Past projects 6
Getting Back to Basics!
Funded Jan 23, 2023I can not describe the joy on my students faces when I told them that I got the grant from Donor's Choose to expand our classroom library. It was like Christmas morning in my classroom!
The books came in especially handy for our nonfiction unit. Students are notorious for thinking that Nonfiction is boring, or uninteresting. But I am happy to say that the majority of my students found a topic they love to read about with the new books. Kyle is not a big reader, but he was fascinated by Crystals and Gems. Brianna, turns up her nose at most nonfiction, but she fell in love with Planets. Lauren says that nonfiction is not her thing, but she loved the Natural Disasters book.
In my classroom we do independent reading a couple of times a week, and some students get bored easily, especially in a post Covid world. But since these new books have come in, the students were so excited about reading in some cases, that I would have to take the books out of their hands, so they could focus on the reading lesson we were doing! Thanks to Donors Choose the reading world of my students has been expanded yet again.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
Gaga For Graphic Novels!
Funded May 6, 2019The graphic novels were a big hit in the classroom! Usually in the last quarter of the school year, fatigue is starting to set in, and the kids become less productive. This is especially true for English Language Learners. Through out the school year they are constantly trying to navigate a new language, and by spring many of the students are mentally worn out. But this year your gift of new graphic novels helped turn that trend around.
Graphic novels are particularly helpful to ELLs because they tell a story but they don't have as many words. It's because of this that many ELLs are less intimidated by graphic novels than they would be by the traditional type of books. More than any of my other classes, my English Language Learners benefit the most from the graphic novels. They like to read just as much as the other kids, but they have a much tougher time because it's a new language.
Thank you for helping to help ease that transition to a new language with graphic novels. The graphic novels helped keep the kids enthusiastic about reading through the end of the school year and will hopefully keep them reading through the summer.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
Help Refresh My Classroom Library!
Funded Sep 23, 2018Words cannot express the gratitude that I feel for you all in helping to replace old books in my classroom library. I can't think of a better way to start off a new school year. The beginning of the school year is a time of excitement and discovery. By helping to refresh my classroom library, you have helped expand that excitement and discovery to include the classroom library.
You have given my students more reasons to read and to open the gates to many new topics as well as helping them to "revisit old friends" from their favorite book series, and for that I am forever grateful.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
Help My Students Read More Fantasy!
Funded May 7, 2018Our fantasy unit was a success!! Because of your donations the students became much more excited about reading, during our fantasy unit. There is nothing like seeing a smile on a student's face when they get to read a new book. All the new fantasy books inspired my kids to keep reading and be more creative.
The trend is usually students starting to read less as the year winds down and the weather gets warmer. But the new shipment of fantasy books helped to keep my students reading. They were more motivated to read and there was not much dropping from regular reading levels. Students also used their fantasy books for ideas to help them be more creative and write their own fantasy stories. You (Donors) helped make my fantasy unit a success.
My students thank you, and I thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
Help My Students Learn More About the World!
Funded Dec 30, 2017One of the core values of our school is curiosity. With the gift of new nonfiction books for our class library you have helped to instill one of the core values that many of my students did not have at the beginning of the school year. This year has opened their minds and inspired a thirst for knowledge that I have not seen since the beginning of the school year.
There was limited interest in nonfiction at the beginning of the year. But now with the high interest books I've been able to order, the volume of reading has tremendously increased. Not only are students reading more, but they are reading for longer periods of time. Students who were not reading any nonfiction at the beginning of the year are now checking out nonfiction books each week! They are reading about a variety of different topics from sports, to biographies, to science and social studies related informational texts.
Thanks to your gift, I have never had kids read as much during a nonfiction unit than I have this year. The students are now becoming more curious about the world. They are beginning to learn more about the past, present, and future, and more than anything else they are reading more than ever. Thank you Donors for inspiring the curiosity of my students and helping them become better readers.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Donor and 3 other donors.Help My Students Fall In Love With Reading
Funded Dec 28, 2017I cannot express the gratitude that I feel for the gift of reading that you have provided to students in my classroom. Before the new books arrived I got a lot of questions like, "Do you have book number six to this series"? Now, I don't get very many questions. But I do get more comments about how good my library is.
Since the new books have come in, there has been a wave of excitement about reading. The volume of books that my students have been reading has gone up. The amount of writing that they do about their books has also gone up. There is a wave of enthusiasm about reading in my classroom that would not be possible without the gift from Donors Choose.
In my class reading and writing are connected, and with the surge of new books has come more writing and better writing. I have many struggling readers and because their reading volume has increased, this in turn impacts their writing, which also helps increase their reading levels. Many of them are more enthusiastic about reading that they have been all year. Because of this gift I now feel more confident than ever about my students becoming better readers, and them thinking of reading as an activity that one look forward to, and not one to avoid. Thanks to your generosity, kids have have definitely fallen in love with reading and in the process have given themselves a chance at a better future.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pugh
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Donor and 10 other donors.