Funded Mar 28, 2017Thank you for the fiction and non-fiction books and materials that promote literacy and give access to U.S. History content for my 135 students of all reading levels. As soon as I received them, I put them to good use in my 8th grade classroom. Since it is close to the end of the school year and we have block scheduling for state testing, I decided to create stations with the books to review what we've covered this school year. I organized the books into themes and created tasks they needed to complete using the books.
In one station, students were given the books, "A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights," "The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History," and "We the People." Students were asked about the main ideas and the significance of documents including the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, the Federalist Papers, George Washington's Farewell address, Monroe Doctrine, Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address. They were also asked to match quotes to each document.
After already watching the film NightJohn, students were given the fiction book at another station and were asked to answer critical thinking questions about excerpts that I tabbed and highlighted for them. They were excited to read the excerpts and dialog from a movie they enjoyed and could relate the content to. Students were also eager to get to the "fun" stations that you helped provide the resources for. For example, students were eager to be the group to finish the 100 piece United States Puzzle where students were able to review US geography and basic facts about each state. In addition to the puzzle, students completed other tasks such as biography reports using, "We Were There Too, Young People in U.S. History" and "33 Things Every Girl Should Know about Women's History." They also wrote book reviews/critiques and explained significance of holidays using the books you provided them.Thank you.
Along with the photos attached, I wish I could have captured some initial reactions to the books that were purchased with your donation, especially from some of my English Language Learners and struggling students. Such students are turned off by reading academic texts, namely the dry textbooks that are written well above their reading level. But they were excited to look Thur and were engaged in reading the brand new books that made History content interesting, relatable, and accessible to English Learners.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Garcia