A father and school superintendent from North Dakota uses WWE trading cards to help his kindergartener learn:
I read your story of a teacher that was using the WWE in their classroom, and I thought I would explain my situation with you, too.
I have two children (ages 5 and 8) and we all enjoy watching the weekly WWE shows and following all the Superstars.
My son is in Kindergarten this year. He collects the action figures and has started to collect the trading cards. He enjoys playing with the figures and really likes looking at the cards.
My son has a slight speech problem. He has a hard time with the "r" sound. His speech teacher has been working all year with him on the correct "r" sounds in words. One day, his speech teacher came to me and said they he is making good progress, but she was looking for something that he really liked that she could bring into the class that would help him with his "r" sounds.
I mentioned that he collects the WWE trading cards and that maybe he should bring them in and go over them with her. I explained to her that there are many wrestlers with the "r" sound in their name. She thought that would be a great idea.
The next week, I sent him to school with his three ring binder with his WWE cards. After the first day with his cards, the speech teacher came to my office and said how much fun they had looking at the cards and all the while working with the "r" sounds. When I got home I asked my son how his speech class was. He told me that "we were too busy looking at my cards, that we didn't have time to do speech!" I started to laugh as I knew that they had spent about a half hour going over the cards.
They still use the cards in class, and his use of the "r" sound has improved greatly! Because of his hard work and dedication, we are all going to the WWE show in Fargo, N.D. Needless to say, he is very excited (so am I) and I'm sure he'll be cheering on all his favorite "r" Superstars!
Thank you to WWE!
Kevin Baumgarn
Superintendent
Starkweather Public School, Munich Public School
A Boston-based teacher uses WWEShop.com in his elementary school math lessons:
As a lifelong fan and current elementary school teacher, I am always looking for ways to incorporate WWE into my daily lessons. Our subscription to WWE Kids magazine is very popular and not easy to keep on the shelves. Every once and awhile, I'll spot a student sneaking a peek during a math lesson.
Speaking of math, last week our whole class went on a "shopping trip" to WWEShop.com. The lesson was on adding money. The students were asked to browse around and choose two items they would like to "buy." Once they made their choices, they added up the prices, found the total, and shared their purchases with the class. I have to say, Zack Ryder's merchandise was very popular.
I have plans to continue using WWE as a teaching tool in my classroom. Our next math unit is on measuring and I plan to teach a lesson on comparing the height of several superstars. Big Show vs. Hornswoggle shouldn't be too difficult.
Jeff Chruniak
Boston, MA
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