Express Yourself - Creative Classroom Tools

Funded Oct 23, 2024

I am so appreciative for your generosity in funding this project for my Grade 8 students. The supplies and creative tools went to awesome use! We spent a month and a half on an extensive Poetry unit, learning different writing styles, experimenting with figurative language, reading and analyzing famous poems, and spending time creating their own, unique pieces of writing. The confidence of my students grew as well. Students who 'hated' writing before this unit became blossoming poets! They knew the culminating project was a compilation of all the poems they wrote during the unit. That's when the impact of your donations was truly felt!

As we began working on our Poetry Bare Books, I shared the plethora of new supplies with them. They were so stoked and thrilled to get started! A collection of colored Sharpies, four-colored pens, lettered stickers, stencils for drawing, and fancy felt markers gave my students the opportunity to really personalize their projects. Knowing that decoration and personalization was part of the project grade, in addition to compiling their poems, these supplies were shared across all five of my Grade 8 ELA classes. They were able to provide unique chances for self-expression and creative display. Even supplies like boxes of Kleenex (used for organizing the usage of paint) and granola bars (eaten for sustenance during long class times) were utilized!

Next steps will include ways to incorporate these wonderful resources in future projects. During our next unit (the class reading of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451), the 4 colored pens will be used for annotating in individuals books (color-coordinated writing of thoughts in the margins)! We have an upcoming assessment for the book called a Blackout poem, and the black Sharpies will be put to good use.

We are so thankful for a resource like Donors Choose, and for generous folk like yourself, for contributing so greatly, impacting my Grade 8 Students' moments of creativity.”

With gratitude,

Ms. G