Past projects 4
Budding Bookworms Need Your Support
Funded Dec 5, 2011I always have clear expectations for using the materials that I receive from my funded Donors Choose grants. Yet, each time, I am surprised. As usual, children is their wonderfully exploratory ways uncover new ways to use the materials. The last few months of the year, the projector was coupled with an ELMO document camera during story read-aloud time and reading workshop. The projector helped to improve student reading comprehension of both literature-based and social studies texts as whole class discussions were held around questions based on the texts. Since the ELMO was coupled with the projector, the entire class could focus their attention on one aspect of the text (like a word or an illustration) as one of their classmates shared orally. The projector greatly helped to recapture my students interest in reading at a time of the year when their minds are usually focused solely on summer vacation.
What surprised me most was not just the attentiveness of my students during whole class literacy lessons, but also the fact that they chose to use the projector and ELMO when they met in small writing groups and in book club groups. Children independently used the projector to share their thoughts, questions and plan their continued work together. I was shocked at how much they loved their new learning tools. I look forward to developing new ways to use the projector with my students again next year. Thank you for helping to make literacy come alive in my classroom with your generous donation of a projector. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilder
Small, Beautiful, Wonderful, Important Things
Funded Dec 14, 2010I have great news! The non-fiction books that you donated to my class, have had a tremendous impact on the reading skills of my students. Using these books, my students have learned how to get their minds ready to read non-fiction texts using the captions, photographs, index, table of contents and section titles. They have learned how to identify the topic sentence and sentences with supporting details in the books, and have applied these elements of non-fiction texts in their own writing about grasslands and seeds.
As a result of reading the books about plants independently, as well as listening to the books read aloud, my students have learned new vocabulary and have also improved in their ability to read and understand non-fiction. My students have voluntarily used the books to take notes, and use as a resource to answer their own questions about plants. The listening center has just added to the enthusiasm of reading non-fiction texts in my room. My students wait impatiently for their turn to listen to Growing Vegetable Soup and other books on tape. I am still genuinely surprised at how many different and unexpected ways the books have helped my students to grow academically.
In the years to come, when I think back about this unit, I will always remember your generosity with great appreciation. The learning that my students have experienced as a result of your donations will always bring a smile to my face.
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With gratitude,
Ms. Wilder
This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and 5 other donors.From Draft to Book: Young Writers Need Your Help!!
Funded Dec 2, 2010I am writing this letter to express my gratitude for your generous donation to my classroom. The glue sticks, pencils and markers that you donated have ensured success for my students during our class writer's workshop period all year. The materials were used to help students take their written pieces from the draft stage to the published stage. Pencils were used by students to brainstorm writing topic ideas and to "free-write" the drafts of their stories. The markers and glue sticks were used to create beautiful illustrations for published student books.
As I look at the photos of my students working on their written pieces, I can tell from the studious and focused looks on their faces that they take their work as authors very seriously and that they engage in their work with pride. Their written work clearly shows how much new vocabulary they have acquired this year. This is critical for students who are at such an early stage in their acquisition of English language skills.
My school is currently facing monumental budget cuts. Had it not been for donors like you, my class would have gone without this year and my writing curriculum would have suffered greatly. Thank you so very much for all of your support!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilder
A Big Job for Little Hands
Funded Sep 11, 2010It is with great gratitude that I write this letter to you all. The supplies that were purchased definitely went to good use in our classroom in ways that I could not have imagined. The children have used the pencil cases to help organize their materials. This has given them easy access to the materials that writers use and helped them to maximize the time that they spent drafting their written stories. The children also read the drafts of their stories aloud to each other and used the pencils to record the verbal feedback that they provided to each other about these stories. It was wonderful to watch!
Recently, the children began the process of publishing their 3D puppet personal narrative stories in preparation for our publishing party. You should have seen the pride on their faces as they used the pencils, markers, sharpeners, scissors and collage materials to create the illustrations for their narrative stories. They are so proud of the illustrations that they have created. I can see in their faces and in their work that they see themselves as real illustrators and authors, and have a deeper understanding of the connection between the illustrations and the text of their stories.
Our school is currently facing a budget shortfall, so without your help, my students would never have had these vital resources. For children in the early stages of acquiring the English language, vocabulary and language acquisition is one of the most important indicators of continued academic success.
It is donors like you that make the dreams of teachers come true!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Wilder