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Mrs. Loyola's Classroom

  • Dolores Huerta Middle School
  • San Jose, CA
  • More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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Past projects 6

  • We are Multi-Media Designers

    Funded Sep 19, 2024

    Thank you so much for your incredibly generous donation, supplying iPads to my Middle School Design classes. These iPads have already made a huge impact on student learning, creativity, and agency.

    We have used the iPads so far to create stickers, in which students designed their "personal logo" and cut it out of vinyl. Prior to your donation, my classes were using old laptops which would freeze and loose their work. This led to frustration and some students giving up after spending a whole class period trying to get the laptops to work. Since introducing the iPads, not only has this no longer been an issue, but the whole process has become much more intuitive and student friendly for my 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

    These iPads have really allowed them to focus on their creations and I can't wait to see what they come up with in the future. Again, thank you so, so, so much!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

    This classroom project was brought to life by The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 3 other donors.
  • We Are Creators!

    Funded Jul 24, 2018

    Thank you for your generous funding of this project, providing much needed art supplies for my students! Already, in these first few months of school, they have been an indispensable part of our language arts curriculum, getting my students excited about expressing themselves as authors and artists simultaneously.

    We began this year by writing biographical poems and painting self portraits. We have now moved to writing myths and creating collages to illustrate them. Through both of these projects, I was able to use art to help inspire my students' writing (and writing to help inspire their art). By creating illustrations simultaneously with writing, I've been able to help eliminate the, "I don't know what to write!" syndrome. Art has also enhanced the detail and description that my students have been able to infuse their writing with.

    Thank you so much for helping to get my students excited about writing through art!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

  • We are readers! (2)

    Funded Mar 25, 2018

    Thank you so much for what your support has made possible. My students were so excited for the new books to arrive!

    I teach reading through guided reading groups. The students are grouped by reading level and, previously, I had assigned each group a book to read. While some students enjoy the books, as always, there are others who aren't that interested or engaged with them. With these new books, I was able to allow my reading groups a choice. By selecting their next books, they had so much more buy-in and excitement around them, they couldn't wait to start reading and discussing them.

    My students especially enjoyed The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. As soon as this book arrived they wanted to read it so much, that they volunteered to do extra homework in order to get their current guided reading book done faster! My students are pushing themselves because they are motivated by the books that your donations have provided!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

  • We Are Readers!

    Funded Feb 17, 2018

    Thank you so much for what your support has made possible. My students were so excited for the new books to arrive!

    I teach reading through guided reading groups. The students are grouped by reading level and, previously, I had assigned each group a book to read. While some students enjoy the books, as always, there are others who aren't that interested or engaged with them. With these new books, I was able to allow my reading groups a choice. By selecting their next books, they had so much more buy-in and excitement around them, they couldn't wait to start reading and discussing them.

    I had one group of student who was particularly excited to ready Belly Up, by Stuart Gibbs. I warned them that this book was a little harder than the books that their group had been reading. Their response, "Don't worry Ms. Loyola, we can do it, we'll work really hard! Can we please read it!?" How could I say no to that?

    My students are pushing themselves because they are motivated by the books that your donations have provided!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

  • Bringing American History to Life 2

    Funded Nov 12, 2017

    Thank you so very very much, on behalf of my students and myself for your generous support of our classroom! Not only have you helped to bring American history alive for us, but you have helped to further our love of reading.

    We've continued our historical journey this school year with a focus on the American Revolution. One of the books you helped get for our classroom, The Arrow Over the Door, is an in-depth examination of one event from multiple perspectives. We've used this book to help analyze various points of view on the decision to declare independence. Students are currently preparing for a debate on the topic (as you can see in the pictures).

    Thank you so much for the difference you've made in our classroom and lives!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

  • Bringing American History to Life!

    Funded Sep 23, 2017

    Thank you so very very much, on behalf of my students and myself for your generous support of our classroom! As you can see from the photos, the books you have provide for us have really and truly engaged us all as a classroom community!

    Here's a little about what I have done with the historical fiction your support has provided. I have created detailed read guides for both books. You can see students using these guides as they read. One of my focuses has been determining the meaning of unknown words based on context, an important skill for all students, but especially for English Language Learners (who make up the vast majority of my classroom). Since both of these books take place in the seventeenth century, they provide a great opportunity to try to decipher words we no longer commonly use, such as 'twas, slops, and shirk. As students read, the reading guides call their attention to words in each chapter and they make predictions on their meaning. We then discuss these in groups, with the students justifying their predictions. It has been wonderful to see their engagement and improvement!

    Another focus has been understanding perspective in literature. Both these works of historical fiction have served to teach this especially well, as I've been able to integrate narrator's perspective with examining historical perspective in social studies. In discussion, we've created a portrait of the narrator, their historical context, personal history, beliefs and opinions, etc. I then draw the student's attention to a character or event in the story and they find evidence and make inferences of how the narrator views that person or circumstance.

    We've simultaneously applied this same skill to a project focused on the same historical content - Jamestown. They've researched what life would have been like as English, Powhatan, Indentured Servants, or Enslaved Africans living in or around Jamestown in the early 1600's. The students have then written poetry from one of these perspectives, which we are turning into a class book.

    Truly I can not express enough the engagement and excitement these books have helped to generate in our classroom. As you can see my students are learning a lot and you have helped, in a major way, to make that possible.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Loyola

My fifth graders will be learning about early American History. As well learn about the first "successful" colony, Jamestown, reading historical fiction will bring this time in history to life for my students. It's one thing to learn about facts in a textbook, but reading about history from the perspective of a character helps the students feel that they are living it. This builds connections, empathy, and an understanding of multiple perspectives. In addition, students become excited about history and understand it's implication and connections to the present. Since most of my students are English Language Learners, these books will also be used for vocabulary study, integrated into our historical exploration. We will also use them for examining literary elements and devices and compare them to primary sources from the time. Please help bring history to life in our classroom!

About my class

My fifth graders will be learning about early American History. As well learn about the first "successful" colony, Jamestown, reading historical fiction will bring this time in history to life for my students. It's one thing to learn about facts in a textbook, but reading about history from the perspective of a character helps the students feel that they are living it. This builds connections, empathy, and an understanding of multiple perspectives. In addition, students become excited about history and understand it's implication and connections to the present. Since most of my students are English Language Learners, these books will also be used for vocabulary study, integrated into our historical exploration. We will also use them for examining literary elements and devices and compare them to primary sources from the time. Please help bring history to life in our classroom!

About my class

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