Past projects 3
Inspire the Desire to Read!
Funded Oct 19, 2017It is with great thanks that I share this note. Just today I had a student come up to me and say, "Mrs. Berry, I love this book. It makes me read on the weekend!" That is testimony to the power of having relevant and engaging books right at my kids' fingertips!
Every Monday we begin the week with a quick Book Talk and I make sure each student has self-selected reading material for the week. Students have "Reading Contracts" that they turn in to me and we sit with each other for informal conferences. Their excitement for their books is contagious and often times the kids will overhear each other and then want each other's books!
My next step is to host a "Date with a Book" event where I will set up the library tables to resemble a restaurant, complete with table cloths, placements and flowers. I will serve each table a selection of books to get a taste of and they will hopefully walk away with some new titles for their independent reading books!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berry
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 2 other donors.Inspire the Desire!
Funded Oct 18, 2017It is with great thanks that I share this note. Just today I had a student come up to me and say, "Mrs. Berry, I love this book. It makes me read on the weekend!" That is testimony to the power of having relevant and engaging books right at my kids' fingertips!
Every Monday we begin the week with a quick Book Talk and I make sure each student has self-selected reading material for the week. Students have "Reading Contracts" that they turn in to me and we sit with each other for informal conferences. Their excitement for their books is contagious and often times the kids will overhear each other and then want each other's books!
My next step is to host a "Date with a Book" event where I will set up the library tables to resemble a restaurant, complete with table cloths, placements and flowers. I will serve each table a selection of books to get a taste of and they will hopefully walk away with some new titles for their independent reading books!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berry
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 11 other donors.Inspire The Desire To Read!
Funded Oct 15, 2013When I told the kids about this project, they were very excited! Each morning they would come in and ask how close we were to have our project funded. I was completely overwhelmed by the quick response and was equally surprised when Donors Choose notified me to say that our request had been completed. The books arrived in separate shipments and that made for more excitement. Again, the kids would come in and look at the designated spot to see if a new shipment had arrived. While we waited for the entire order, I created a presentation to share, in the form of Book Trailers. (This is similar to a movie trailer or preview.) It was wonderful to hear their comments throughout the presentation: "Oh! I read the first one....you guys HAVE to read it!" "I can't wait to read that....can I have it first??" "That looks like such a good book!" I even had one student ask me about the organization Donors Choose, so he could tell his mother, who is also a teacher.
Finally, all the books had arrived and I set them up for the kids to get their hands on. Honestly, it was so much fun to
see them come in and crowd around the table and browse the books. It was clear that there would be no fair way to determine who would get to read the books first. We decided to leave sticky notes inside the back cover with their names on them and I would have to randomly choose one name to be the first reader. We left the sticky notes inside, so when the first reader was done, he or she could offer it to someone else who was interested.
Having these new books has generated much excitement and led to some great success stories. One reluctant reader was so taken with all the conversation by the other students, that she dove into one and I now have to work hard to keep up with her requests for new titles! Other students have happily been making "book commercials" based on their title to fulfill part of the independent reading requirements. Having these books has allowed conversations to happen between kids who may not have otherwise realized they have something in common. Just last week, I happened to "witness" an interaction between two kids that I had never seen talk to each other. One student was walking to his desk and noticed one of our books on another students' desk. He stopped, picked it up and said, "Hey, I'm reading this too!" There was a moment of pause, as the second student was clearly taken off guard by this unexpected conversation. Soon enough, they were chatting about favorite parts and it was clear a simple connection had been formed. I think one of the greatest impacts of having this project funded was that the kids are convinced that I am an adult who cares about their personal interests and they trust that I genuinely believe everyone can find something they will enjoy reading. I can't thank you enough for making this happen.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Berry