Past projects 8
Connected to Reading Through Graphic Novels
Funded Aug 13, 2021Thank you so much for bringing these new and exciting graphic novels to our young students. Even our most reluctant readers are drawn to this visual and fun style of storytelling making it the perfect resource for any school library.
Students were thrilled to see these in our library collection ready for them to enjoy and now I can't keep them on the library shelves.
Reading is such an important part of a student's education and learning to read and developing a passion for reading will assure these students future success in all that they aspire to do in their lifetime.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 6 other donors.Celebrating Diversity in Books
Funded Mar 16, 2021Today our schools are full of children from various racial, ethnic, and culturally diverse backgrounds but our school libraries do not always reflect this. Having one of my students ask me to help her find a book where the character looks like her prompted me to create this project for more culturally diverse books. I wish you could have seen the smile on her face when I showed her all the new books with which you have helped me to fill our library shelves.
Our students in kindergarten through grade 5 love to browse our library shelves during their weekly media special with me. They are searching for the perfect book and since receiving the beautiful collection of books from you, our donors, the students are seeing themselves reflected in the characters and loving the stories.
Reading is so important to students of this age and finding stories of characters with whom they can identify can make them want to read more. They will be enjoying these books for a long time. On behalf of my students, I thank you for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.A Place for Every Book, Every Book in Its Place
Funded May 20, 2021One of the biggest challenges our students face in their school library is locating the books they want to read during the short time we have together. Likewise, one of my biggest challenges as a school librarian is to help a class full of students each find the perfect book.
What a joy it has been to watch our students as they entered the library and saw the new addition waiting for them to explore. Even after our cart has become a fixture in our library, I know students will be looking to it to hold many of the books they are hoping to check out and enjoy in their classrooms and at home.
Our new book cart is always full of our students' favorite books and has become one of the most popular spots in our library at book checkout time. Locating the perfect book is now so much faster and easier for our students. They always leave the library with smiles on their faces. Thank you for helping to make this happen.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
Don't Stop Believing in Reading
Funded May 16, 2020First of all, thank you so much once again for your continued support of all our young students and the teachers who teach them. Teachers are often hampered by budget restraints and donors like you make our job of reaching all students that much easier.
This past spring was a time in education that we had never seen before. We now had the added challenge of reaching all our students without seeing them day to day in our schools. Not only were teachers forced to teach outside of their classrooms, and in my case, our school library, we needed to find new ways of connecting to our students without our teaching supplies and books that were left behind in our forbidden school buildings. We all found new and creative ways of teaching the skills our students needed.
With your generous donations, I was able to create some lessons in giving a book talk. I used a few of the new titles to create my own booktalks using a platform called Flipgrid. I encouraged my students to do the same and to make it more interesting, I ran a contest for the most creative booktalks with a raffle for the books that were purchased through your generous donations. Students sent in their videos and they were terrific. We all had fun sharing our booktalks. The raffle was held and students thanked you for the new titles they received as prizes. What a wonderful way to promote reading.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
Learning's a Go With Surface Go
Funded May 13, 2019Walk into a room full of students with a new piece of technology and watch the faces explode with excitement and the creativity wheels begin to turn. Such was the case with our new Surface Go. Students have been learning a lot about what it can do and how they can use it to help them learn. Book talk creation to promote a love of reading was my main idea but now I see that the possibilities are endless and students are so excited to show me and their peers what they have learned to do. This is active learning made possible by your kindness and support.
With programs like Animotica, a photo and video editing program, which can be used by students to create slideshows of different events and 3D Paint and viewer where students can add depth to their creations and view images with more than one dimension, students can develop their creativity while communicating, collaborating, and expressing themselves with more confidence.
Students today do not only need to be literate to succeed in their world, but also to be digitally literate. The world with its rapidly changing technology demands that our youth become proper and productive digital citizens. We, as their teachers, should never stop searching for ways to incorporate the use and mastering of technology into the curriculum. To be able to expose our students to all forms of technology tools available to them can be challenging with budgets in education remaining so tight. With generous donors like you, our job becomes a little easier.
On behalf of all my students, thank you for all you do to help us to do all we can.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 5 other donors.To Read is to Imagine/To Imagine is to Dream
Funded Nov 27, 2017First of all, thank you once again for your generous donation which has allowed our library to provide new and exciting books for the students to learn from and enjoy.
As a teacher/librarian, my job is not only to maintain our library, keep books on the shelves in good condition and in the hands of over seven hundred students, but it's also about teaching children the importance of learning how to read and hopefully a love for reading. This can only help them to grow in every way and allow them to attain any of the goals they dream of fulfilling. This is so much easier when I can offer my students the books they want to read.
I cataloged all the new books as they arrived to make sure they were ready for students to check out as soon as possible. The students were thrilled to see the collection of new titles and for once, I was excited about them fighting over who would read the book first. This always encourages partner reading and sharing which is a lesson in itself.
All my students will benefit from new titles in our collection. Many already love to read and are always asking for something new. Others are reluctant readers who often leave our library without choosing a book. With these new titles, they may find the incentive they need to learn to love reading.
I am planning to use many of the new books to motivate the students to create their own book trailers which will in turn encourage other students to read the books as well.
Thank you so much for supporting teachers and our young readers.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
A Library With Books To Welcome All Students
Funded Nov 27, 2017My students and I cannot thank you enough for your generous donation. You have made it possible for me to provide my students resources that will help them to learn English while still preserving their own language and culture.
It is not easy for many of these students to feel comfortable as they begin to learn a new language and lifestyle. Having books to enjoy in their native language as well as bilingual titles to help them learn English vocabulary will help to make their transition easier and their reading more productive. I look forward to watching the students enjoy these new books.
Our Spanish/ Bilingual section was hidden in the corner of our library with few interesting titles for students learning English. I moved the section close to the entrance of our library to greet our English language learners. With all the new Spanish and Portuguese books, our Bilingual section looks inviting and serves as a welcome mat to students still learning English.
You have helped to motivate these young readers and to make their experience fun and less overwhelming. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting our students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
Cozy Corner of Learning in Our Library
Funded Aug 24, 2014This year has been an exciting time for the students in our library. Many changes were made over the summer and the students were welcomed back with these changes in place. One thing that remained the same was the rug where we met for our meetings before getting down to the tasks of the day. The rug was fine, but worn and not very colorful. At that time, I explained to the students that because of the kindness and generosity of some caring people, they would be getting a new, more colorful and meaningful rug. I told the students what to expect and each time they came into the library as their eyes went straight for the rug, I could see the disappointment in their faces when the new rug was not in place. Then it happened. The new rug finally arrived and was waiting for the students when they entered the library for class the next day. The excitement in their eyes was priceless and we captured many pictures of the students posing on their soft and colorful rug. We had talked about the meaning of the children pictured on the rug holding hands around the world. The students began to realize that I did noÂÂt expect them to walk around the school holding hands. This was simply a symbol for children working together to create good in the world. It was their idea to pose holding hands around the rug. As the students settled in to the latest change, I realized that this would become a favorite spot to enjoy a little reading. Usually students have to share the few chairs we have in the library to enjoy their books but now there are students who head straight for the rug as the perfect reading spot.
I hope that our rug continues to serve as a symbol to all our students of all the wonderful things they can achieve by working and playing together in peace.
Thank you from me and my students from the bottom of our hearts for your help in bringing a little color to our cozy corner of the library.no”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Caudill
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 4 other donors.