Past projects 3
Help Us Build Knowledge and Empathy through Quality Literature!
Funded Aug 10, 2017Thank you so much for your donation to my language arts classroom. My students were very excited to receive the books and beanbag chairs. This was clearly evident in their responses. When I brought out the beanbag chairs students said, "These are awesome!" and "These are so comfortable!" When the new books were unveiled, students asked, "Can I check this out?" and several said, "This book looks good." The day after I let students check the books out, I had more than one student say, "I just finished this book in one day!" They were clearly excited about the new materials.
Your donations have brought new life to my classroom library. Many students are using the resources on a daily basis. I observe students perusing the bins of new materials and finding books that meet their reading interests regularly. Over 100 books are currently checked out of my classroom library due mainly to your donations!
Students are also enjoying the option to read and write comfortably on the beanbag chairs you donated. When we have independent reading or writing time, kids frequently choose to move from their desks to these comfortable spots in the room. All of the materials you've donated greatly contributing to students' enjoyment of reading -- it is obvious they see reading as an engaging, valuable, consistent, positive, important part of their daily lives.
Your donations have also boosted my teaching -- I am now able to communicate to students that when they walk into my classroom, they are walking into an environment that celebrates and fosters joy for literacy. I am able to offer and recommend quality books of a variety of genres to my students. Now, not only do I have more titles overall but many more types of nonfiction, traditional literature, many more fiction novels, and graphic novels. This helps me meet a wider range of reader interests, but also helps me communicate with my readers that there are many kinds of reading and all types of reading are valuable. Each year part of my mission is to reach students who are struggling readers or reluctant readers find engaging texts. In the past month or so, when students have struggled to find something new to read, I have been able to point out several of the new books you donated as options and gotten reactions like "Cool!" or "I want to read that!" from students who previously said they couldn't find anything they wanted to read. One boy in particular often arrives to class without a book and avoids reading. After your materials arrived, I offered him some of the options you donated -- one of them was a graphic novel about World War I. He began reading the book that day and has been reading it each day in class since. One day he pulled me aside to say, "This is actually a really good book!" This is big progress for this student. Thank you for making that possible!
It is wonderful to see my students so motivated to read and to see them constantly interacting with a variety of texts -- this is in large part due to your donation. I greatly appreciate your generosity and the positive impact your donation has made!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Riechers
This classroom project was brought to life by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and 5 other donors.Help Make Our Classroom Library Classy
Funded Oct 11, 2014Thank you so much for your donation to my language arts classroom. My students were very excited to receive the books, lamps, and beanbag chairs. This was clearly evident in their reactions to the materials. Some of their statements when they received the new materials: "Are all these books for us?" "I want to read this book!" "Can I reserve this book?" "That's a lot of books!" and "We're so lucky!"
Students are using the resources on a daily basis. I have not once since receiving your donations had a student tell me they could not find anything they wanted to read. On a daily basis, I observe students perusing the bins of new materials and finding books that meet their reading interests. Last year, prior to your donations, I may have had about 10 books checked out of my library at any given time. This year over 100 books are currently checked out of the library!
My students write book reviews once a month, and they have been giving lots of positive reviews to the books you have donated. One student says, "Maze Runner is fast paced and it makes you think of what could happen and how it would affect your life. I recommend this book to people who like action and futuristic novels." Another student says, "I liked Oh My Gods because it told good stories about many different gods and because it had many great illustrations in the book. I also really liked that it had maps and family trees in the book." A third student says, "I really liked Eleanor and Park because there was always some type of drama such as family or school drama. I like all the characters in this book because they were believable and relevant to real life."
Students are also enjoying the option to read and write comfortably on the beanbag chairs you donated. When we have independent reading or writing time, kids always choose to move from their desks to these comfortable spots in the room. Students also enjoy the coziness created by the lamp light and frequently ask if we can turn off the bright, fluorescent overhead lights and read or work by lamplight. All of these materials are greatly contributing to students' enjoyment of reading -- it is obvious they see reading as an engaging, valuable, consistent, positive, important part of their daily lives.
Your donations have also boosted my teaching --I am now able to communicate to students that when they walk into my classroom, they are walking into an environment that celebrates and fosters joy for literacy. I am able to offer and recommend quality books of a variety of genres to my students; prior to your donations, I had mainly fiction novels to offer my students. Now, I have many types of nonfiction, traditional literature, many more fiction novels, and graphic novels. This helps me meet a wider range of reader interests, but also helps me communicate with my readers that there are many kinds of reading and all types of reading are valuable.
Your donation has also directly impacted and boosted my instruction. I've been able to use books you donated as resources for my lessons -- for instance, I was able to use books you donated to demonstrate how to use text features in nonfiction books. When we studied mythology, I was able to pull out a bin of engaging myths that you donated--and they were ALL checked out by students. It is wonderful to see my students so motivated to read and to see them constantly interacting with a variety of texts -- this is in large part due to your donation. I greatly appreciate your generosity and the positive impact your donation has made!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Riechers
Help Make our Classroom Library Classy (Part 2)
Funded Oct 16, 2014Thank you so much for your donation to my language arts classroom. My students were very excited to receive the books and beanbag chairs. This was clearly evident in their reactions to the materials. Some of their statements when they received the new materials: "Are all these books for us?" "I want to read this book!" "Can I reserve this book?" "That's a lot of books!" and "We're so lucky!"
Students are using the resources on a daily basis. I have not once since receiving your donations had a student tell me they could not find anything they wanted to read. On a daily basis, I observe students perusing the bins of new materials and finding books that meet their reading interests. Last year, prior to your donations, I may have had about 10 books checked out of my library at any given time. This year over 100 books are currently checked out of the library!
My students write book reviews once a month, and they have been writing lots of positive reviews of the books you have donated. One student says, "Maze Runner is fast paced and it makes you think of what could happen and how it would affect your life. I recommend this book to people who like action and futuristic novels." Another student says, "I liked Oh My Gods because it told good stories about many different gods and because it had many great illustrations in the book. I also really liked that it had maps and family trees in the book." A third student says, "I really liked Eleanor and Park because there was always some type of drama such as family or school drama. I like all the characters in this book because they were believable and relevant to real life."
Students are also enjoying the option to read and write comfortably on the beanbag chairs you donated. When we have independent reading or writing time, kids always choose to move from their desks to these comfortable spots in the room. All of these materials are greatly contributing to students' enjoyment of reading -- it is obvious they see reading as an engaging, valuable, consistent, positive, important part of their daily lives.
Your donations have also boosted my teaching --I am now able to communicate to students that when they walk into my classroom, they are walking into an environment that celebrates and fosters joy for literacy. I am able to offer and recommend quality books of a variety of genres to my students; prior to your donations, I had mainly fiction novels to offer my students. Now, I have many types of nonfiction, traditional literature, many more fiction novels, and graphic novels. This helps me meet a wider range of reader interests, but also helps me communicate with my readers that there are many kinds of reading and all types of reading are valuable.
Your donation has also directly impacted and boosted my instruction. I've been able to use books you donated as resources for my lessons -- for instance, I was able to use books you donated to demonstrate how to use text features in nonfiction books. When we studied mythology, I was able to pull out a bin of engaging myths that you donated--and they were ALL checked out by students. It is wonderful to see my students so motivated to read and to see them constantly interacting with a variety of texts -- this is in large part due to your donation. I greatly appreciate your generosity and the positive impact your donation has made!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Riechers