Past projects 5
Who Knew Learning Could Be So Much Fun?!
Funded Apr 29, 2022Thank you so much for your generous donation to our classroom. It was so lovely to have a variety of books for students to choose from and see them dive in and get lost in a good book. Because there were options to choose from (thanks to you) the conversations were more profound and more meaningful. This was due to higher student interest and student buy-in (again, thanks to you and your donation).
You will see in a few of the thank you cards that I have included that many students loved having a choice. Some were surprised that they enjoyed a certain book and others are now hooked and want to read other books by the same author or in the same genre. Thank you for making this a possibility for my students now and for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Cook
Hooked on Books
Funded Mar 1, 2022I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your encouragement as well as your donations. My kids have been so excited to read the new books that you donated to our classroom. One of my favorite things is to read writing responses from my students that talk about how much this book meant to them or how it really resonated with them. One thing I love to do when teaching is to help my students dig for deeper meaning, what lesson could I learn from this character in this book? For kids that are struggling to read, it brings me so much joy to hear them say, "Mrs. Cook, I never thought I would like reading but after reading this book, I do!" so thank you, thank you so much for making this all possible.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Cook
Adventure Is Just a Page Away!
Funded Oct 25, 2021I just wanted to reach out to say thank you so much for helping to fund this project! Because of donors like you, I was able to offer a wide variety of books in several different genres ranging from ghost stories to mysteries, and realistic fiction, including one of my favorite books, Fish in a Tree.
I love using books to teach for several reasons. For example, oftentimes kids are unwilling to try new genres, but when you can get the whole class involved with trying out a new genre together with lots of variety within that genre, the kids are more willing to find something they are interested in. One of my favorite things about this is when a child realizes that they love a new genre, and now there is a whole new world of books open to them!
I also love being able to read a class novel together. I am super excited to read The Westing Game with my class this spring and dive deeply into characters, inferencing, predicting, and of course, trying to solve the mystery! Thank you for making this possible.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Cook
I Dare You to Read a Ghost Story!
Funded Aug 30, 2021I just wanted to reach out to let you know my class is so excited about the Mary Downing Hahn ghost stories. With these books we will be working on reading skills we have been learning this year such as predicting, making inferences, drawing conclusions, story plot, conflict and resolution, and point of view.
Each day, students come into class, get the book they chose to read, and begin reading. At the end of each reading session, students take a moment to reflect on what they have just read. Sometimes they get to write a free response, other times I have them write about something specific we are working on such as predicting, making inferences, drawing conclusions, story plot, conflict and resolution, and point of view. Either way, kids are reading, learning, and deepening their understanding as well as enjoying a great book!
I think the most rewarding part for me has been seeing students who had a negative disposition towards reading but are now excited to read and begging for more time!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Cook
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 7 other donors.A Few More iPads Would Really Make a Difference!
Funded Oct 7, 2016Thank you so much for your donations. Because of you we were able to receive two more iPad's for our classroom. You are what made getting a few more iPad's possible. Our class has loved there new iPad's. Because we have four iPad's now it has made it possible to use them as a center rotation in literacy and in math. Our class has fun playing sight word games, listening to stories, working on handwriting during our literacy block. During our math block we've been able to use our iPad's to practice telling time, creating patterns, and working on math facts to name just a few. The best thing is, the apps we use are so interactive, the kids don't even realize they are learning. Everything is presented in a fun engaging way and students can hardly wait for their groups turn. Thank you, thank you.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Cook