Past projects 4
Real Books, Real Talk, Real Life
Funded Sep 21, 2022Although I'm an elementary music teacher, I've taught high school and middle school English classes in the past. Teaching these classes gave me the opportunity to support students' growth as readers and writers and also as critical thinkers developing their skills of text-based interpretation and analysis. It also gave me the opportunity to engage students in conversations about history and humanity as we explored the themes presented in stories, poems, and plays.
"Real Books, Real Talk, Real Life" has created a new space for those kinds of conversations. These are the kinds of books that few teens encounter in a school classroom. Books that transcend the canon, teach about the roots of contemporary issues in society, reflect students' experiences, and introduce them to a world beyond their immediate surroundings.
The Arlington School is two schools in one building, spanning from pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade. Although I teach music in the elementary school, I am partnering with our Community Kids Place after-school enrichment program to make these books available to our middle school students. They are able to borrow books, discuss what they've read, ask questions to learn more, and offer recommendations to their peers. All of this is thanks, in no small part, to your generosity and support. We appreciate you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Hogges
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 7 other donors.Reading Is Still Fundamental!
Funded Sep 17, 2022When I was growing up in the 1980s, we watched shows like "Reading Rainbow" and had educational public service announcements on television like "The More You Know" series. My school library taught us the Dewey Decimal system and how to use card catalogs, and visits to the local library were a regular thing - for books, not for using the internet.
Things are different nowadays. Many schools have converted their libraries for other uses, and students now read on laptops or tablets instead of on paper. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate technological advances and the many new things they make possible. But, there's something about a book - holding it in your hands, flipping through the pages to decide if this is the one you want to read today... That is the gift my students have every time they sift through our music classroom library.
They find books about music of course, but they also find fictional stories that teach life lessons, and SO MUCH NONFICTION! Books about about dancers, writers, historians, teachers, inventors, mathematicians, visual artists, and civic leaders. Books about people from all over the world and the places they come from. Books about children who overcome challenges and grow up to accomplish extraordinary things. In short, our music classroom library is an entire curriculum of its own, enhancing and enriching the learning that takes place in our class and beyond.
In addition to interactive read alouds that build students' oral, aural, and literacy skills while also nurturing their social-emotional development, students have the opportunity to read independently or in pairs and frequently borrow books to take with them to their homeroom classes as well.
As someone who grew up surrounded by stories, I'm grateful that I can give this gift to my students, and I want to thank you for helping to make it possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Hogges
This classroom project was brought to life by Amazon.com, Inc. and 2 other donors.Stories for Life
Funded Sep 17, 2021Thank you so much for your support of the Stories for Life project. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to add fifteen new books to our classroom library!
These books serve many purposes in our classroom. For some students, the book nook/calming corner is a space where they can relax and de-escalate from a difficult situation. Students will often ask permission to sit quietly and read a book as a way of regulating their emotions until they are ready to learn.
Students are also allowed to borrow books, and this has become a favorite especially among the second and third grade students. The books are so popular that instead of having one sign-out sheet, I've given each student his/her own page because many students sign out a different book every week!
I am so grateful to have these books available to my students. The books encourage and engage them in many ways. Some of the books are nonfiction, introducing the students to people whose lives can inspire perseverance in the pursuit of excellence. Other books are fictional accounts of real-life experiences like a young person's questions about his/her identity. Some of the books are available in multiple languages, which allows my multilingual students to see their native languages reflected and valued in the literature they read in school.
After almost two years of remote learning, it's such a gift to be able to provide students with a book that they can hold, turn the pages, and look at the words and pictures on paper. The smiles on their faces as they thumb through our book bins pretty much says it all. They relish the opportunity to select a book, and I'm so glad that when they come the following week, there are more books for them to choose. Thank you for helping to make this possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Hogges
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 5 other donors.Paying for Pianos!
Funded Apr 10, 2019As you can see from the photographs, digital pianos are now a focal point of our music classroom, all thanks to your generosity and commitment to providing piano lessons to nearly 500 middle school students! These digital pianos mark a significant shift in our school's commitment to the arts, and everyone is taking notice. In the first month of school, responses have ranged from the eager excitement of students to the impressed appreciation of parents and even the wistful regret of our visiting alumni asking, "Why didn't we have these last year?"
Our students in grades six, seven, and eight receive two piano classes per week, with 20-25 students in each class. In the second and third trimester, six more cohorts of students will cycle through the piano class. This means that by the end of the school year, I will have taught piano to over 200 children! Having the digital pianos also expands the possibilities for our general music curriculum, ensuring that every child in the school has access to a piano and will receive introductory piano instruction.
As you can see from the photographs, we are using a piano method that develops students' piano proficiency step-by-step, from learning the keys on the piano to learning notes on the staff. In just a few weeks, students have gone from saying "This is hard" to asking "Do you have more songs?" as they confront and overcome the challenges of learning to decode music's symbols and translate those symbols into sound. I wish you could be there to witness their childlike joy as disciplined practice and patience eradicate discouragement, and confusion gives way to confidence.
Each week, students also volunteer to perform a song for their classmates, and in the spring, they will share what they have learned with their families and friends at our school's first ever arts showcase. In addition to performing some of the piano method's pedagogical songs that are designed to teach and develop specific skills, I will make arrangements of some student requests for the showcase, including the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to introduce these students to more of what music has to offer and more of what they can accomplish with hard work and available resources. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude, but I hope I have given you a glimpse into why I believe these digital pianos were so important and what they have made possible for my students. Thank you for investing in their lives.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Hogges