Past projects 2
Book Clubs Aren't Just for Old Ladies
Funded Aug 4, 2019I just want to reach out to express my sincerest thanks for helping provide books for book clubs in my language arts classroom. Just as school was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, I was preparing to use these books to create a book club experience for my students. They were going to get to choose the topic they wanted to read about most and were to be placed in a group with peers who had a similar interest. The way I manage book clubs provides students with an opportunity to be held accountable for their reading and understanding of the text they chose. We focus on asking higher order thinking questions and students are expected to come to a discussion prepared to discuss using their created questions. We examine what a good academic discussion looks like, what it means for a conversation to have stamina, and I teach them what it means to be respectful and attentive. Without these resources, I would not be able to provide students with an array of choice that is so important to a middle school student.
Using these particular resources provides motivation for a lot of my struggling students. Motivation is huge for them and difficult access when they believe they "hate" reading! Because students were able to choose their topic of interest, they are more vested in the book club idea. Because students are expected to come to the table prepared and ready for a discussion by their peers, they are much more likely to take the reading seriously, which also speaks to motivation. I created this project in hopes of motivating my toughest readers.
In my teaching experience, I have learned that there are not any students who hate to read. There are students who have not found what they like to read...there's a huge difference!! Through the Donors Choose platform, I have been able to give my students a variety of choice, which is so important to any reader. I appreciate donors like yourself who believe in what teachers do in the classroom everyday. I also appreciate people who believe in the love of reading. I would not be able to offer such experiences to my students without funding from people like you. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Sullinger
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and one other donor.Staying GOLD in 6th Grade
Funded Dec 13, 2018First, I would like to thank you for funding my project. The kids were so excited about getting to read from brand new books. The story had such a profound impact on my students this year that three of the four classes clapped at the end. Many students were taken back by the ending and shocked to see that the author killed off two major characters within about 15 pages of each other.
Since S.E. Hinton does such a wonderful job with character development in this story...making her characters easy to connect to and making them so real, I decided to focus on this for our reading of the novel. The kids worked in what I call a Book Club which requires students to read a lengthy section and then talk about it with their peers. There were some powerful conversations taking place around the room whether the kids were struggling readers or master readers.
After finishing the book, students created a literary food truck with a focus on character. Their food trucks featured character analysis sections which showed me that they understood how S.E. Hinton developed her characters. Making those connections between characters is essential to truly understanding her story. After the food trucks were complete, our whole academic tram participated in a good truck festival where they evaluated each Others projects. The end of the day featured a concession stand stocked full and watching the movie version of the text. Kids even dressed up like Greasers and Socs to add more to the day and we raffled off Stay Gold baskets which included a copy of the book and movie.
Again, thank you so much for funding my project. I think this story will continue to have an impact
on a student's feelings about reading and will be something they always remember reading while in my class.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Sullinger