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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman from Waukegan, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman is requesting

Help Stop Plagiarism! Using Summarizing to Write Nonfiction

My students need blank, hardcover books to write their own nonfiction books.

  • $174 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman for her next project!

Help Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman for her next project!

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

I assign various research projects throughout the year and the number one problem I face is plagiarism. Students think that a research paper is copying different sentences from nonfiction books and calling it their own work. When I ask them to explain what they wrote, most students can't.

During the upcoming year, I will teach reading and language arts to 54 fifth graders.

These students are highly creative and do well when it comes to thinking outside the box. They are also a chatty group that loves to share their ideas and work with their peers. About half of my students speak a language other than English at home. We are a Title 1 school.

My Project

I recently attended a reading conference and took an excellent course on using nonfiction in the classroom. I teach an astronomy unit to my students early in the year and would love to incorporate what I have learned. I now have strategies to help the students recall information and summarize what they read instead of copying it word for word. I want to spend more time showing my students how to put nonfiction text into their own words and ensure that they truly understand the text. With these blank books, the students will be able to research and read nonfiction about astronomy during my six week unit. As we read about certain aspects of astronomy, we will complete a section of their blank book about what they learned through different summarizing strategies. The students would be paired with a partner for this project. In addition to writing in their books, the students will be able to draw pictures about what they are writing about to aid their comprehension.

For this specific project, the students will be learning about astronomy.

That is just the content. The true purpose of this project is to teach the students skills that they will need for the rest of their educational careers. They will need to know how to read nonfiction text, how to summarize it, and how to ensure that they are not plagiarizing. These are essential skills that need to be taught and this is a creative way to teach multiple reading and writing strategies.

Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman John S Clark Elementary School Grades 3-5

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman

Waukegan, IL View local requests

More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

54 students impacted 5donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman is requesting.

See our finances

Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
Portrait Blank Book, Line Guide, and Jacket • Bare Books $3.25 31 $100.75

Materials cost

$100.75

Vendor shipping charges

$10.08

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$1.51

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$147.34

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$26.00

Total project goal

$173.34

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$173.34

3 Donors

-$83.14

Donations toward project cost

-$73.67

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$9.47

match offer

-$86.67

Match offer toward project cost

-$73.67

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$13.00

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$3.53

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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