Past projects 18
Literacy and Common Core Through E-Readers
Funded Oct 13, 2013We are on top of the world after we received your gift,
Through your generosity we are that much closer to realizing our goal of one electronic reader in every student's hands. As a result of your gift we expanded our library to include "The Feminine Mystique" and "Silent Spring" in the Advanced Placement curriculum. What a different experience it was for my students to highlight and share their comments electronically. One student even said, "writing online is so much easier." The discussion that took place after the reading was so much more rich due to the joy students experienced while reading using the technology. Again we could not have done this without you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
Common Core Literacy And History Through E-Readers
Funded May 15, 2013What an amazing class we are going to have this year thanks to your generosity. We are starting our unit on the French Revolution and the students' joy reading A Tale of Two Cities is amazing. Normally, if I would have handed a large novel to them the first reaction would have been "no way I will never read that!" Now just handing them the Nook was enough to get them started. That is the first battle won. Now the actual story can take over. We are able to also share our annotations, which is the main focus of my curriculum this year. Thanks to you our reading and discussions have come to life and the students are getting a real college experience through independence and complexity. Thank you for bringing this to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
Common Core Literacy And History Through E-Readers
Funded Dec 14, 2012This has been the ultimate gift to our classroom. We were able to read such titles as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Leaves of Grass. This is a feat in a high school classroom all on its own. However, because we were able to read them electronically we were able to share insights from home in real time. The annotation process is made very simple while reading the e-reader. Each one of the students now has a clear understanding of how to enage with text and use many of the Common Core requirements that are expectations of college bound students.
Each student is now able to take the next step as a reader and that is to be able to support opinions using annotated facts. Your gift and your genorisity will have long lasting implications in each of our lives.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
Our First AP Class: We Need Your Help
Funded Oct 9, 2012The day that we received our History in a Box flash cards the classroom was alive with excitement. Not only were we excited about your generous gift we were overwhelmed that we would no longer have to create 30 of our own flash cards weekly. We now can spend our time memorizing the vast amount of information the College Board wants us to know by May 15th. Each day we spend 15 minutes at home using our cards and the average score on our daily quizzes has risen from 4 out of 10 to 6.5 out of 10. The gift you have provided for our class means that most of us will score at least a three on the exam. That means we will qualify for college credit all thanks to your gift.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
This classroom project was brought to life by Kia Motors America and 3 other donors.Get Ready for Our First AP Class
Funded Sep 8, 2012The day that we received notification of your generous gift was the day we sighed a big collective "Aah"! You see this is our first AP course and the level of anxiety is at an all time high. By using the "5 Steps to a Five" test prep books, we are that much closer to success. We are now able to review topics and assess and weaknesses
almost on the spot for our next review session. This would have not been possible without the use of the books you helped us purchase. Now, we are more confident and are getting ready for our final 30 day preparation for the AP Exam.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
Common Core Literacy and History through E-Readers
Funded Sep 19, 2012We have just finished our first unit using the e-readers you so generously helped purchase for our classroom. We continue to say "Thank You"! We were able to read three works from the AnteBellum Period of American History. We read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Leaves of Grass" and "On Walden Pond". The highlighter and dictionary were invaluable to the English Language Learners in our classroom. We also loved the ability to share our highlighted text with each other and continue our conversations outside the classroom. We are very close to having a class set of e-readers and at that point this will become a much more common experience. Again, thank you for helping us in our academic pursuit of excellence.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 6 other donors.Literacy and Core Standards Using E-Readers
Funded Apr 14, 2012The students were taken aback by your generosity in giving.We started using the e-readers during our review of thematic concepts for Global Studies. As soon as the initial shock of having an electronic book in their hands wore off, the students became avid readers of international news.
One event that encapsulates the depth of learning that took place because of your gift happened at the end of the year. During our discussion of the Arab-Israeli conflict a few students were able to access two articles about an event and immediately compare the differing perspectives. The discussion that ensued was amazing. All this occurred because of our connectivity to the wealth of knowledge through electronic reading. ”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee
Literacy and Core Standards with E-Readers
Funded Dec 20, 2011What an amazing day it was when the Nooks arrived in our classroom. The idea of using e-readers came to me several years ago. As textbooks become more expensive and school budgets continue to shrink, e-readers and e-books have become a popular option for schools. After researching e-readers and programs at other schools, I was so excited to begin them in my classroom.
The students have been so excited to examine documents and primary sources on the e-readers.It has had a huge impact on their ability to cite and highlight text for sharing and commenting purposes.
We are so thankful for your support in the development of our college readiness and 21st century skills. ”
With gratitude,
Mr. Ellis-Lee