Ms. Dunbar's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 6

• Social Justice in Grade-Level Texts

  Funded Jan 1, 2023

  As middle school teachers, we understand how important it is to have students reading texts that are engaging and keep them motivated to keep reading. However, reading a great book doesn't always provide the appropriate opportunity to develop the skills demanded by the common core. These skills require texts that are complex, characters that are many-layered and experience change, themes that aren't cliche or simple. The dialogue between characters has to be carefully crafted and nuanced to reveal aspects of character as well as aspects of the story that aren't too obvious, that push students thinking. The common core standards students practiced in these novels are listed below:

  RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

  RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

  In order to persevere through these challenging learning experiences, students must be engaged in a text they care about, and thankfully, middle school students care more about social-justice than just about any other topic. Thank you so much for providing this opportunity for our young readers!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar

  This classroom project was brought to life by Seed to Read and 9 other donors.

• Social-Justice Themed Texts for EL Students

  Funded Dec 7, 2022

  Animal Farm is an enduring classic for a reason. One reason our students love reading Animal Farm is the connections they make between the fictional world of the Farm and their lived social and political contexts, both historical and modern. We have a very diverse student body with lots of families who come from other countries around the world. These students bring with them rich histories from their home countries and together, a class of students can develop a complex and layered understanding of the story full of shock, dismay and reverence but most important to our middle school students: justice and the idea of fairness. This high engagement allows teachers to then introduce the common core state standards which are very challenging. The high engagement paves the way for students to persist.

  Some of the standards taught using this text are:

  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 - Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3 - Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

  These rigorous standards can be especially difficult for our students who are still learning English. The illustrated copies give students some support to unpack the ideas of the text so they too can learn these rigorous skills.

  Your donation has secured some learning for all students at our school. Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar

  This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 4 other donors.

• More Classics in the Classroom

  Funded Feb 21, 2018

  A Midsummer Night's Dream had such a positive impact on my students! For many, this was their first, and maybe their last, experience reading Shakespeare. We read this text at a time of year when students were deep into testing season. They really appreciated reading a play, which was a break from the norm.

  Because we realized that during testing season, students may not have had the stamina to read ALL of the play EVERY day in class, we decided to differentiate how students would consume the story. We read some scenes silently, acted out others as a group, and watched the 1999 film productions to fill in some gaps along the way. This allowed students, who are at varying reading levels, to access the content in a way that met them and their skills where they are. Seeing the movie version allowed lower skilled students to gain some background knowledge that would help them to visualize the story, the setting and the characters, so that when they were ready to read the next scene, they could recall scenes from the film to aid in their understanding. Similarly, reading the lines out loud allowed students to verify their comprehension by trying on different characters and reading with inflection.

  At the end of the year, students compared the character motivations and themes to other books we read during the year, like Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies, and found plenty of connections to write about for their final project. In our end of year survey, several students reported how much they loved reading Shakespeare, and wished we had spent even more time on a Midsummer Night's Dream.

  I can't wait to read this play with my students for years to come. Because of your generosity, hundreds of students will have exposure to this great work.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar

• Classics in the Classroom

  Funded Oct 18, 2017

  In this unit, one skill we will be working on is CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.9 which asks students to, "Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new." Lord of the Flies is a great text to help students learn these skills since the story uses many allusions to biblical and mythological creatures. For example, the "scar" in the island left by the plane is an allusion to the "serpent" in the Garden of Eden. Students will then need to make the connection between the temptation of being on an island alone without supervision, and the temptation of the Garden of Eden.

  In my classroom, we read as a whole class, students taking turns reading out loud to the class. I jump in to pause, and ask students to talk to each other about the reading periodically, which allows them to ask and answer questions from each other, and develop their understanding of the text. Lord of the Flies is filled with drama and suspense, so these "turn-and-talks" will harness their excitement and encourage student to dig deeper into the text as we go.

  We will also be making connection back to our previous class novel, Animal Farm. The themes of power and influence demonstrated in both books will continue to be a guiding conversation, and comparing the characters and events along the way will enrich students understanding of these common themes that we see repeated in different ways in most texts we read.

  Thank you so much for making this experience possible for my students! We are so lucky to have these texts.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 4 other donors.

• Apps Save Learning Time

  Funded Dec 19, 2014

  Thank you so much for your donation of iPads! My students were over the moon about a recent project they completed! Using an app to create a research presentation allows my students to engage not only in learning about communication of information, but also to learn vital skills in technology and digital media.

  This project uses an app that allowed students to create videos of themselves, spliced with images from their research, and slides of their writing. Students were then able to present to their classes, and submit their project to their teachers digitally, making assessment and feedback more timely for students, a crucial piece to making learning meaningful.

  In the future, I am hoping to integrate more apps, like Confer, an app that will allow me and my students to track their learning over time by collecting evidence in conferences, setting learning goals, and tracking those goals. Next year, when I share students with other teachers, we will be able to easily communicate across content areas about students growth in reading and writing skills.

  Thank you so much for helping us to access the Common Core through blended learning! My students and I are so grateful!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar

• Technology for Literacy

  Funded Oct 20, 2012

  Thank you so much for your generous donation to my 7th grade Language Arts classroom. In the months since receiving our gifts of a VGA cable, PC speakers, digital camera and memory cards, my instruction and the students' learning has been hugely diversified and enriched.

  With the speakers and VGA cable, I am able to show my students important documentaries like, "Middle School Moment" from PBS's Frontline series, a program that used research components and personal testimony to communicate the importance that the middle school years have on high school graduation. I am also able to use video clips from youtube.com to capture the attention of squirmy pre-teens, prior to accessing text.

  Using the memory card, I am able to store images of my instructional tools including graphic organizers, texts, and student work. This allows students to see the evolution of a piece of writing, without wasting valuable instructional time fumbling for papers. This really came into play during editing a revising, where I could show the "before & after" versions of writing to my classes. You've made a difference for my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Dunbar