Fashion by Webster’s
By Glinda
I’m not a big fan of logos or writing on my clothing. I think I am paying enough already without giving them some free advertising on my body. And really, since I try to avoid the paparazzi these days, nobody sees it anyway.
But finally, some writing on clothing that I can get behind.
From the Los Angeles Times comes the story of a man with a vision. A man who thought, why not expose children to words and their definitions while they are at PE? Which is perfect, because as we all know, there’s nowhere to hide during PE.
At a middle school in which most children are disadvantaged when it comes to exposure to vocabulary words often found in standardized testing, 26 year old UCLA undergrad Michael Bailey thought he could help. Using the principal of “cognitive metaphor theory” which is just a way of saying that our minds try to place unfamiliar things with things that are familiar, he decided PE shirts would be the way to go.
So far, it seems to be working at improving the student’s language skills, and every little bit helps.
Now just think how smart we would all be if everyone walked around with words and their definitions on our backs!
I’ve got dibs on “superfantastic.”
(Looking for the TeenyManolo Sweepstakes? Go here)
November 28th, 2007 at 11:43 am
That’s pretty cool and the fact that his idea is getting positive results is “superfantastic”.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
This is the best justification for gym class I’ve heard! As a formerly-bilingual Canuck, I can tell you that the only French words I remember are those on the back of the cereal boxes of my childhood. Gym is easily as stressful as breakfast, and as often undertaken in a sort of daze. Freud would approve.