Funded Jul 22, 2023Thank you so much for taking your time and investing your energy and heart into supporting "Diverse Texts in a Supportive Space". The culturally responsive stories which you helped to fund have been embraced and adored in my classroom. The comfortable seating you contributed to has permitted my students to feel cozy while diving into the books.
We read "The Day You Begin" together in both of my 5th grade classes at the start of the school year. The 5th graders are new to the building and new to one another. They related to the worries felt by Angelina and connected to her summer spent at home caring for family. We began to follow Angelinas lead and share our stories. I paired students up with a classmate who they did not know much about, and had them share their stories to figure out what they had in common, in addition to what made them fabulously, uniquely, themselves. They then took these discoveries and shared them in groups of six. The larger groups were tasked with finding out what all six of them had in common, and then were able to build upon their connections by constructing an index card tower of their shared attributes. We truly utilized this text to build our community while acknowledging what bonds us and what makes us fabulously unique.
We are utilizing "Pies from Nowhere", "Where Are You From", and "Change Sings" as cross-disciplinary E.L.A and Social Studies texts. These stories help to explain culture, family, tradition, and the battles of our ancestors. The picture books tackle tougher topics in an accessible way. These texts have been a vital resource in my cross-disciplinary instruction, as they have helped me reach all of my learners; especially my multilingual learners. We are so grateful to have these diverse texts and have the comfortability to bring them to life.
Your donation truly makes a difference on a daily basis.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pratt