Brandi Leggett

"Organism Mania" is the winning cross-curricular organism program developed by Leggett. It proposes a hands-on solution to increase science and writing in schools. The program is designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of living organisms within their ecosystems and various habitats and to promote higher-order thinking through inquiry. Third-grade students in Leggett's classes will select and become an expert on their chosen living organism through research and observation. They will then create their own investigations, make inferences, compare and contrast, synthesize, draw conclusions, and summarize. In addition, students will write descriptive pieces and incorporate monologues written from the view point of their living organism. They will track their data using charts and graphs. Instead of using the typical paper/pencil summary, students will present their findings through digital storytelling and podcasts. Leggett, who lives in Olathe, hopes that her program will help students become risk takers as they make discoveries about living organisms, gain hands-on understanding of trial-and-error and cause-and-effect relationships, and be transformed into scientists.