1. Create an Enjoyable Experience in an Elementary Cafeteria
Will music help lessen the noise?
Kara?
by Kara Collins, Karen Gobble, and Loretta Mabry

2. A Day in an Elementary Cafeteria!
Kara?

3. Music Classical Enya Nature Sounds
Kara? Volume level of music was at 50 according to computer.

4. How loud is this?
A normal conversation at 3 feet between two individuals is about 60dB
City traffic inside a car is about 85 dB
A lawnmower is about 107 dB
A loud rock concert is about 120 dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss is dB.
According to OSHA you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hours per day.
KP?

5. School #1 Pocahontas Elementary School
School #1-POCES
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Baseline Data 84 82 86 81 80
Week 1
Classical 85 88 83
Week 2
Enya 76
Week 3
Nature Sounds 89 KP

6. School #2 Powhatan Elementary School
School #2-POWES
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Baseline Data 86 84 85 83
Week 1
Classical 82
Week 2
Enya 81
Week 3
Nature Sounds
Loretta

7. School #3 O.B. Gates Elementary
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Baseline Data 98
102 97
100
Week 1
Classical 92 94 93 95
Week 2
Enya 90 91 89 87
Week 3
Nature Sounds 88
Kara

8. Alternatives Red, yellow, green cups on the table as a visual
Voice level cards blown up and displayed on the walls- with explicit instruction on PBIS voice levels (school-wide)
Lights off
Students on silent lunch for the first ten minutes of lunch to eat and the remaining time students can talk quietly with each other at their table.
Movie played during lunch.
Students are given a box filled with paper and pencils to play games or draw with each other during lunch...this has been very effective in reducing the noise levels and increasing positive interaction between students.
Hand signal, level 0, wait for all students to get silent, explain expectations again, reinforce level 2
Students bring a book to lunch and read when done eating (problem is that teachers don’t want the book to get dirty)
Play music a little louder, still did not make enough of an impact, students were slightly lower level talking, but not much.
Student feedback (Fifth grade students said that they talked over the music because it was not music they did not want to listen to.)
KP and Kara ?- currently POWES doesn’t have a ton of alternatives although I’m going to suggest these to our administration

9. Loretta?

10. Pocahontas Elementary
Pocahontas Elementary cafeteria layout includes:
37 round tables where 8 students sit
2 rectangle tables for overflow
Tables are arranged in 5 rows.
Each teacher has an assigned table for students to sit.
There are two serving lines in the cafeteria. KP

11. Powhatan Elementary
Powhatan Elementary School cafeteria layout includes:
6 rows of 6 tables each (an individual table seats 8)
Each teacher is assigned a table for his/her class.
There are 2 cafeteria lines that serve students their food.

12. O.B. Gates Elementary
O. B. Gates Elementary School cafeteria layout includes: 2 column with 10 rows of rectangular tables that seat 24 students per table, 1 column with 10 rows of rectangular tables that seat 12 students per table. Each grade level has an assigned section, and each teacher has an assigned table. Classes that have more than 24 students have overflow students seated at an adjacent table to their class. There are 2 cafeteria lines that serve all students. One line faces the entrance to the cafeteria and the other is in a hallway just outside the cafeteria.
Kara

13. Next Steps
Research the possibility of noise absorbing material for the cafeteria walls.
5th grade students are creating a school friendly play list that will be tried in January when the students return from the holiday break.
Songs requested must be listed by title and artist.
All songs will be approved by administration.
Rearranging the tables is not an option in any building due to space and number of students eating.
Schedules cannot be altered due to the high volume of students and county restrictions of serving times.
Golden Spork Award/Recognition (5 minutes of extra recess for the quietest class)
Amp up PBIS incentives (meet with instructional staff that supervise lunches)
All 3 of us - I would suggest, since there are 6 bullets that we each take two? Kara do you want to take the one about 5th graders and the Golden Spork since those are yours? KP, you suggested the noise absorbing material so that can be yours and, maybe the one about schedules cannot be altered? I can take remaining two? Other suggestions?