Past projects 3
One Story Can Change the World!
Funded Mar 31, 2023My children and I want to say THANK YOU. Your donations have impacted us in ways words cannot express. Being able to receive brand new books and not having students purchase them or maybe having to change the trajectory of the teaching was a blessing all on its own. With this specific novel, Night, I believe it is important to have the original book to be able to really make those text-to-self connections and real-world connections that we often teach and discuss in class.
As students begin to read the book, putting a face to the author who wrote such a tragic yet beautiful story, we are better able to sympathize with his story. This is an autobiography written to show Ellie Wiesel's horrible experience during the Holocaust at such a young and vulnerable age. Students first explored the cover of the book to gain a better understanding of what they were about to read and to engage prior knowledge that they may already have about the historical event, including World War 2.
Fortunately, every student in each of my classes was able to have their own copy and so each student is also responsible for annotating the novel as we read the chapters in class. I ask them not to read ahead but the students are so excited that sometimes they do!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Guaico
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.Let's Make Reading Wonderful for Kids!
Funded Jan 27, 2023First and foremost, I cannot thank you all enough. The impact this donation has made goes beyond words. Reading has never been more fun! Originally, before the donation was even a thought, we had planned on making print copies of the books in order for each student to receive their own copy. Although this is not a bad option, being able to have the original copies in wonderful condition for the students to own and love was something I really wanted for the kids.
The students were each given their own copy of the novel and one of the first things we did as a class was explore the cover of the book before reading. This is an activity I love to do with them because it allows them to tap into their prior knowledge of the unit (The Holocaust) and make any connections already stored in their minds. Students used the front and back cover of the novels to come up with a list of at least 5 words to use to describe the novel. The words the students ended up coming up with were thought-provoking and insightful!
We have begun reading the novel after introducing the unit for our Language Arts class. We do choral reading as well as listen to the audio. We often pause during times where students may have questions or are confused about certain words or sentences. It has been such a wonderful experience and will continue to be one as the students grow to love the story of Ellie Wiesel.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Guaico
Let's Make Reading Fun Again!
Funded Sep 17, 2021Where do I even begin? Grateful doesn't begin to express the amount of gratitude we as a class have for you all. Thank you will never be enough to express how blessed we truly are. We have been able to benefit from every single item from our wish-list: The cozy and comfortable rugs, the plethora of bins used to file papers and for extra work, the portable library cart used to store all our wonderful books, to the tray organizers that help keep myself and my students organized. I plan on using these resources as much as I can until they wear out!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Guaico
This classroom project was brought to life by The Allstate Foundation and 6 other donors.