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Ms. Mercer's Classroom

  • Hubert H Bancroft Elementary School
  • Sacramento, CA
  • More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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show projects from all time

Past projects 2

  • A Classroom Library Where They Can't Stop Reading!

    Funded Nov 14, 2011

    Thank you very much for your donation to help build our classroom library. Your donation enabled us to purchase a variety of high-interest book titles, and make them available for students to read. The idea behind this was the desire to implement a reading period in the class. Studies have shown that independent reading is most successful when students have a choice of materials that they want to read. I've noticed a couple of things since we acquired the titles through this grant, that point to a positive impact for this grant.

    First, students are able to find books more quickly. Imagine a shopper looking for apples in a bin, and there are lots of apples that are not desirable (bruised, etc.). It will take a shopper longer to find the apples they want. If that half empty bin is then filled with fresh apples, shoppers will locate their fruit more quickly, not have to pick through apples they don't want. My theory is that students are finding books quicker, because there are more desirable reading titles in our library since the books purchased with the grant money have been added.

    Next, students show interest in reading the books, and do not have to be coaxed "to read". This is the goal of independent reading, that the students are reading on their own. They have also stated they find these books more interesting. The graphic novels in particular have been very popular.

    I think this shows a positive impact for the grant, and I thank you for making this possible.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Mercer

  • School Media Lab

    Funded Aug 30, 2010

    Thank you so much for your generous gift to our computer lab. We are already using this equipment. It has made making movies, and multi-media presentations easier and of much higher quality than we were able to do previously. As an example, the students have created this "stop-motion" thank you video in gratitude for your generosity. You can see it here: http://drop.io/donorschoosemercer/asset/thankyou-0002-wmv. Creating a stop-motion animation requires having a really good tripod, so even the least expensive part of this grant is essential for some of the work we are doing. We have also used both the Webcam and the Flip camera to do short videos about our school and friendship that are part of units we are studying. This has been important because with the large number of second language learners, I need to provide concrete examples of behavior and speech. Video is an invaluable resource for that.

    I know that you are anxious to hear back about the impact your grant is having, but there is even more that we will be doing in the future. Plans include Web video-conferencing with a class in New Jersey, and having students make stop-motion videos to teach phonics to our lower-grade students. Since we need to stay anonymous, I will post some of these to this drop http://drop.io/donorschoosemercer over the next year.

    My goal is to have students learning not just to make movies, but to write, tell stories, and do projects. The thank you film is a first step in that process.

    Thank you!”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Mercer

Students in my school come from many different cultures. The three main groups are Hmong refugees, Mexican immigrants, and African-Americans. Over 40% of students come from a home where English is not the predominate language. Although they come from far away, they themselves often do not travel much.

About my class

Students in my school come from many different cultures. The three main groups are Hmong refugees, Mexican immigrants, and African-Americans. Over 40% of students come from a home where English is not the predominate language. Although they come from far away, they themselves often do not travel much.

About my class

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