James "El Matador" Hill's Mustache

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This time last year I was preparing my classroom for another group of fantastic first graders. Little did I know that all my planning would be for naught because my principal would decide six weeks into the new school year to move me to kindergarten. The transition was painful for both myself, my exiting first graders, and my incoming kindergarteners.

When I received notice that my donors choose project had been funded I was thrilled! My first graders could handle the rickety make-shift easel I had contrived for everything from read-alouds to math problem solving to shared writing. But with the new babies, I was very nervous that their lack of gross motor skills would cause the contraption to come tumbling to the ground (and on top of them)! Your generous donation provided for me and my new students a safe and extremely useful easel on which to do read the morning message, compare and contrast, and explore math concepts.

Thank you so very much! ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Lucas

Wow! Have your books made an impact on my students! Not a day goes by that a student doesn't share a poem from one of the many poetry books you have donated to our classroom. The children have enjoyed the poetry so much, they have created "read-along" tapes, where they have recorded themselves reading their favorite poems. During reading time, children pop a tape into the player and listen to their classmates read their favorite poems to them. We recite and chant poetry on our way to the lunchroom and between classes. Simply put, your donation has helped me weave fun and poetry throughout our daily lives, and I thank you so much for helping me nurture that love of poetry.

Furthermore, several of my students have begun writing their own poetry collections. One child is writing poems inspired by her grandmother's illness and her parents' divorce. Only in third grade, she is just one child that is discovering that poetry can not only make us laugh, but also help us through some of the more difficult moments in life.

Moments like these wouldn't happen without the generous support from donors like yourselves. We thank you and as their teacher, I want to let you know you have deeply impacted 27 children, helping them discover not only the beauty of poetry, but the power of great books.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Rocuant

I can't fully express my joy, excitement, and gratitude for your donation to my project. It is great to see that you share my vision for reaching children. During read aloud, I used the stories to teach students various moral lessons, sharing their prior experiences, and acknowledging their home life and culture. With the rich collection of culturally relevant children's books, I noticed that my students connected with the stories and characters' experience. They shared their home life and created a cultural awareness in the classroom. My students are also showing improvement in their literacy achievement and have developed a strong passion for reading books!

Culturally relevant texts helped me improve literacy achievement because the students were engaged, incorporated home life with school life, and comprehended various literacy concepts in a comfortable environment. We studied parts of a story, where students were to identify beginning, middle, end. Students also identified the problem and solution from the various texts. The culturally relevant texts were also used as background to make various art and crafts projects as well as integrating a science lesson on plants!

My principal gave me the opportunity to share the benefits of using culturally relevant text with my colleagues. Thank you so much! Your generosity has greatly impacted my students and my career!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Uy

For the first time in my eleven years as an educator, I can honestly say that I feel good about the poetry unit I've been teaching, and the novel Witness has been the most valuable resource I have used in this study.

Witness has created such a seamless bridge between our fiction unit and poetry unit, and it has engaged students of all levels. The novel has helped my middle school students to not only understand the elements of poetry, but it has also challenged them to consider the destructive nature of prejudice not only in the past but in their own lives as well.

Without your generous donation, I know my instruction would have been less effective, and many students would still have an aversion to poetry feeling like they "just don't get it." Witness made poetry accessible and enjoyable to all of my students. I can't thank you enough for your support.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Gardner

My sixth graders and I send sincere thanks to you for the eight Merriam-Webster intermediate level dictionaries you have provided for our classroom. All 51 sixth graders use the dictionaries throughout the day. Students will continue to use them for years to come.

Our old dictionaries are literally falling apart; they are 22 years old. The students are amazed at how much more information is at their fingertips than they had with the old dictionaries.

We dated the new dictionaries. We also put a note in the front cover to explain how we got the dictionaries. The students cannot believe that individuals who do not even know us were willing to purchase the dictionaries for our classroom. Students for many years will understand how gracious you were in your donations. Thank you so much.

”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Roberts