Past projects 5
A Road to Reading and Writing
Funded Jul 26, 2023Thank you so much for funding this project. As a result of your generosity, my students will acquire reading and spelling rules in order to complete assignments. They will come to appreciate the power and pleasure of literacy, which will lead them down lifelong roads of learning and self-expression.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Friel
Literacy Tools
Funded Dec 10, 2019Despite the challenges of the pandemic, which initially shut down schools and has currently led to in-person, blended, and remote learning, my students, and those of my colleagues, are benefiting from your generosity. Luckily, the morphology cards came home with me in March, 2020 and are continuously being incorporated into speech-language therapy sessions. The result? My students are reading, understanding, and spelling more complex words. A fifth grader comes to speech excited to share the sentences and short stories he writes. He is reading some classroom assignments independently and is using the spelling program on his iPad less frequently. A seventh grader is recognizing when words he spells "don't look right; " he then uses the prefixes and suffixes we have been working with to correct his errors. The wipe-off board is being used by my colleagues to teach various speech and language skills and strategies.
It is because of you that students are continuing to thrive in these unprecedented times. Thank you for making this project come to life.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Friel
This classroom project was brought to life by Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation and 5 other donors.Readers Take Flight
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you for funding this project. The Recipe for Reading materials are an integral component of my speech and language intervention.
Within each speech and language therapy session, I teach and model decoding and encoding skills using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. I support each student with these skills as we practice together. My students then try it "on their own" with the Recipe for Reading Alphabet Series books and workbooks. Most days they ask, "Are we going to read a book today?" They practice and then read a book to one another. They discuss the stories, celebrate each other's successes, and diligently complete the reading, writing, and drawing activities in their workbooks.
My students are actively engaged in, and enthusiastic about, the process of becoming better readers and writers. Their successes are allowing them to take flight into the world of literacy and the wonders this world has to offer. Your kindness and support has made this possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Friel
Bridging the Gap
Funded Jul 21, 2017Thank you for your generous donations; they have helped build a bridge over which speech and language challenged students are crossing to become better speakers and writers. The rolling cart and wipe-off board are essential tools for my intervention. The rolling cart houses books and writing instruments that are utilized in each speech-language therapy session. I use the wipe-off board to highlight targeted skills and strategies. My students are now more engaged in retelling and narrative tasks because they write portions of these stories on the board, when given the necessary language scaffolds. In addition, my students eagerly volunteer to take a "job" caring for the materials, such as erasing the board or putting books and markers in the appropriate drawers in the rolling cart. This shared accountability adds to the sense of teamwork that I strive to foster within my students. Finally, please know that the impact of your donations has extended beyond the students on my caseload to those of my colleagues as well. My fellow speech-language therapists and I work in the same classroom. We utilize the rolling cart for individual and shared therapy materials and have, luckily, been given a "used" wipe-off board for our classroom. As a result, my colleagues have expanded their therapy practices. This is having a direct, positive effect on all students at PS/IS 127Q who receive speech-language therapy services.
Once again, thank you for your donations. It is because of your generosity and commitment to the needs of students with language and learning challenges that my colleagues and I are truly "bridging the gap" between oral and written expression skills.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Friel
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 7 other donors.The Magical Powers of a Favorite Book
Funded Jul 9, 2013The school year is well underway, and I am proud to report that my students are enthusiastically using "The Diary of A Wimpy Kid" in speech and language therapy sessions! Their faces lit up when I showed them the box that the books were delivered in; some of them couldn't believe that they had their own copy to read! Each student signed a "Book Borrowing Contract; " they agreed to bring their copy back and forth between home and speech class, to take care of the book, and to return it once we are finished reading it, so that other students can enjoy it!
We started our work by looking at the text structure and text features of "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid", as it differs from most of the fiction books that the students read. The boys noticed that the author chose a sequential structure, in the form of a journal (NOT a diary-Greg Heffley emphatically states that he is not writing in a diary!). We discussed unique features of the book, such as lined pages with handwriting, illustrations with speech bubbles, and paragraphs that are not indented. We compared and contrasted "formal" and "informal" language, discussed contexts in which we use each, and agreed that Greg uses informal language in his journal. As we continue reading the book, we will be making inferences about Greg's character traits and exploring how the author uses humor throughout the book.
All of this is possible because of your generosity. My students are demonstrating greater responsibility, enthusiasm, and engagement in speech and language therapy sessions since "The Diary of A Wimpy Kid" book was incorporated in our work. All this, and it is only November! The magical powers of a book are already manifesting themselves. I can only imagine the progress my students will make in terms of their ability to understand and discuss what they read. Thank you so very much for supporting this project.
Have a Happy Holiday season with family and friends.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Friel