Past projects 6
Complex Texts for Middle School Students
Funded Oct 3, 2024Thank you so much for your contribution to our grade 6 and grade 8 classrooms. With your donation, you have single-handedly provided important resources to support the work and launch of our new curriculum, EL.
These new beautiful books provide students the opportunity to access grade-level texts. Students read in pairs, small groups, and independently, devouring the pages of these books. In education, essential resources can sometime be challenging to obtain, but with an incredible community of generous supporters, like yourself, we are able to continue to close the opportunity gap for students in our schools.
Thank you for providing opportunities for our students to grapple with high-quality complex texts.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 9 other donors.Giving "The Giver"!
Funded Aug 24, 2021We are so grateful for the 60 copies of "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. We have been reading this text for about two weeks and have paired it with additional text sets on bias, community, privilege, and family. Students have made so much progress in the areas of Accountable Talk, reading comprehension, and text dependent writing.
Students have made strides in defending their own written claims with specific text evidence. We are working on essay revision and improving analysis to support our claims, to ensure that argumentative pieces are thoughtful and impactful.
This text has changed the way many students approach reading. "The Giver" promotes community, fosters empathy, and embarks on a conversation that the young people of America need to be having: What do you want to become? Your donation has opened the door to reading for many of my students, and for that, I am forever grateful.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 4 other donors.Slammin' Supplies for Family Literacy Night
Funded Oct 24, 2019Thank you so much for funding the supplies needed for our Andover Bread Loaf Literacy night! Students brought their families, and together shared a meal and created some beautiful works of prose. It was so wonderful to see parents and students, especially middle school student, write and share works with one another. The supplies you provided made the process of writing happen and everyone left with a notebook to continue their own writing practice. We laughed, empathized, and celebrated with each other, bridging the world of student writing with real world experiences.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and one other donor.New Books for the New Year!
Funded Dec 25, 2018Thank you so much for your contribution to the Emily G. Wetherbee School. We began our journey implementing Readers' Workshop in the middle school approximately four years ago. Since then, our students have developed a love and a passion for reading. Each classroom in the middle school has a library of texts, which were purchased by the school. As the years have gone by, students have devoured these texts, and updating our libraries is constant reality and joy.
One of my main goals is to bring more relevant and diverse texts into classrooms. With your support, students are now able to enjoy newly published texts that no only represent their lives, but also peak their interests. At the Wetherbee we believe that life is too short to read a book you don't like. With your help, we have been able to bring more reading options to the lives of our students.
At the end of every school day, students have an opportunity to read a "Just Right Book" during their Readers' Workshop block, for at least 30 minutes. The joy of reading and reading stamina has increased dramatically. It is not uncommon to see students outside of Readers' Workshop with their Just Right Books in hand.
Your support has provided an opportunity for students at all reading levels to have additional access to texts: from graphic novels, to fantasy, to realistic fiction. We cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
Supplies for Our Classroom
Funded Mar 22, 2018Thank you so much for supporting our classroom. In a world riddled with technology, reading can often take a backseat for middle school students, which is an issue I try to tackle daily. My goal is to help every young person find their favorite book. Your support has provided more texts to add to our library, and book bins to help further organize our books by genre.
One of my goals as an 8th grade English teacher is to always have current, relevant, and diverse texts easily accessible for my students. These newly purchased texts will be read during our Readers' Workshop block, which promotes the idea of finding a Just Right Book and spending about 30 minutes a day reading "like a real reader." While students read, I often conference with them, one-on-one, about theme, conflict, plot, characterization, and vocabulary.
I cannot thank you enough for the support you've provided to further build and organize our library!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
80 Copies: "The Hate U Give"
Funded Jul 16, 2017We are so grateful for the 80 copies of "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. We have been reading this text for about three weeks and have paired it with additional text sets on bias, police brutality, racism, and different arguments surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. Students have made so much progress in the areas of Accountable Talk and reading comprehension.
In addition to improvements with Accountable Talk, students have made strides in defending their own written claims with specific text evidence. Most of the written tasks have been in response to social issues in our world and Starr's, the protagonist in "The Hate U Give". We are working on essay revision and improving analysis to support our claims.
Students are begging to read this book, which is a beautiful thing, as many of my students are considered reluctant readers. Students read "The Hate U Give" independently, in pairs, and sometimes I will even read to the whole class. Read aloud time is often considered a tool used in younger grades, but the benefits of all experiencing the same story together is something my students enjoy, and something I will never take for granted.
Students are so excited to be reading a text that reflects their world, fears, background, and community. As students get older, the literary cannon often white washes curriculum, making it difficult for 8th graders in the community to relate, or even care. It's a wonderful experience when the same themes, ideas, and standards can be taught in tandem with a text that students care about.
This text has changed the way many students approach reading. "The Hate U Give" promotes community, fosters empathy, and embarks on a conversation that the young people of America need to be having. Your donation has opened the door to reading for many of my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berkman
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 10 other donors.