MT. COMFORT — In preparation for Super Bowl Sunday, fourth grade students at Mt. Comfort Elementary teamed up to conquer a day of Super Bowl Learning on the Friday before the big game.
Divided into six NFL teams — Colts, Packers, Lions, Eagles, 49ers and Chiefs — students were drafted for their teams on Wednesday in preparation for the big day, which also allowed them to dress in their team colors. While many dressed in their team colors, others wore football eye black, and one student even made her own jersey for the day.
Ashley Schenck’s class completed six rounds of activities to help students practice their skills and prepare for the big game on Sunday, skills that included reading comprehension, multiplication and more.
Those activities included the Kickoff, which was reading comprehension on how to become a Super Bowl Host City; Blitz, which dealt with equivalent fractions with a color-by-problem worksheet; Quarterback Sneak, which had reading comprehension dealing with this year’s Super Bowl; Halftime had students reviewing multi-digit multiplication with foam finger; Fumble dealt with opinion writing where students had to write about a food item and come up with a Super Bowl commercial; and finally the End Zone, where students had to graph to see which city has hosted the most in the AFC and NFC divisions.
Schenck said that for the activities, the students don’t necessarily learn any new skills, but it allows them to practice and review what they have been taught so far, such as mastery over multi-digit multiplication and equivalent fractions — a skill learned just a few weeks ago.
“It’s just a review of skills and it makes the review more engaging and more fun because, well, it’s a competition,” Schenck said. “That inspires them to work a little bit harder.”
Each activity completed earns the team points, but they can also lose points for things such as unfair or unkind sportsmanship.
The prize for winning? Their own version of the Lombardi trophy — this one being approximately four inches tall — and winning rights, of course.
Schenck has been participating in Super Bowl of Learning for three years, since she had been teaching fourth grade. Before teaching fourth grade, Schenck taught fifth grade for 15 years.
Schenck said that while the students know when they do the day of Super Bowl Learning, coming into the classroom that morning is still a surprise and she loves to see the expressions on their face when they enter.
Schenck said that parents play an important role in the day as well, donating decorations and supplies to create goodie bags for the students to enjoy.
“Watching their faces light up as they walk in the room and seeing the classroom transform into a fun space,” Schenck said. “They’re just psyched about learning and that’s what’s exciting — to see them excited to learn.”
Schenck also mentioned that the students may be just a little annoyed with her for this year’s Super Bowl because she is, “Go Taylor’s Boyfriend.” Schenck said that while she is more a Taylor Swift fan, she’ll be supporting the Chiefs at the Super Bowl and that’s what inspired her to create decorative banners, such as one in the hall that said “Swiftie Bowl.”
Overall with the decorations and the day’s activities, Schenck said that making learning fun is what makes her job fun.
“It makes it not quite a job, but just coming to work and doing what I love,” Schenck said.
