Past projects 8
Soccer Goals for Passionate Players
Funded May 20, 2018I'm going to have to take the students outside when I tell them about the new soccer goals because they will not be able to use their "inside voices" to express their joy! We will have so much more fun now at recess, and the kids will be safer playing now with the parameters that soccer goals will set. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
This classroom project was brought to life by Carnegie Corporation and 2 other donors.Crafting Kids' Cravings for Comics, Collections,and Catchy Concatenations
Funded May 13, 2018I am so grateful for your generosity! This project will support my summer school students, who will hopefully feel more excited about coming knowing they will have such great books to read. As Kofi Annan said, "Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope". Thank you for helping me take my students across the bridge!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
This classroom project was brought to life by Carnegie Corporation and 9 other donors.Hurricane Shmuricane! Bring on the Books!
Funded Jan 16, 2018It is so fantastic to see the students get excited about these books! With so much pressure to perform well on the upcoming STAAR test, I love assuring my students that if they simply yet ardently read for pleasure, they will have nothing to worry about. Several who did not pass the test in 3rd grade have already raised their practice scores with astonishing growth!
And those who already have the skills to pass are enjoying the enrichment having access to the Internet can provide. For example, with Earth Day coming up this week, these students are performing Readers' Theater with themed songs performed to tunes by The Beatles that they are learning from YouTube!
"All we are saying is give Green a chance! All we are saying is give Green a chance!" Now when was the last time you heard that on the radio?
All I am saying, is thank you for giving us a chance to keep moving forward despite the challenges we faced at the beginning of the year due to Harvey.
"We've got a ticket to read, we've got a ticket to read read read, we've got a ticket to read, and we are there!"”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
This classroom project was brought to life by The Rebuild Texas Fund and one other donor.Page Turning Participation and Pleasure
Funded Oct 23, 2016With your generous donations, we now have a Kindle that we use to read books on our document camera. As you can see from the pictures, they become captivated when listening and reading along during our lesson. Using my Amazon account for books allows us to obtain high interest books that can be shared on both my front of class Kindle and our student Kindles. For example, so many students wanted to continue reading from A Tale Dark and Grimm. While we only had time in our lessons for the first couple of chapters, that was enough to hook them and before long they had finished all three books from the series! Developing a love of literature is such an important skill, and when we have access to all kinds of books, we can make that happen.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
Kindle Fires for Ravenous Readers
Funded Feb 6, 2016I know most of you personally, and you are dear, true friends, colleagues and family members to me. The DonorsChoose.org community generously matched your contributions and made this entire experience possible in the first place. So you already know how deserving my students are of the very best education our country has to offer. Most of our students, being from immigrant families, are the link between the home country their parents left and the new opportunities promised by the "American Dream". And even if our kids are not first generation Americans, many are the experts in their families on the technology your donations provided.
And what exciting technology a tablet is! These Kindles have been handheld search engines, student Gmail conduits to keep communication lines open, cameras to capture our spontaneous moments, ebooks and audiobooks to provide instant access to high interest novels, and speed reading games to take in a bit of fun every now and then.
I have been especially happy to let the Kindles travel home when a student shyly but excitedly asks, "Can I borrow the Kindle so I can read at home?". With so many books to choose from, each student in my class who once claimed to not enjoy reading has discovered that they actually DO like reading, once they have found the RIGHT BOOK!
And that is the real reason I am a reading teacher. Thank you so much for supporting our dreams.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
7th Graders Deserve Reading/Writing Instant Gratification
Funded Dec 21, 2012You have truly made a difference for my students right when we needed you the most. The Google Chromebooks solved the major problem of re-gaining the students' interest in the class. The Language Arts/Reading teacher they'd been with since the beginning of the school year had a personal emergency and resigned during the winter holiday break.
Even though these 'tough' teenagers didn't overtly express it, this really bothered them. I took over as the new teacher for the class and even though they knew me as the support for Special Education, they didn't know what I was going to do to bring the class back to order. I assured them that the rest of the year would be successful and using the Chromebooks certainly backed up that promise.
They quickly and eagerly began engaging in lessons that revolved around using the Chromebooks and now send me emails daily proving that they are actually reading novels of their choice and reacting to them. An online "Book Club" discussion forum using the Drive holds students accountable for expressing themselves thoughtfully and respectfully. Online multiple choice quizzes give them instant feedback and prompts them to return to the text of their books to re-take for a higher score. The amazing website freerice.com teaches them vocabulary words and philanthropy at the same time. Our research project is made so much easier using the Chromebooks and they can't wait to go on their end-of-the year field trips after learning what all awaits them at the museums we are planning to visit.
My own educational mentor Daisaku Ikeda says, "Education must inspire the faith that each of us has both the power and the responsibility to effect positive change on a global scale." Each of you are truly people who have taken great responsibility to make these changes through your generosity. I hope you will all be very happy knowing that many young people had an excellent learning experience because of your actions, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
Turn Grudging Readers to Grateful Readers
Funded Nov 17, 2012Thank you so much for the generous gift of fascinating books for my students! They have been telling me, "Miss! This is the first time I ever finished a whole book!" and that makes me so happy because I want them all to discover reading is pleasurable.
You see that some of them are wearing headphones because, with another donation, I got the classroom a set of Mp3 players so they can listen to their book while they read along. This helps so much with anyone who may be learning English as a second language, or who has a learning disability.
I truly feel grateful for your gift, because my students are happier, more productive, and learning more as a result.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana
A Book All the Students Are Begging Me For!
Funded Apr 17, 2012Happy start of the new school year! We are refreshed after the summer and have been getting back into the rhythm of teaching and learning.
Thank you all so much for your generous donations that bought every now-7th grade student their own copy of Brothers In Arms. We distributed them right before their 6th grade year was over. My former student who originally introduced me to these books addressed all of the students in a speech that endorsed the value of reading good books that move you.
She herself has re-entered a special high school for drop-out students and has been successfully attending since the start of the new school year as well. Our continued contact gives my current students a real life protagonist to cheer for and the books keep them highly engaged in developing and practicing their literacy skills.
Your gift really put an enjoyable, popular book on deserving kids' shelves! Here's to many more to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Santellana