Past projects 10
Literature as a Vehicle for Reflection and Revision
Funded Aug 13, 2024We are so grateful for your generous donations. Students dug deeply into both The Poet X and Heavy to write excellent literary analysis papers that both analyzed the novel and memoir AND connected back to their personal experiences.
Students also spent a lot of time discussing these books in really profound ways. All students had to complete both a paper AND lead a 45 minute discussion with evaluators about their chosen book, creating thought-provoking questions and pushing their thinking throughout.
Without you, this project owuld not have been possible, and we are very grateful.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
Mirrors and Windows to Explore Identity
Funded Aug 3, 2023I cannot begin to thank you enough for your generous donation that helped us get copies of Poet X and Heavy: An American Memoir for every student. Students really loved both books and found deep connections between what they were reading and their lived experiences.
Currently, students are in the process of writing a 7 page paper analyzing both books, comparing them to one another, and finally, comparing both texts to their lived experience. It has been a strenuous and taxing process, and students have dug deep to build these connections and analyze their lived experiences situated in the complex world we live in today.
Endless gratitude for your contribution, and know that these books you helped purchase will have a lasting impact on students' mindsets and perspectives for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 14 other donors.Lived Experience as Critical Lens to Analyze Literature
Funded Aug 9, 2022I cannot begin to thank you enough for your generous support of this project. Seniors recently completed our Heavy unit, where we read and annotated the entire book in class! Seniors are now in the process of using Heavy as the anchor text for their PBAT, a 5-8 page analysis essay they need to write and present to a group of peers and faculty in order to graduate. This year's PBAT is about the impact complex relationships have on a person's identity, and they are using both what they read in the memoir and their own personal experience as evidence to support their argument.
Seniors are excited to tackle this PBAT because they loved reading this book so much. To add to this excitement, the seniors had a chance to talk with Heavy's author, Kiese Laymon, and he was gracious enough to take his time to answer students' questions. In our conversation, Kiese remarked often about how much he loved students' thought-provoking questions, and that is a testament to both how much students took to the book AND how beneficial it was that each student had their own copy to read and annotate in each day. Endless gratitude to you; your support has and will continue to shape these students' senior year and beyond!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 6 other donors.Using Books to Explore our Individual and Collective Identities
Funded Sep 24, 2021It is hard to describe how impactful it has been for each senior in Ethnic Studies to have their own copy of Heavy. This unit, we were able to read together nearly every day and each student was able to annotate and take notes in the book.
Not only did we read, but students completed a journal side-by-side as we read, and students found that really impactful. Following the completion of the memoir, students completed an analysis on the chapter that was most significant to them, followed by a reflection on the journal prompts they responded to during the unit.
The final component of the summative assessment was to write appreciations and questions for the author of Heavy, Kiese Laymon. As an added bonus, Kiese agreed to come speak with us on Zoom and students were able to engage in dialogue with him.
None of this would have been possible without your support, and I am immensely grateful.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 22 other donors.AP-Worthy Annotators
Funded Sep 19, 2017My students and I are truly grateful for you and for your contribution that allowed our classroom to purchase dictionaries and highlighters. The addition of these items to our class has transformed the way kids think about words, look at text, and dig deeper for a greater understanding.
Particularly for my struggling kids, having the pocket dictionaries is extremely helpful for daily close reads and vocabulary lessons. Having highlighters handy allows students, especially more visual learners, to more effectively engage with each text.
Again, thanks so much for your contribution, and we hope you have a great holiday!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
Creating the Great Debaters of the 21st Century
Funded Jan 30, 2015I can't begin to explain to you how much these iPads have transformed both our Debate Team and our classrooms as a whole. Countless doors have been open for our students because of these iPads, and they feel exponentially more confident in each debate now that they have these iPads. My students have become better researchers, better writers, and more informed as citizens now that they are able to utilize iPads to conduct research, and this would not have been able to occur if not for your generous donation. My students and I are so grateful for you, and we hope you have a great rest of the Spring!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Donor and 9 other donors.Strengthening our Thirst for Knowledge
Funded Jul 27, 2014I cannot thank you enough for the donation to get my class project funded. As a result of your donation, my students have become more personally invested in their learning and their academic success in school.
High school is all about learning to deal with adversity and building our personal agency. My students struggle in these areas, but with your donation, we have begun to make progress in both of these realms. My students are starting to realize more and more what they can and and cannot control, and they have started to focus their energy only on those things they can control.
Thanks again, Uncle Buck, and I'm so excited to see you soon.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
Creating World Class Citizens...and Researchers
Funded Apr 9, 2014Words cannot describe how grateful my students and I are for your generous donation. Because of your kindness, our classroom has been equipped with state-of-the-art iPad minis, allowing instruction to truly be transformed.
Many of my students have traditionally resisted reading and writing, seeing them as mundane, boring tasks that are a waste of time. With the introduction of iPads into our classroom, students are now actively seeking opportunities to read and write, in nontraditional and unique ways.
Technology is constantly changing, and the use of iPads has allowed my classroom to stay up on the latest applications created to make classroom management even more efficient and effective. Students have become fully invested in the management techniques utilizing the iPads, and they seek out opportunities to use the iPads in this way.
Additionally, iPads have gotten my students interested and invested in becoming classroom managers to make the classroom run more efficiently. Students encourage each other so that iPads can be used, and they will call each other out if someone is off-task and inhibiting our use of the iPads.
Thanks again for your generosity; my students and I are eternally grateful.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
Julius Caesar: Laudable Hero or Pompous Pretender?
Funded Dec 29, 2013Your donation has truly done phenomenal things for my classroom. Because of your donation, my students were really able to dive deep into Julius Caesar and get a better understanding of William Shakespeare and his genius. Students were initially hesitant, but after an introduction to Shakespeare and the striking similarities between his works and various hip-hop lyrics, students became immediately invested. Without your generosity, none of this would have been possible, and because of you, my students are one step closer to maximizing their potentials and achieving great success.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
From the Darkness of "Night" to Enlightenment of Experience
Funded Oct 9, 2013Words cannot express how grateful my classes and I are for your generous donation. Because of your donation, I was able to purchase a class set of Night to be utilized as our culminating text for the unit. Students were engulfed by the book, and they really turned a page in terms of both reading fluency and comprehension.
Students coming into my 10th grade classroom are resistant to reading, particularly longer texts. Many of my students are struggling readers, leading to increased resistance. Night was the perfect book to bridge this gap because its intensity held my students' attention while using concise, yet direct language.
My students were able to make connections to Wiesel's experience during the Holocaust to their own personal experience, adding even more meaning to this powerful story. My students feel more empowered after reading, and this would not be possible without your significant contribution. Thanks again so much, and I hope you have a great holiday!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kim
This classroom project was brought to life by Zeist Foundation and 2 other donors.