Mrs. Radway's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 70

• Prairie Please 2025

  Funded Mar 29, 2025

  The books have rolled in and I have started the brainstorming process of how to teach each to the kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-graders! My students love to participate in these lessons bring a wide variety of literature to life from authors and illustrators they had yet to experience. We always touch on other works by those authors and art techniques the illustrators use to help convey the story. Then there is a fun activity for the kids to do with each of the books. Thank you for providing these books before the summer so I have some time to develop whole new lessons that I can share with my students and with the librarians in the district! Cheers to you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.

• Let's Read About Wildfires!

  Funded Jan 22, 2025

  Thank you so much for providing these books to the library for my students to learn about wildfires. While we live in the South Dakota prairie, it was a great topic of conversation on what people are living through in the wildfires that were sweeping through the LA area. Reading these books allowed students to ask questions, develop empathy for the people going through this hardship, and think about what can be done to help. Thank you for providing a larger perspective than what we experience in a day-to-day scenario here in South Dakota! My students really enjoyed the stories and discussion!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

• Loved "I Survived?"; Try "Girls Survive!"

  Funded Apr 9, 2025

  I cannot wait to share these adventure books with our fifth graders! Thank you very much for funding this project before the end of the school year so that this year's fifth graders can dive into whatever historical story they want! Their fifth grade teacher will be excited to know that everyone can continue seeing if they would be able to survive natural disasters or conflicts of the past!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• Mock Caldecott 2025: Analyzing Picture Book Illustrations

  Funded Dec 3, 2024

  The Mock Caldecott unit is by far one of my favorites to teach each year. Funded completely by the DonorsChoose community, I select new books published this year that have the possibility to win the Caldecott Medal. This year I read a total of ten books with the students (and had others in a browsing box) and we looked at the illustrations in detail. Next week students will vote on their favorite illustrations from the unit and we will hold our very own Caldecott Medal mini-ceremony. Thank you for providing this rich experience for my students. We learned about a lot of illustrators and had a great time talking about books, all because of your generosity!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.

• Author Studies: Connecting With Books We Love

  Funded Oct 3, 2024

  These books are amazing additions to our library! Thank you so much for helping to fill in some series of our favorite characters. Characters like Mo, King, Kayla, the adventurers in Ravens Pass, the crayons, and so much more help us to experience the joy of reading as we follow them in the next adventure. Reading is such an important lifelong skill, and it is truly developed when students get to select books that interest them. Our library collection would not be as robust as it is without your generous support. Thank you for believing in reading; thank you for believing in my students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 5 other donors.

• I'm Not Naughty, I Just Need to Learn a Skill!

  Funded Sep 18, 2024

  Thank you for these new books for our library that will help teachers share with their students.

  I read Screens Away Time to Play to all of first grade to reinforce the necessity of finding other things to do outside of school besides our screen. Students had a great time discussing different things they could do with their friends or families that don't involve a TV, computer, tablet or phone. A message also went home to parents reminding of the importance of screen-free time.

  I also used some of these books in small groups or one-on-one with students as needed. The second picture shows me reading with a student (this was staged -- when we actually did the reading she had calmed down from what was bothering her). We were able to work through some big emotions by seeing how the main character in the book handled a similar situation.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 2 other donors.

• Let's Read and Laugh to the End!

  Funded Aug 14, 2024

  My readers have been devouring these books you purchased for our library for this project!

  One fourth grade teacher is reading aloud The One and Only Family, the final book in the series. I cannot keep those copies on the shelf! They want to read along with her. Another fifth grade teacher used the Aliens Are Coming picture book as a lesson when talking about evaluating resources online -- that we can't trust everything we read online without investigating the source. Such a perfect connection to that book. The Bluey books have been flying off the shelves and being loved by our kindergarten readers. A third grade teacher already has plans to use Ew Haiku in her poetry lessons coming up in April.

  The stories could go on and on!

  Thank you for providing new literature for my staff to use in refreshed lessons and for my students to simply enjoy reading! Your donation makes a huge difference!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 8 other donors.

• Prairie Please 2024

  Funded Mar 27, 2024

  All of the books have arrived and we librarians are collaborating on making engaging lessons for each of them. We love making lessons that connect these South Dakota award nominees with students lives. I am excited to share these books with our kindergarten through third grade students. Lessons will begin in January and continue until the vote in late March.

  My students love being part of the statewide vote. This would not be possible without your generous support as our library budget would not be able to accommodate purchasing all 20 books each year. This community really comes through for our readers each and every year for this project, and for that I am forever grateful!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway

• One Poem Inspires Another

  Funded Jan 28, 2024

  Thank you for supporting this project! The kids perused the poetry books throughout the month of April and chose a favorite poem to transcribe onto paper for their Poem in the Pocket day. The paper pockets are lined up in our hallway for the student body to enjoy! I used other books from this project in mini lessons to teach various poetry concepts. The kids roared with laughter when reading Chester van Chime who Forgot How to Rhyme. While figuring out rhyming words in the book seemed easy, when they tried to write their own rhyming stanzas it proved difficult. We used Out of This World: Star Studded Haiku as a mentor text to practice counting syllables before writing haiku poems of their own. This project was so rich with content and examples because of your support! Thank you for helping this poetry unit dream come true with fresh, new poems and poets!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Radway