Ms. Gerber's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 3

• Learning Through Games!

  Funded Jan 18, 2017

  I cannot thank you enough for your generous donation to my classroom. These literacy centers have made a huge impact for many of the students in my classroom.

  As described in my profile, I am a second grade self-contained ENL teacher. This means that all the students that I teach are considered Speakers of Other Languages. While having to teach both language acquisition, I also have to teach regular second grade curriculum that goes along with the Common Core Standards. At times, this can be very challenging with the wide range of students in my classroom.

  This year, I had many students entering my second grade classroom unable to speak any of the English language, while I also had students that were above grade level. These literacy centers made it much more accessible to my entering students.

  I was first able to teach them their letters and the sounds that the letters make. The letter recognition center was a wonderful tool for my students to practice their letters. My students particularly loved the initial sound literacy center. They found it to be fun, but also challenging because they had to know the vocabulary for each picture. Through this literacy center, my students grew in their vocabulary of the English language.

  All of my entering students came in unable to read in the English language, but now ALL of them moved up in their reading levels. I had one entering student move up 6 reading levels, another student moved up 4 reading levels, and 2 others moved up 3 reading levels. I am SO proud of them. I am confident that these literacy centers had an impact. My students had fun while learning the basic foundations of the English language.

  I am very appreciative for your generous gift to my classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Gerber

• Radio and Books on CD for Second Grade ESL Students

  Funded Aug 30, 2016

  I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the books on CD that you have donated to my classroom.

  This is my fourth year as a second grade teacher, but only my second year teaching students of other languages. By having these books on CD in my classroom, I have found a huge difference in reading from previous years of teaching. Students in my classroom are reading for pleasure more than they ever had before. They get ecstatic when they hear it is their day to use the listening center with these books on CD included. Many of my students laugh, smile, and move around to the music when they are listening to these books on CD.

  Many times, I incorporate the books on CD during literacy center time. This is where my students split up into groups based on their academic reading levels. The books on CD are in the listening center, which each group gets to go to at least once a week. Sometimes, students get to choose where they would like to go and many of them choose the listening center first. This just shows how much these books have impacted my classroom.

  These books on CD are absolutely wonderful for my ENL students because they can be used for various reasons. I have my emergent students use the books on CD to practice reading from left to right, to practice pointing under the words, to look at the pictures and gain information, and to practice using their listening skills. For my mid-level students, I have them listen to the books with a small assignment to follow such as retelling the story. For my more advanced students, these books are great for making inferences, thinking about character feelings, and so much more.

  I have found that these books have brought back the love of reading into my classroom. When my students are listening to these books, they are listening for both pleasure and entertainment. And, that is all a teacher could ask for. Thank you all so much for your donations to this class project. We all appreciate it very much.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Gerber

• Listening Center for Second Grade ESL Students

  Funded Aug 25, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  I would like you all to know how thankful we are for your generous donations to our classroom. This school year, I have many students varying in academic levels. As stated in my profile, I am a second grade ENL (English as a New Language) teacher. So, I have students just entering the country while others have been here for a couple of years. In order to be an effective teacher, I must constantly differentiate lessons in order to meet the needs of all of my students.

  This listening center has been such a wonderful asset in differentiating lessons for my students. I have found that my students are the most excited to just sit back, relax, and read a book. Unfortunately, there have been too many stresses for young students to read in order to move up levels. But, this listening center allows them a time to really just sit down in a cozy spot and enjoy a read aloud. Every time students are over there, I see huge smiles on their faces (which in return puts a smile on my face).

  Lastly, I have found that this listening center is wonderful for ALL of my students. I have found that my entering students love it as much as my students who are proficient in the English language. My entering students use it to get more familiar with the English language while my more proficient students use it to practice literacy skills. Either way though, all of my students love being a part of this center.

  There are no words to describe how grateful we are for your kindness in donating to our classroom. Please know that this listening center is constantly being used and that my students could not be happier.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Gerber

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 6 other donors.