Past projects 2
The Learning Garden:" LEARNING BY DOING," Project
Funded Jun 18, 2020It is with much joy and gratitude that I write this Thank You letter. First, let me say how incredibly humbled I am as an educator, that even during a world-wide pandemic, you found the time and the kindness to donate to our class project "The Learning Garden." The human spirit is truly awe-inspiring.
Our students are so very challenged by the simple act of attending and participating in school. They are challenged economically, socially, emotionally and physiologically. I am so honored to provide to them an opportunity to put those challenges aside, and just for a little while, be just a kid like everyone else.
The impact of this project on our students has been fantastic! Some of the students have never touched garden soil or an actual seed for planting before in their life times! I have to say, their sheer enjoyment, excitement and wonderment of the process has been especially wonderful! During this world wide challenging moment in time, I am so incredibly grateful to share this experience with these students. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your donation that made this project possible.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leslie Skaggs
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 10 other donors.Developing Reading Identity
Funded Sep 28, 20187th and 8th grade Special Education Language Arts at Tecumseh Junior High School, is an exciting and diverse teaching and learning environment! Students use the materials provided by your generous donation, to improve reading decoding, reading fluency and reading comprehension skills. Introducing a book, such as Ghost, by Jason Reynolds, immediately creates high interest from my students because of the genre, setting and writing style of the author.
The students in my 7th and 8th grade special education language arts classroom, participate in whole group reading instruction. students will take turns reading out loud to the class and will also read independently. Everyone is encouraged to read. and everyone encourages each other to read! As we read each chapter, we discuss the literary terms we have learned, such as era, mood, characters, conflict, and theme. The students demonstrate how they recognize these elements in the book through writing, projects, power point presentations and author web quests. The classroom is a "safe" zone, free from ridicule or stereotyping others based on their reading skills. It is amazing to see how the students encourage and support each other to do their best!
Salvador, an 8th grade student says "When Castle tries to get away with the crime of stealing the track shoes, he thinks he is getting away with it, but I don't think he is. I can't wait to see what happens." Melitza says "the book is so good, I don't want to put it down, it has some really great lessons to teach you too." Students relate to the characters and the events that take place in the book to their own life experiences. They become so engaged in the reading process, they don't realize how much they are growing as life long learners! Watching students develop a love a reading truly is one of my greatest joys as a special education teacher!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leslie Skaggs