Past projects 5
Organization for Mr. M's Class!
Funded Jun 1, 2024I deeply appreciate your support with this organizational system. Individual mailboxes are expensive, but an important functional tool in the classroom to ensure students keep their materials in the classroom (and thus we can avoid losing papers and evidence of their learning). Additionally, the mailboxes teach students ownership and responsibility for their learning materials - they must get their materials at the beginning of each class, and return them at the end of each class.
Thank you for financially supporting me with creating and maintaining a well-organized classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mr. M
This classroom project was brought to life by Baltimore City Public Schools.Studying Revolution
Funded Aug 4, 2021During this unit, students studied the essential question "What is Revolution and when is it justified?" They read a variety of short stories centered in revolutionary times, and began reading WE by Zamyatin, one of the original dystopian novels. Students studied various literary techniques such as characterization, setting development, descriptive language, and dialogue in order to write their own 750-word short story.
Students used their knowledge of revolutions from history class to create a short story from the perspective of an individual in a revolution; stories ranged from the perspective of a baker in Versailles during the French Revolution...to Toussaint Louverture's wife commenting on her experience of the Haitian Revolution...to a futuristic spin on the Boston Tea Party where protestors dumped Coca Cola products into the harbor.
Regarding WE itself, it has been so exciting to watch 10th graders read a college-level text and engage in profound discussions about moral math, love and suffering, and free will. One student of mine, who read 1984 in his free time (the novel Orwell wrote after reading WE), told me: "Mr. M, this book isn't like 1984." "Why not?" I asked. "It's better," he said.
Thank you to all who donated for this opportunity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. M
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and 4 other donors.The Body is Not an Apology: Teaching Radical Self Love
Funded Jul 5, 2021Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to study the book "The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love". In this summer enrichment course, students combined contemporary dance with reading comprehension and writing in order to create a final performance piece. Student used the poem at the beginning of the book, "My Mother's Belly", as a model to write their own poems honoring their bodies. They combined each stanza they wrote with an interpretive dance move that transitioned into the next stanza. They presented their poems and dances for the class on the final day of the program.
In the classroom, we read about the power of radical self love and used movement-oriented activities to support reading comprehension. The students got more and more comfortable with movement, and were able to reflect deeply on the "radical reflection questions" offered by the text. Through our exploration, students discussed the intersections of their identities, how comparison negatively impacts our relationship with the self, and the ways in which they have been asked to apologize for their bodies--as well as the times they have demanded apologizes from the bodies of others.”
With gratitude,
Mr. M
Let's Give The Stamped
Funded Sep 1, 2020Thank you for giving me and my students the opportunity to engage with the amazing books your donations have allowed me to purchase! This semester, my 9th graders read Dear Martin and are about to start Bronx Masquerade, and my 10th graders finished Stamped and are currently reading Long Way Down. Reading Dear Martin and Stamped, both of which focus on racial justice and racial identity in America, allowed us to delve into the real-world issues of racism and systemic injustice that have dominated the news and political discussion over the course of the past year, and in particular throughout the presidential election. Making these connections helps students process their real-world experiences in a classroom environment where their voices and ideas are heard, and there is a focus on collaboration, community, and deep engagement.”
With gratitude,
Mr. M
Let's Give Them Books!
Funded Aug 29, 2020Thank you for giving me and my students the opportunity to engage with the amazing books your donations have allowed me to purchase! This semester, my 9th graders read Dear Martin and are about to start Bronx Masquerade, and my 10th graders finished Stamped and are currently reading Long Way Down. Reading Dear Martin and Stamped, both of which focus on racial justice and racial identity in America, allowed us to delve into the real-world issues of racism and systemic injustice that have dominated the news and political discussion over the course of the past year, and in particular throughout the presidential election. Making these connections helps students process their real-world experiences in a classroom environment where their voices and ideas are heard, and there is a focus on collaboration, community, and deep engagement.
In my classroom, I ensure that all students are able to engage with the reading by providing a PDF of the chapter, a graphic organizer that students fill out for a grade, and a slide deck with notes and activities. Students work collaboratively in small groups, engage in whole group discussions, write responses to text-dependent questions, and read the chapter aloud. An example of this is photo 6, an activity students did with Stamped, which allowed students to break down the chapter into meaningful chunks of information. This level of engagement with the reading ensures that all students are able to follow along and comprehend the lesson.
Reading Stamped with my 10th graders was a particularly rewarding experience, and several students were interested by the connections between racism in the past and the present, and expressed how the variety of information and activities kept them engaged in the class and reading. Now reading Long Way Down, my 10th graders have the opportunity to discuss revenge and its role in the book, as well as their own lives. One of my students spoke to me in a break out room, explaining how he had lost his own brother to gun violence, like the main character in the book, and reading Will's story had made him tear up because he so deeply understood Will's perspective. So many of my other students have expressed their appreciation for being able to read books that reflect their own lives. Another memory, this time a 9th grader, stands out. After a lesson on the stereotypes faced by Black women, in which we watched two slam poems by Black women and read Dear Martin, chapter 8, a student stayed after class. She explained that she had never understood why dark-skinned Black women, like herself, were stereotyped and put down for having dark skin. She thanked me for teaching lessons that helped her better understand these experiences.
Books help us to see our connections to others, so we feel less alone.
Donor, I thank you for giving me and my students the means to create such connection, even in a remote world that makes life feel, at times, far away.”
With gratitude,
Mr. M