Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Congratulations, Sue Kirk, 2009 National Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award Winner.
A “Silly Bull” puppet, designed to teach first graders about syllables, is one of the many unique activities to win Moore teacher Sue Kirk an Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture award from the national Agriculture in the Classroom Program.
Agriculture in the Classroom is a program of the US Department of Agriculture. Kirk is one of five winners throughout the US to receive the award. Kirk was Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom teacher of the year in 2008.
“Kirk was selected because of her creativity and her strong commitment to connecting agricultural literacy to state and national teaching standards,” said Pat Thompson, of the OAITC staff.
The “Silly Bull” is not the only farm animal put to use in Mrs. Kirk’s classroom. Farm animal names serve as tools for teaching vowel and consonant sounds. Students learn the characteristics of adult and baby farm animals and then connect this learning to analyzing characteristics of upper and lower case letters. They learn that the sounds animals make are tools for communication similar to letters and words.
Kirk will receive a $500 cash award and $1,500 in travel expenses to the Agriculture in the Classroom National Conference in St. Louis, MO. The purpose of Agriculture in the Classroom is to help students understand the importance of agriculture in their daily lives. Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Additional information about the program is available on the website: http://www.agclassroom.org/ok.