Past projects 5
SELF ADVOCATE! Refuse to Be Silenced/Speak Up for Your Education
Funded Apr 24, 2021Thank you for your support of the SELF ADVOCATE! Refuse to Be Silenced/ Speak Up for Your Education project. The learning community I work within is located in East Los Angeles and is thus connected to the legacy of civil rights activism stemming from historic moments including the student walk outs of 1968 where high school students demonstrated to advocate for culturally relevant content as well as equity in access to quality education.
By providing students their own copy of Malala Yousafzai's book I Am Malala, students have a window into the larger view of educational equity across cultures and around the world. Building on the foundation of local history and extending into Malala's more recent account of equity in access to quality education as a human right, students could engage a comparative analysis of their immediate lived situation.
Importantly, the text provided to the students is available in two lexile levels since a young reader's edition was also made available. The reading is accessible to differentiated instruction which allows for inclusion of more students including English language learners in the reading experience.
These three things: cultural relevance, personal hard copy of the text, and options in lexile level make the text more success oriented for learning experiences in my classroom. Thank you again for your ongoing support and please continue this form of advocating for my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa
This classroom project was brought to life by Oak Foundation and 3 other donors.Sit Chill & Read
Funded Jul 20, 2021Students are going to enjoy the treat of sitting and chilling with a book during independent reading time in class!
Thanks so much for supporting my students and enriching their learning journey.
Seating options in the classroom acknowledges students ability to choose how they want to experience reading in the classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and one other donor.At Home Social Justice Library for All
Funded Dec 27, 2020By reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, my students are able to experience a mentoring experience. They learn about the legal profession, what a lawyer does, how the system works, and how the system fails. Importantly, this book was available in a version adapted for young adults so we have the text at two reading levels to reach more students where they are.
Since my school is a magnet with a linked learning pathway in law, students benefit from exposure to the legal profession in the real world. This book tells a true story about the fight for justice. By reading about the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned students hear a testament to how one person can make a difference, how they might make a difference in the world.
Especially meaningful is that the students each received their own copy of the book for their personal library at home. This is more meaningful than borrowing a book from the class library. This encourages a life long love of books, reading, and learning.
Thank you for your support of the student development into upstanding civic participants. Please know that you have made a difference in the lives of many young persons in need of encouragement.
Infinite appreciation!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 6 other donors.Social Justice Book Club & Absolute Truth
Funded Dec 12, 2020Believe me when I tell you that it is challenging to encourage students to focus on reading. The solution to this challenge is providing books that students want to read, that pique their curiosity, or that relate to their life experience. In my classroom, reading looks a lot like opening a pdf on a chrome book computer.
By placing a book in the students' hands, we provide an alternative activity through reading and this makes reading all the more desirable. Once a student reads one book that they can connect with, where they can see themselves in the story or in the characters, then the student knows what is possible through reading. it is only through this experience that students can understand that reading is about learning to read the real world and how we might find a place within it.
Sherman Alexie is an amazing author for my high school students because he writes about difficult aspects of adolescence. Threads of identity including indigenous, native American, male and teenager, are woven into a tapestry of comedy and tragedy. Student readers relate to the main character's journey as similar to their own. if the details are not identical, they are close enough to be meaningful.
Most importantly, the students in my class received a copy of the book for their own library. Not a book they return but a book they keep. This ownership will also support a life long habit of finding joy in possessing books because of the possibility and potential books represent.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Infinite appreciation for your support of literacy and the love of books.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 2 other donors.Stand-Up Page Turners: A Social Justice Book Club
Funded Aug 8, 2020There are several powerful results from this reading project. First, the students actually got to hold a book and turn pages with their hands. Second, the students got to choose the book they wanted from the short list. And third, this is the first novel in many of the students home library. I am so grateful for your generosity and encouragement because my students are so appreciative of their learning experience.
To begin with, we are studying online this semester and it looks like we will continue online school next semester as well. Everything we do is mediated by technology. Most of the writing is even digital. Most of our textbooks are digital. Most of our literature is old and in digital form. With these books, the students have something to hold on to as they journey beyond their homes and experience literature as an event.
Importantly, these novels are all young adult genre, coming of age narratives with a social justice theme. The characters in the books are relatable because the readers are the same age and also living similar adventures in urban life. The content is relevant as our students consider who they are being today and how they imagine their future self in the world. Relatable and relevant, the students had a hard time choosing just one book to read because they all sound interesting.
Last but not least, the students get to keep these books for their personal library. I made a bookplate, ex libris with the student's name in each book to make them truly personal and possessive. Once you start building a personal library, you never know how far it will go!
All in all, having these books with fascinating stories and pages you can't wait to turn has been the highlight of fall semester. As an educator, my hope was to inspire the students to read, to see something of themselves in the characters, and to make better sense of their own experience of the world through the journey from cover to cover.
It has been wonderful having something tangible to hold on to during these challenging times of isolation. I think we connected with the characters in the novels as well as to each other as we shared our adventure in interpretation in class.
Thank you again for all the good you brought to our lives.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Rosa
This classroom project was brought to life by A Generous Donor and 10 other donors.