Past projects 3
Learning About Empathy and Human Rights
Funded Feb 2, 2021Being able to provide my students with books last year during full distance learning was such a gift! Giving the students something that wasn't on the screen, but something they could hold in their hands, write in, and keep to read again and again meant a lot to our community. Esperanza Rising has themes of resilience, facing adversity, and thriving against all odds. It's a message that means so much more as we are still living in a pandemic and facing so much challenge as a world community.
Reading in the classroom last year and this year look different than in the past. Last year, being totally virtual we provided many resources for the kids to be able to access and comprehend the book. Even though we are back in person this year, we are still more limited in our activities due to trying to keep the kids socially distanced and we are wearing masks. Reading in small groups will look very different, but we can still read the books in class and at home, and participate in comprehension learning activities - even do group discussion and work.
Both Wonder and Esperanza Rising are so popular with all my students. They love the characters and learn a lot from the themes of these novels. I appreciate all your generosity so much, that we are able to provide these books last year AND this year to our students in a pandemic. Thank you so, so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Newstrom
Teaching Empathy and Human Rights for Years to Come!
Funded Feb 4, 2021Being able to provide my students with books last year during full distance learning was such a gift! Giving the students something that wasn't on the screen, but something they could hold in their hands, write in, and keep to read again and again meant a lot to our community. Esperanza Rising has themes of resilience, facing adversity, and thriving against all odds. It's a message that means so much more as we are still living in a pandemic and facing so much challenge as a world community.
Reading in the classroom last year and this year look different than in the past. Last year, being totally virtual we provided many resources for the kids to be able to access and comprehend the book. Even though we are back in person this year, we are still more limited in our activities due to trying to keep the kids socially distanced and we are wearing masks. Reading in small groups will look very different, but we can still read the books in class and at home, and participate in comprehension learning activities - even do group discussion and work.
Both Wonder and Esperanza Rising are so popular with all my students. They love the characters and learn a lot from the themes of these novels. I appreciate all your generosity so much, that we are able to provide these books last year AND this year to our students in a pandemic. Thank you so, so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Newstrom
Esperanza Rising and Human Rights
Funded Oct 12, 2014My class is so grateful for these books because they are able to keep them and use them. The students have been so responsible and have remembered to bring them to school every day! If I had a class set, the students would not be allowed to take them home and I would be hounding them about the state of the books - this way, they are the ones who are learning to take care of their things and to accept the responsibility of bringing the books back and forth.
We have been using the books for this Esperanza Rising unit. I chose the unit because it connects the big ideas of the book to human rights. So far, the students have learned about Mexican history and the Mexican revolution, the Great Depression, strikes and why people would choose to strike or not to strike, and how all these ideas are connected to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights created by the United Nations in 1948.
This project has boosted our learning by introducing all of us (me included) to the new Common Core standards and the new expectations for student thinking. While it is challenging and can be a struggle, the students are really growing and meeting these expectations! Students who struggle with reading love the book and are highly motivated by the story to participate in discussions and stretch their thinking. The next step in this unit is for the students to learn to write an essay about the book, so the fact that they've been able to write in and annotate the text will be really important when we get to that stage. Thank you all so much for your help in making all of this possible!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Newstrom