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Oakcliff Elementary

Dekalb County Schools

Chess Club

Oakcliff Elementary Theme School Chess Club

 
Sponsor: Mrs. Karvis, Co-sponsor: Ms. Miller
 

Club Meets: Tuesday from 2:30 to 3:30

Chess Club Meeting Dates: 
9/6, 9/20, 10/4, 10/18, 11/1, 11/15, 11/29, 12/13, 1/10, 1/24, Announcements for District Tournaments, 2/7, 2/21, 3/7, 3/21, 4/18, 5/1 Last Day Celebration 
 

Wendi Fischer of John Hopkins has this to say about playing chess:

It's not about Kings, Queens, and Rooks, but rather, quadrants and coordinates, thinking strategically and foreseeing consequences. It's about lines and angles, weighing options and making decisions. Chess might just be the perfect teaching and learning tool. The game of chess increases higher level thinking skills, advance math and reading skills, and builds self-confidence.

Research shows, there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement. Students who received chess instruction scored significantly higher on all measures of academic achievement, including math, spatial analysis, and non-verbal reasoning ability. Wendi Fischer is the Scholastic Director of America's Foundation for Chess, a non-profit organization formed in 2000, dedicated to bringing chess into the schools so that all children can have the benefits of its lessons. [read more]

Reference: Smith, J. P. and Cage, B. N. (2000). The effects of chess instruction on the mathematics achievements of southern, rural, black secondary students. Research in the Schools, 7, 19-26.

About the author: Wendi Fischer is the Scholastic Director of America's Foundation for Chess, a non-profit organization formed in 2000, dedicated to bringing chess into the schools so that all children can have the benefits of its lessons. Wendi becomes "Lady Wendolyn" in the DVD lessons that accompany the First Move chess program produced by the Foundation. Email: [email protected]  ©July 2006

 

And we here at Oakcliff Agree.

 
 
 
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Just in case you needed more research on why chess helps make kids smarter...

More reasons to play chess in elementary schools: Scholastic chess clubs: 10 reasons why


How does chess relate to STEM? Educators have long noted the links between the reasoning skills involved in chess and those needed for STEM-related areas. These include logical thinking, pattern recognition, analysis and synthesis, strategic planning, and problem solving." STEM+ Academy, NY.  
 
Scholastic Chess: A Gateway to STEM Education by Michael Thomas, March 6, 2014 "The first-time kindergartners walked out of the tournament ... now tournament chess players. As chess players, they also are more likely to succeed in ... STEM education. Scholastic chess helps improve concentration, develops logical and critical thinking, promotes creative problem solving and rewards hard work. These skills are invaluable to STEM education and the economy of the future. SAS Sr. VP of R&D Armistead Sapp agrees: "I learned to play chess in 3th grade, and from my love of chess I found Martin Gardner in Scientific American. His Mathematical Games column led me to BASIC programming in the 6th grade and to a Bell Labs Computer Club in Greensboro where they had computers that ran BASIC and C. Chess was a gateway to STEM for me. We need more of that."" [read more]
 
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District Chess Tournament May 13, 2017

Video Tutorials

9 minute how to

Chess Opening Principls (Video) 

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