Past projects 2
Ace the AP Literature Exam
Funded May 10, 2014Your contribution is a wonderful gift which has set our class ahead of the schedule in preparation to succeed on the exam. This compliment to all the reading, thinking, writing and discussing that we do in class is the ideal way for us to approach the test like it's a text. Such a book shows students strategies for processing the info we've tackled and taking the appropriate steps to attacking both the multiple choice and essay portions. Thank you so much for your help in getting there!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Walker
The Black American Experience
Funded Dec 10, 2009During this unit I have employed a variety of strategies in order to engage my students as they enter the difficult text of Song of Solomon. We have taken notes, wrote summaries, enacted scenes, carried out discussions and debates as well as read in class. What's been most fascinating is that the moment the students connected with the text, they seem to have taken off, much unlike the narrative's protagonist, and plunged into the core of the story. As they argue about how strange this family is, they are also attracted to each character's struggle towards wholeness and though many of them haven't yet realized it, they share a kinship in that struggle.
I want to thank you for providing both my students and myself a necessary education challenge that has led to sincere growth. I have had to rethink my previous conception of how to teach a story I have been passionately in love with to students who do not share my feelings or have the same desire or skills to make sense of such a complex story. It compelled me to stretch as a teacher so that I had to combine lectures with specific read-aloud of passages, along with reading at home, Powerpoint notes, video and orally enacting particular sections to give life to relevant sections and for the sheer pleasure of the language. I hope to teach this again with all the lessons I've learned on how to teach this novel.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Walker
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.