Past projects 6
Girl Reading Power
Funded Dec 31, 2022Thanks to your generosity, my students have a variety of empowering books to choose from! Regardless of their reading levels, they are able to immerse themselves in stories with protagonists who are strong and have leadership qualities. They are also able to enjoy texts that they can relate to.
This grant provides students with a variety of books for their independent reading. One day a week, we have an independent reading period during which students read bewitching books at or near their reading levels. They also share their books with one another, thus creating a community of readers and thinkers.
Since our school is new and does not have a library, we rely on generous donations to provide our students with books. And your donated books have been connecting with many students. For instance, one of my Latinx students connected to the graphic novel, Miss Quinces. She usually has trouble finishing books but was able to read this one because she enjoyed the story and the pictures. Another popular book is The Prince and the Dressmaker. My students enjoy that the story shows them that people can have interests regardless of gender. Overall, these books allow them to see the world through different perspectives. Your book donations have been having a great impact on these young leaders.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
Banned Book Clubs - an Investigation
Funded Oct 21, 2021The books you contributed to my classroom went directly to the hands and minds of scores of 8th graders, and we are grateful.
For this project, students worked in groups to read and discuss books that had been challenged or banned. The books provided a range of perspectives and were written by diverse authors; some examples are Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Maus by Art Speigelman, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. While reading these books, students discussed and wrote about big questions such as:
- Are books dangerous?
- Should certain texts be banned from schools? Who should determine that?
- What are young people's rights and responsibilities as readers? Is banning books censorship?
- How should readers deal with difficult and mature content in books they read?
For the writing focus, students wrote argument essays on whether the book they read was appropriate for our middle school classroom. Overall, this project was engaging and encouraged students to think critically.
Your donations also provided books to students who have had limited access as a result of attending school remotely during the pandemic. Your donations provided students with critical educational resources and has inspired lively discussions and writing. Thank you for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 7 other donors.Poetry and Mythology
Funded Feb 17, 2020With your donation, my 8th graders have access to differentiated texts that connect to poetry and mythology, two areas we are studying. Some of my students ready for a challenge chose to read No Fear Shakespeare Sonnets which made the poems more understandable and relatable. Some students who are eager poets are reading the Please Excuse This Poem, an anthology of contemporary poets. For my students who love fantasy, they are implicitly learning about Greek mythology while reading series such as The Dragon King Chronicles by Ellen Oh and of course, Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan.
These books are enriching students' independent reading lives. I am so grateful that we received these books before social isolation because many students were able to borrow and take these books home with them. These books will also be a reference point, a way for students to contextualize important themes and writing techniques in A Midsummer Night's Dream, our next unit.
The books you donated also related to National Poetry Month and our current poetry unit. Many of the books you donated were contemporary poets such as Terrance Hayes which exposed the students to new, diverse poets. Reading a variety of poetry enriched the students' poetry writing as well. If you would like to see my students' work, go to msgalangenglish.blogspot.com.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
Diverse Books for Diverse Readers
Funded Apr 24, 2019Think back at the books that were assigned to you in middle and high school. Which books did you see yourself in? Which ones reflected aspects of your own identity and culture? I did not love reading as a young student because as a Filipino-American with immigrant parents, I couldn't fully relate to assigned books such as The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Merchant of Venice. Many of my 8th graders may sometimes feel similarly when their own identities are not reflected in the literature around them. Therefore, providing them with a greater range of voices, characters, experiences, and identities in reading is critical to their development as critical thinking, empathetic human beings.
Books that this grant put in these students' hands allowed them to see parts of themselves reflected in their reading and also to better empathize with and understand characters with experiences outside of their own contexts. For instance, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater moved readers to become aware of a hate crime toward a gender non-conforming high school student and helped them see not only the injustice of it but the complicated nature of the crime and how important it is to also understand the perpetrator's perspective. These students learned to be more accepting of people despite the gender they defined themselves as.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo provided a voice of a young Latinx poet who struggled with her mother's strict, religious expectations; this book helped readers understand difficult family relationships and the need to express one's self through art and writing. Many of my students loved this book and identified it as a modern classic because of the unique, poetic style and also the relatability of the text. Pride by Ibi Zoboi emphasized the complicated nature of gentrification and its effects on individuals living in gentrifying neighborhoods; this is something that many of my Brooklynite students have encountered in their lives. The strong, witty characters in this book help bring this story to life.
For this project, my 8th graders worked in book clubs and practiced having civil discourse over the complicated issues in their books. They learned to value and appreciate the growing variety of authors and characters being represented in modern, young adult literature. And most importantly, they enjoyed and loved reading these books which enriched their identities and will help them develop into lifelong readers and thinkers.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
Bring Romeo and Juliet to Life
Funded Mar 19, 2019All 98 of my 8th graders used these costumes and props to dramatize Romeo and Juliet. They helped engage students of all learning styles, backgrounds, and skill-levels. One of the first activities we did was learn and memorize Shakespearean insults and role play the opening scene in which Montagues and Capulets confront each other on the street and start a "civil brawl", the first of many in the play. The students acted out their insults with and without plastic and wooden swords which led to a discussion on the escalation of anger and how weapons affected that. Additionally, I had students play roles regardless of gender, so you will see in some of the photos, males playing female roles and females playing male roles.
When I received the boxes of supplies, I had the students open them, and immediately students were asking to use the swords. Many excitedly asked if they could play Juliet. At times, the box of props and costumes became a distraction in class, with some kids play fighting with the swords. Eventually, I created a space in my closet and had a system for using and organizing them. By the end of the unit, the system worked efficiently.
Currently, my students are in book clubs evaluating and questioning the literary canon. They are reading both a traditional classic and a contemporary award-winning text and deciding if they are worthy of being considered a "Great Classic". The work they did with Romeo and Juliet scaffolded this and allowed them more confidence in reading a challenging text. These are skills that will help them succeed in high school.
Once again, we appreciate all of your contributions and for making a difference in our classroom community.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 14 other donors.Social Action Book Clubs
Funded May 27, 2016Dear Donors,
The books you have purchased for our classroom represent social issues throughout history and the world. They are worlds through which students learn about the complex problems and struggles that people go through. These worlds help them better understand the world and them selves. They help them develop empathy and teach them about the importance of civil and global engagement.
In book clubs which met for two weeks, students read these books with my guidance. They were able to choose books that they were interested in and were at their reading levels. They were also able to freely discuss the issues in these books with peers in a safe environment.
For instance, reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah helped students learn that "war can affect you in many different ways and can stay with you long after you are out of the fighting." Reading Night allowed students to understand "the universal ideal that despite any physical brutality enforced on an individual, one can outlast by finding a source of power within themselves that armors them mentally. For some, it may be for a purpose or cause, or in Elie's case, it is the raw will to survive." Reading Under a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson led students to conclude that "drug addiction drains addicts of their personality and values, takes a serious toll on their physical health, and destroys relationships with people they love."
At the end of the year, about 25% of my students noted the Social Action Book Clubs as one of the most meaningful units of the year because they learned about the problems that people go through in the world and learned to better appreciate their own lives. Another benefit of having these books in the classroom is that students have a variety of books to read for their independent reading. And since each book club presents to the class, all the students learn from one another and get ideas of books to read next. This helps create a continuum of reading for all the students.
Essentially, all of these books teach tolerance and encourage people to be upstanders. I am grateful for your support in giving a diverse population of students access to these books.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Galang
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 19 other donors.