Past projects 2
Helping Students Understand the World and Themselves
Funded Aug 3, 2023Thank you so much for your generosity and willingness to help open doors for students. In my AP Lang class, students study rhetoric throughout the year, learning how to analyze how writers craft text as well as becoming crafters of their own texts as well. This is a powerful step in their learning journey as they strengthen their content knowledge through reading, which then, paired with the writing tools they develop, empowers them to confidently share their perspectives on key issues in the world around them. Fostering this ownership of learning and confidence in their own voices to provide insight and solutions is critical to the next generation tackling the challenges to come.
In particular, we utilize book clubs in our class. This allows small groups of students to engage with the text together and support and challenge one another to develop deeper critical thinking. It also allows students to dive deeply into something they are more passionate about for a more authentic learning experience. Titles cover a wide range of issues from the environment to social justice to science/technology. The books you helped fund fill in key gaps/interests students have requested, and the results were great. Radium Girls was requested by students themselves, and Factfulness filled a void my student's noted in seeking an optimistic view of our changing world. Quiet has been particularly powerful for my introverted students to see their power and strengths amidst a world that often seems to focus on and celebrate extroversion, so for my students who selected it, that was a really powerful book club to build momentum and confidence. None of this could have happened without your support”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Farnsworth
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 2 other donors.Preparing Future Leaders Through Critical Reading
Funded Nov 15, 2021Thank you so much for your support in helping purchase new, engaging, and thought-provoking texts for my students to work through in book club groups. Listening in on their conversations inspired me as these young people were learning so much about our society and considering major issues tied to our economy, environment, education, technology, etc. and making connections between their reading and our world today. This is the powerful work of education to equip students with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and confidence to face today's challenges and help create tomorrow's solutions.
Specifically, in our book club project students met for discussion every Friday. They set their own reading schedule and annotated as they to prepare for those discussions. They added to their vocabulary, made connections, tracked how the author crafted the text, and the argument being developed throughout the text. The project culminated with a group one-pager project and an individual analysis essay.
Your support in financing this project helped students interact with their peers and with real-world issues in a way that they will hold onto and are already applying to their argumentative writing. Critical thinking at this level simply would not have been possible without your support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Farnsworth