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Posted: Thursday, 12 March 2009 10:19AM
Scrabble Scores Add Up to Real Learning
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OAKLAND (CBS 5) ― A chattering classroom full of Lakeville Elementary students is hunched over Scrabble boards. It may seem like just a game. But fun is not the only reason their teacher Charlotte Bremond has been holding after-school Scrabble classes for eighteen years.
"It increases their vocabulary, makes their math skills sharper," Charlotte explains. "It also gives them good strategies for creating words."
Charlotte says her father, also a teacher, encouraged her and her eight brothers and sisters to play when they were growing up.
"Scrabble was one word game we could always play because it was an educational game, so we played Scrabble a lot at my house!"
In her twenty-two years as an elementary school teacher with the Oakland School District, Charlotte estimates she's introduced over three thousand students to Scrabble. Eight years ago, she organized the first regional tournament for students, and for the last five years, she's been raising money so she can take the very best players to compete nationally.
"In the nationals, two hundred children come together from all over the country and they play for two days - just Scrabble," she says with a hint of her own childlike wonder. "It's a beautiful sight, it's fabulous."
And it's a site she's worked hard to diversify.
"I think a lot of African American children believe that their skills or talents lie in playing ball, so I go out of my way to recruit children of color who can come and play the game and do a good job," Charlotte says.
Mother Tamika Landry says Scrabble has helped her daughter with schoolwork.
"Since Cinaka joined the program, I've seen her test scores improve, I've seen her self-confidence improve, and her ability to learn different things has really shot through the ceiling," Tamika says proudly.
Fourth-grader Cinaka adds, "I think it's fun and cool, and I hope I go to the nationals!"
That enthusiasm is the prize for Charlotte.
"The greatest joy for me is to see a second-grader, whose spelling abilities are limited, for them to realize they put down a word, and you know, thirty points! They are just beside themselves!"
So for putting the fun into learning this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Charlotte Bremond.
By Kate Kelly
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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