Thank you so much for your generous donations! The amazing collection of poetry books that we received through this project helped to make our poetry project a success! Students were able to engage in a genre study of poetry, learning about the elements and different varieties of poetry through a study of the poems themselves. One of the goals of the project was to have poetry accessible to students in the classroom to enjoy and for students to develop a love of poetry. This goal was easily met! Students learned about different poets and choose some favorite poems to collect, developed their own poetry collection, developed an appreciation for poetry, and learned to write poetry. Students were also able to work on their reading fluency while reading their poems and their comprehension as they thought and discussed the poems, thus improving their reading skills.
The children in my classroom enjoyed and greatly benefited from having access to this collection of poetry. Thank you so much!”
The poetry books you helped fund for my classroom have made a huge impact on my students this year. When they first arrived, I couldn't keep them out of my students hands! They were so eager to read and reread them. My boys especially liked the one titled, Bug Soup, which has lots of gross bug poems...perfect for the boys!
Not only have my students been writing lots of poems about animals, seasons and special people in their lives, but their fluency has improved. Reading poetry naturally lends itself to a rhythm and sing-song pace that helps reinforce smooth reading.
Thank you again for this wonderful gift of words!”
With the help of your donation, I have been able to begin a poetry unit with all of my students. They are quickly learning the connections between music, lyrics and poetry. I already have students writing their own lyrics and accompaniments with the help of our new materials. The addition of these sound effect instruments has made it easy to keep them engaged in poetry. I think their favorite (and mine) have been the temple blocks.
I am humbled by your support of my classroom. As we face a major deficit in the School District of Philadelphia next year, my school is projected to be seriously overcrowded. I am moving out of my classroom and into the auditorium to make room for more classes, and I could not be more grateful to donors like you that give us materials to use in music class, wherever we are. Next year your generosity will impact even more children. Thank you from my students and from myself.”
I cannot possibly express my appreciation for the gift you have given my senior AVID class. We were so excited to receive Paradise Lost by John Milton. First of all, as you will likely read in their letters, they were grateful to have a book to take home. Secondly, they were eager to connect the story of Satan with the stories they already knew from the Bible.
As we started reading, the language really threw the students off. Milton writes in a poetic style, blank verse, with a lot of metaphors and allusions to obscure historical events and places. We were all really challenged to wade through the deep text. Fortunately, students started to paint a picture of the scenes in their minds, and then they were excited to feel like they were getting it.
I am seeing two very exciting results coming out of reading this book. The first is that they are coming to terms with the reading they may be expected to do in college. The second is that they have gained some confidence and aptitude in reading material as dense and poetically-worded as Paradise Lost. Without your donation, we could not have reached these important landmarks in their education and preparation for college.”
My classes wrapped up our unit on Poetry and as we reflected, the students were proud to discuss the different perspectives their cultures could bring to their work. They were proud to have written (for the first time) poetry about themselves in English (and for most, the first time writing poetry ever!). In sharing their work, they learned that they have more in common than they realized, and came to the conclusion that the immigrant experience is a very common experience- no matter how or why people leave their homes. Drawing from the library I was able to provide for them due to your generosity, they contemplated the experiences of various poets, read in their language, and learned and shared about their cultures! Validating and honoring all cultures and experiences, diving into their personal experiences in this way was powerful!
One student wrote this poem: Looking at truth in my old photo /Brings me memories of my people / I can't believe that I left Mexico / Two years ago /Looking at truth in my old photo / Dropping tears like a storm /And thinking about /The day I'm going back to Mexico / And that everything will be the same again / But for now everything is a dream / Being far away from Mexico is a dark dream ...Looking at truth in my old photo / Trying to paint my dreams of Oaxaca / With beautiful memories from my past /Jumping in the rivers, lying under the blue sky / In the middle of the forest, listening to nature / So I can still survive, without my Oaxaca /That old photo brings memories...
Finally, I want you to know that former students of mine have heard about my new found poetry library and are asking to check out the books, because they said they've never seen their "language in poetry". Thank you for your generous support. Know that you have greatly impacted the lives of my students! I'm thankful to donors like you who continue to support the arts in education, as I believe poetry to be one of the most personal forms of it....and I couldn't have made this meaningful of an impact with you.”
On behalf of my students, thank you for your generous contribution. The students in my Language Arts and Reading classes will benefit from your contribution both now and in the future. In times of limited resources, contributions such as yours make an incredible difference in what's available to our students.
My students have really enjoyed reading the novel and putting together their very own Poetry Slam. They now have a better understanding of poetry and a new passion for reading because YOU afforded them the opportunity to read a novel that they could relate to.
As a continuing reminder of your generosity, your name will be added to our
Donor Honor Wall in our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith-Hammock
This classroom project was brought to life by Harold Simmons Foundation and 3 other donors.
Hello! I am writing to thank you on behalf of myself and my students for contributing to our project of "Vibraslaps, Whistles and Bells, Oh My!" With the funding of this project, we received a rainstick, slide whistle, train whistle, flex-a-tone, ratchet, vibraslap and ocean drum. They have found their place in the classroom and all have been used many times in music class!
It was so fun to watch the students explore these sounds for the first time because they would just react in very honest ways- the slide whistle and flex-a-tone were accompanied by laughter, the ratchet and vibraslap with exclamations of, "Cooooool!" and the train whistle, rainstick and ocean drum with disbelief that an instrument could so realistically recreate those sounds! These are all "top shelf instruments", so they are reserved for kids who are really doing their job, and so they are also a great motivator of good behavior!
We have used the instruments for a variety of activities. On our last big music concert, one song talked about trains so we added the train whistle, another talked about a river and so we added the ocean drum. We have also used them as sound effects when reading and then acting out different stories. First Grade acted out "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and of course they chose the flex-a-tone for when the chair broke! We have also used them to bring another dimension to poetry and folktale.
#5 It is soft! We enjoy lounging on the rug to read a book, or lying on it for a short nap (which may or may not happen when Mrs. L is reading a book).
#4 We have created the best games to play! Our favorite is dividing the class into two teams, then having each line leader race to the correct letter after Mrs. Law calls out a letter sound. It's like "spoons", but without the spoons... or the deck of cards.
#3 Our whole class fits on it and we each have our own letter to sit on! One friend has reserved the letter T for the remainder of the school year. He really likes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. True story.
#2 It is the center of the action! We do all our favorite things on the rug... including sweeping up scrap paper. We have been known to fight over cleaning supplies.
#1 It was donated by you! We are thankful that you care about our learning!”
This year, thanks to all of you, I had the opportunity to add poetry to my curriculum. After reading "The Raven," my students were, "Hooked on Poetry!"
After reading poems from the different sections of each book, they were so excited about poetry that they soon were reading poetry instead of the popular chapter books.
Watching my students grow and learn from each book has inspired me to find ways to incorporate poetry in my other lessons.Through your donation, you have enrich my students' learning.
My students and I would like to thank you again for your donation and your interest in education.”
Thank you for your donation towards poetry books for my library. With your funding, I was able to purchase 35 poetry books of various reading levels for my students.
When the box containing the poetry books arrived, the students couldn't wait for me to unpack the box. Immediately, the students began to search through the books reading the poems. Several of the popular titles so far are "A Poke In the Eye", a book containing concrete poems; "Revenge of the Lunch Ladies", which contains poems about school lunches; and "In the swim", poems about animals in the ocean. These are all books that students would not enjoy were it not for your generous donation.
Poetry is fun and exciting and expresses how someone feels. You have helped open this world up for my students.
Roses are red,
violets are blue,
saying Thank you,
from us to you.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Reitnauer
This classroom project was brought to life by Build-a-Bear Workshop Foundation and 3 other donors.
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