Past projects 2
All American Boys [And Girls]: Increasing Empathy through Diverse Novels
Funded Sep 12, 2019I hope each of you are doing well in this unique time. I'm writing today to thank you for your kind donation to my donors choose project last semester. I was able to purchase a classroom set of the book All American Boys, one of my favorite new young adult texts. I had planned on using the book this spring as our last class text. Unfortunately, it ended up being yet another thing that the Coronavirus has put on hold. I have not been able to use the text yet in my class this year because we have been out of school since mid March and will be out until May, or maybe further.
Normally, I would love to thank you with personal notes from my students and pictures of them enjoying the texts. I would like to tell you how this book has gotten my reluctant readers interested in reading. I would like to tell you that students who had never "seen themselves" in a text found characters just like them in All American Boys. I would like to tell you that it made them think differently about issues of race in America. I can't tell you that because I didn't get to share the book with them. But I know how this book has impacted individual students in my class as they have selected the text for independent reading. They love it because it is real. They love it because it deals with the difficult issues of race, hate, and violence. They left the book with empathy and a desire to make change. I can't wait to share this book with ALL of my students next year.
Donors, thank you so much for supporting my classroom. Although the Coronavirus has made it impossible for me to use your gift this year, know that many students in future years will appreciate your gift. I can't wait to tell my students next year about your kind generosity. Thank you for your support of public education. Thank you for recognizing that my students matter.
I hope that you and your families remain safe during this time. I hope that you find stories that give you strength. I hope that we can all see a brighter tomorrow soon.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kisner
Marching Past the Single Story: AP Language in West Virginia
Funded Oct 19, 2017Let me start by saying thank you once again. Your gracious donations had a huge impact in my classroom. Your gift allowed me to purchase copies of March for my students this year, and the class set will benefit my students for years to come. My students were moved by the story, and are hopefully moved to action. Stories change people, and I have seen my students grow through the reading of this text.
In a moment of lucky timing, my teaching of this novel fell the week before Martin Luther King Day. For many of my students, MLK's speech and a few quotes were all they knew of the Civil Rights Movement. After this week, they have read most of the speeches from the March on Washington, the Letter from Birmingham jail, and now the beautiful book, March. Consistently, I heard students remark "I had no idea", or "how could this have happened", or "wait, this was only 50 years ago"? They knew of the of the movement, but hearing Lewis's story made the experience real.
One of my biggest focuses this year has been the humanizing power of stories. I can honestly say that books like this one have had a huge effect on my students. They now strive to look past the single story. For some of my students, this unit has been one of the first where they have heard from writers who "look like them". One of my African American students remarked how nice it was to learn about the Civil Rights Movement outside of February. She felt that her story was valued. Thank you for that. Thank you for helping my students to have access to diverse texts—to hear stories that matter. I greatly appreciate your generosity, and I hope that you continue to help teachers to make "good trouble".”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kisner
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 6 other donors.