City students learn through chess
By Steve Giegerich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/01/2008
St. Louis — Third-grader Patrick Schmucke has been putting the moves on his Dewey International Studies classmates all year. He’s far from alone.
Kyla Williams and Calvin Schaeffer have been doing the same. So, for that matter, has everyone else in teacher Emily Gobles’ class. Which suits Calvin just fine.
“It’s like you are the king and you’re in control of everything,” he said.
But the benchmarks used by the St. Louis Public Schools to measure learning indicate that Gobles’ class has made significant strides in math since the district integrated the America’s Foundation for Chess “First Move” program into its lesson plan this year.
The percentage of students proficient in math in Gobles’ classroom has jumped to 65 percent, up from 56 percent in October. Another third-grade class at Dewey has made similar gains.
Aware of the correlation between analytical thinking and chess, Dewey Principal Ann Russek anticipated the increase in math scores.
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