy daughters. But unlike her character, Ashley was more than happy to help bake apple pies in class.

"I put in the sugar and shook it up with the apples," she said, smiling proudly next to a table full of snacks, including apple chips, pie and cider.

There was standing room only in the classroom, but Yungmann has resisted moving the show to the school's much larger cafeteria.

"I want to have the shows here in the classroom where the kids are comfortable. I don't want it too stuffy," she said. "I'm hoping for a family room atmosphere."

Yungmann said she dreamed up the idea for Show What You Know one night during the summer as a way to get parents involved with their children's studies.

"My classroom works on a reward system," said Yungmann. "And this is something the kids really get excited about."

Each day that they behave and do well, children in the class receive a Yungmann dollar. On Fridays, they can buy special rewards, such as visiting another class, sitting with a friend or having a drink in class.

"The rewards are all things that motivate the children but don't cost any money," said Yungmann, who has been a teacher for four years.

Yungmann's mother, Micheline Peyton, watched the show from the back of the room. She is not surprised at her daughter's creative approach to teaching, she said.

"She has always wanted to be a teacher," said Peyton. "When she was 3, we built her a playhouse so she could have school for her dolls."

Melissa Judd came to see her 8-year-old son, Brody, perform as another of Mrs. Toodle's children. Because of Yungmann's efforts to include parents in the learning process, Judd said, she feels as if she knows much more about Brody's education.

"I feel like there's a lot more communication than I've been used to in the past," Judd said. "He comes home and sings verb songs to me. I love it."

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