The
Gorilla Foundation has been making presentations about
Project Koko at selected schools throughout its existence,
either locally by research staff members, or remotely
by volunteers and consultants.The following are some examples
of schools at which we have made recent presentations,
and/or developed a unique relationship. These selected
school presentations and relationships are helping us
to develop better online curriculum resources, in our
new Koko.org "Education" section (currently
under development). And the schools we're working with
have been fantastic!
In the near future, we plan to make the actual multimedia
presentations available on this website, so that teachers
everywhere can introduce "conservation through communication."
If you'd like to be notified when these online presentations
are available, please subscribe to KokoEducators by visiting
the Teachers page.
Featured Schools |
|
School |
Classroom
Experience |
California
School for the Deaf (CSD)
www.csdf.k12.ca.us
Location:
Fremont, CA
Grades:
K-12
Presented to::
3rd Grade
Faculty Contact:
Kathy Greene
GF Presenter:
Sandra Marchese |
 |
| GF
Research Associate, Sandra Marchese (right) interacts
with the class while interpreters translate to sign
language. |
The
Gorilla Foundation gave a multimedia Powerpoint presentation
entitled "We're All Great Apes"
to the third-grade students at CSD, on Jan. 17, 2004.
Under the guidance of teacher Kathy Greene,students raised
$500 in the Fall of 2003 to help Koko move to the new
Maui Ape Preserve! In January we came to their school
to thank them and treat them to a PowerPoint presentation
about Koko, Ndume and the Gorilla Foundation.
The presentation tells Koko’s story, and points
out the similarities (and differences) between gorillas
and humans. It uses video clips and graphics to demonstrate
Koko's use of language, love of kittens, emotional nature
and interactions with humans. There are also opportunities
for the students to guess and learn some of Koko's "invented"
signs, such as the composite sign, "eye hat"
to refer to a mask.
Students had lots of questions and were so full of enthusiasm
that they decided to put on a play of Koko’s favorite
story "The Three Little Kittens." On March 5
they performed and videotaped their ASL signed version
of the story and sent their production to us for Koko’s
viewing. It is our hope that we continue this terrific
relationship with The California School for the Deaf for
some time to come.
 |
|
Front Row (left to right):Students
Jacy Pedersen, Daniel Cease, Alexander Morales,
Brandie Duran and Johnny Morales. Middle
Row (left to right): Students Richard
Crespin, Leeza Williams, Christopher Mitchell,
Klaudia Cassidy, Andrea Aguilar, Carlos Lopez,
Jacinda Baldwin-Gomez, Cristal Duenas, Priscilla
Castaneda, Andrew Cho and Raven McCollough. Back
Row (left to right): Sylvia Wood (Teacher),
Gary Stanley (GF), Heather Sloan (aide), Sandra
Marchese (GF Presenter), Tracey Carroll and Kathy
Greene (Teachers). |
|
| School |
Classroom
Experience |
Hillside
Elementary School
Location:
Hastings-on-Hudson,
NY
Grades:
K-6
Presented to::
3rd Grades
GF Presenter:
Alison Carlson, Consultant |
 |
|
|
Alison
Carlson |
|
On
March 15, 2004, Gorilla Foundation consultant Alison Carlson
traveled from Northern California to Hastings-on-Hudson,
NY (Westchester County, north of NYC) to do two one-hour
presentations for the entire third grade at the Hillside
Elementary School, Alison's niece Erica Freed is a student.
(Erica was also Alison's AV assistant!).
Each hour, Alison presented the multi-media Powerpoint
presentation, "We are All Great Apes," to 3
separate classes of 20 students at one time. The talk
was attended by a district manager - and Hillside's principle
made a $200 donation to GF.
Alison's Report: "I wondered how it would work to
present to 60 students at a time - but it was wonderful
and worked just fine (GF's new Sony projector and powerpoint
presentation make it easy and worry free). The kids had
studied a bit about gorillas before their Fall 2003 trip
to the Bronx Zoo - so I found them eager and very engaged.
It was helpful to do these presentations, as they have
shown me more about what holds 8-9 year-old's attention.
I had a bit too much material to cover - so had to skip
through a couple of stories and slides. All the kids had
questions and comments for me.
| |
 |
|
|
Erica
Treed |
Overall, very intelligent questions, too. Each and every
student from those classes has written to Koko and really
wanted to connect with her. It strikes me that none of
the kids seemed amazed that Koko understands English and
uses sign language; it seems kids already assume that
humans and non-humans can find ways to communicate if
they want to.
They were more interested in things like what foods Koko
likes, what she thinks about, what movies Koko might like
them to send her...and why she is so fascinated with people's
glasses. They relate to Koko more as kid-to-kid than human-to-non-human."
According to Alison, the class really reacted to some
of the video content — especially Koko rolling around
on a large net (from the Nature video "A
Conversation with Koko") and Koko's encounter
with Robin Williams (from the DVD/VHS "Koko
& Friends").
| |
 |
|
|
|
Alison
presents "We Are All Great Apes" to
one of the Hillsdale 3rd-grade classes, while
her niece, Erica, sits at the audio-video table
assisting. On the screen is a photo of Penny Patterson
teach baby Koko to sign. |
Alison has become an expert school presenter for GF, and
will be helping us refine our Powerpoint presentations
in the months ahead. |
| |
|
|
