Past projects 26
Our ESL Library Needs TLC!
Funded Jun 3, 2015As a new teacher, packing up my classroom in June and unpacking it in just 24-48 hours before the first day of school in September is an art form I've simply not mastered yet. Thus, papers and books are everywhere! And not in the most logical of places. Though my classroom is large enough to hold a quite a lot of books, unfortunately they're mostly obscure titles and dilapidated copies. Certainly not very appealing to my English Language Learners, and also hardly accessible to the beginner students just getting their sea legs with the language. There's so much potential for my classroom to become an inviting reading space for middle-school aged ELLs, but it takes time, vision, and resources! Having beautiful wooden bookshelves and displays has been a wonderful step in this direction. Already my students find the previously hard to spot book titles catching their eye, and their curiosity leads them to ask to check out books from the library. These essential furniture pieces are helping to mold the space into a reading center that kids can make their own. A bit time-consuming to construct, yes, but totally worthwhile in the end. Thank you for your generous donation and support to help make this happen! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett
A Little Bit of Fun and Knowledge Everywhere
Funded Apr 28, 2015This first pilot of the student-powered projects initiative was a very special experience indeed. Initially, my students who participated in the application process couldn't quite understand that someone might donate money to our classroom based on what they wrote in the application. Getting revised drafts as I help the kids refine their ideas seemed just like schoolwork to them since they couldn't imagine the fruit their labor could produce. So of course, nothing replaces the priceless looks of surprise and yelps of glee my students had opening the packages and realizing that it was a direct result of their efforts. My students suddenly became voracious readers, checking out novel after novel in less than 24 hours turnaround. All of course while they promised they were keeping up with their school reading too! Even my newcomer ELL students, who struggle so much to keep up with their regular class texts, snagged the chance to thumb through fun reading for a change. As these books arrived around testing and finals season, this special mini-library--just for them and requested by one of their own--was a wonderful gift made possible with your generous support. Thank you again, and I hope that the wonderful results of this initial student-powered project round inspires my other students to realize the possibilities that await them too! A heartfelt THANK YOU once more!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett
Share the Joy of Childhood Classics with ESL Learners
Funded Jan 2, 2015Writing this project was a particular joy for me because it brought back strong nostalgia of my first time exploring the far off lands and adventurous tales told in children's classics like The Phantom Tollbooth and James and the Giant Peach. For my newcomer ELL students, these treasured stories are mostly unfamiliar to them. For my ELLs who have lived in the U.S. for a while now or were born here, seeing these titles while we unpacked them brought smiles to their faces as they remembered reading them themselves or perusing their covers some time in elementary school.
Though there is rarely a break in learning to master difficult grade-level novels, articles, and textbooks, slowly building a leisure library of books specifically for my ELLs has been a wonderful gift that your generation donation has brought our classroom. It has helped to create a space where students know they can come to explore books without pressure nor expectation. In fact, the third picture I've uploaded is of two of students who are particularly reluctant to speak or read aloud in English for fear of ridicule. I encouraged them to use their free time to check out a few of the new books, and to all of our great surprises, the boys found themselves engrossed in the stories for quite some time, even confidently reading aloud the words they could decode with ease.
While it is certainly my secret wish that my students come to love these well-known titles as much as I do, just seeing their curious fingers turn one more page to see what happens next brightens my day.
Thank you again for your wonderful contribution to help make this project come true. Your support is appreciated beyond measure!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett
Getting Materials We Can Understand
Funded Dec 16, 2014You cannot imagine how grateful I am for your donation, which enabled my classroom to have an all-in-one printer. Its usefulness and convenience is beyond measure. There are so many materials that need to be produced for students so that they're easily accessible. While some fortunate schools have students wired up to their eyeballs, the access mine have to such resources is still more limited than I'd wish. Another reason why your donation has been so helpful is that it's allowed me to tailor materials even further to meet the needs of my students and their parents. I'm constantly adapting handouts to include simpler English, chunked sections, and native language support. For parents too, I'm able to send important notifications home with translation help that simply wouldn't happen on a reasonable timeline, if at all, were I to use conventional channels. Thank you so much for recognizing how essential this kind of equipment is for my classroom, and for your generous support of our work as teachers to ensure students have what they need.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett
Keep Talking Happy Talk in ESL
Funded Dec 30, 2014Ask any of my students, and most will tell you they love to play online computer games. Yet, give them new tech that's meant to be used for learning and skill-building, and their eyes grow big with wonder and curiosity. For some, it's seeing two of their worlds intersect. For others, it's the first time they've heard a recording of their own voice reading aloud. Despite the learning curve, it was fun to see how each of my students slowly grew more comfortable with the tech and the idea that it's worthwhile to hear themselves narrating stories aloud. Hearing themselves on playback, they naturally learned to figure out how to refine their pronunciation, volume, and fluency in order to communicate clearly. These resources and the practice they've enabled have been extremely helpful for all my students, no matter their English proficiency level. Thank you again for your generous funding to help enable this. It is so very appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and 19 other donors.Listen, Learn, Love! Audio to Help ESL Learners
Funded Sep 7, 2014As expected, my students were pleasantly surprised by the headphones and audio set received thanks to your generosity. When I set up the headphones for students to use the first time, they gaped at me in wonder as I brought out the carrying case. A chorus of "Miss, what is that?", and then, "That looks cool, can I have it?" filled the room.
These days, the initial awe has worn off. The students now expertly distribute headphones amongst themselves to get started on class assignments that ask them to listen and read along with a central course text or to listen to a short story and summarize the gist. It warms my heart to witness when students beginning to help and teach each other to switch audio channels or adjust the volume on the headsets. Having a shared classroom resource that everyone is learning how to use together helps generate these wonderful little moments.
These resources have quickly become very helpful to lessons. They assist the learners that need audio support to better follow a challenging reading or those that are building fluency and benefit from hearing the flow and intonation of a native speaker. For others, it's just fun to hear a children's story or poem come alive through the magic of reading out loud. Truly, it's become an essential feature in my classroom, and I look forward to maximizing its benefits even further going forward.
Thank you again for helping to make this possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Moffett