Past projects 2
Bringing Relevant Texts to Our Relevant Youth
Funded Jul 6, 2020Thank you so much for donating to my project to bring relevant texts to our youth! My students have been able to make connections and relate to these stories and the impact has been incredible. We are in a remote learning model and even through the computer, my students are able to recognize themselves in the stories, make meaningful connections and most importantly connect with each other!
Each week, I run community building Restorative Circle with first grade classes. I have been able to use these donated texts to address the Identity Anchor standards put out by Teaching Tolerance. We have been working on recognizing our own identities, our families and what makes our families special. These conversations are helping my students develop a sense of confidence and self esteem. The books are a great way to share different identities and allow my students to identify with different cultures and communities. These amazing conversations would not have been possible without your generous donations to my project!
Looking forward, we will be expanding these conversations to other grade levels. We have a team of adults at my school who are looking at the entire set of Social Justice Standards from Teaching Tolerance and we will be creating discussion based read-alouds and activities for teachers and students to do to address these identify, diversity, justice and action standards. So very exciting!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cromer
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 12 other donors.Enhancing Social Emotional Learning with Play!
Funded Mar 11, 2018Thank you so much for donating to this wonderful cause. My students have been so excited about our new materials, especially all the pirate gear! The lesson and book I teach on Expected vs unexpected behavior takes place on a pirate ship and I have been able to use play to enhance this topic in way that has been meaningful. They get to show expected pirate behavior and dress like pirates! We used the telescopes to practice "thinking with our eyes" and connecting that when we are looking at something we are also thinking about it! The tumble town figures have also been a huge success, helping students work together to build a city and use their listening skills when a peer is sharing their idea on what to build next. Their creativity has been shining since our package arrived!
When our package arrived, my students were beyond excited to see the new play materials. They had a hard time understanding that people donated money and I was able to buy new things, but when the boxes arrived their eyes lit up and could not wait to put their learning into action! Even now when we they have earned "choice time" they often choose to play pirates or build with the town materials.
For next steps, I will continue to teach social emotional and thinking concepts to my students and be creative on ways to incorporate play into my lessons. Learning how to play and create together, while reinforcing concepts taught has been a wonderful experience!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cromer