Archive for September, 2009

We just received our Thank You notes from Ms. S’ class for sponsorship of a project through Donor’s Choose.

Project: Frozen Moments: Captured Learning

Project Description by Ms. S.:

My students can best be described enthusiastic, curious, and tenacious. Most of my students have many challenges in their lives but school is a safe haven where they can come and be a bit carefree. Many are many grade level behind or have parents who can’t or don’t spend much time with them.

We work hard in the science lab. We are a hand-on working lab. We learn by investigating and recording our findings. We don’t have alot of official “work” to hang on the walls or send home for the kids to share. Most of our work is in our notebooks and minds.

A camera would allow the students to record our work and their discoveries. A close up of an organism we are studying, the results of chemical mixture, setting up a course to test how friction effects speed, a plant they want to identify, and more. They can use the pictures to support their claims and to take home to share with their parents. We can even post our science learning for other classes and teachers to see. These moments of learning are crucial to students being about to share their ideas, predictions, processes, and evidence. With a digital camera, memory, paper, and and printer we can take our learning to a new level.

This gift will go towards helping 7 classes of future scientists. You will be facilitating communication between school and home and give us the hard proof of how much work and learning is going on.

Letter from Ms. S after the project was funded:

Dear VH International Business Solutions, Inc,
Thank you so much for you donation. I am very excited to get this for my kids and the classroom. It is going to be such a wonderful tool to capture kids learning moments. We are always doing hands-on science and writing in our science notebooks, but sometimes it is difficult to show how much work is happening in our classes. With this camera we will be able to photograph our work and display it and share it with our parents and school community.

With gratitude,
Ms. S.

Letter from Ms. S after the project was completed:

Dear VH International Business Solutions, Inc,
Thank you for this wonderful gift to my classroom. Thanks to you I am able to offer a photography club at our school’s enrichment time. They were so excited and we are toying with the idea of creating a yearbook.

As you will see in the pictures they are having a great time taking pictures of themselves and I have also included some of the pictures we have taken in Photography club and other pictures of students in science class. They have really enjoyed taking turns capturing their fellow students in action. We are using these photos once we have printed them to create of bulletin board of our learning.

Your gift has and will touch the lives of many students for years to come.
Thank you!

With gratitude,
Ms. S.

Previously received Thank You packages.

We just received our Thank You package from Mr. O’s class in Charlotte, North Carolina for sponsorship of a classroom project through Donor’s Choose.

Project: The Error of Comedies (Shakespeare’s, that is…)

Project Description by Mr O:

William Shakespeare is credited with introducing nearly 2000 words into the English language and his plays are listed on numerous lists of the most important works of English literature. But his plays were meant to be performed and watched, not read. I teach theatre students in grades 9-12 to appreciate the liveliness of Shakespeare’s language through a physical, performance-based approach, as opposed to a literary approach.

The biggest obstacle to teaching Shakespeare is the fear the students have of his language. If they cannot understand the words, they will never appreciate the beauty of his writing. Therefore, I need an intelligent, well-annotated version of the play so that the students can understand the text as we read it. I am currently using a version I have downloaded from the internet, since I do not have the funds to purchase a class set of the play. The students’ reaction to the photo-copied text is visceral: it looks cheap; the copy paper booklet is large and unwieldy; the writing is small; the words are hard to understand; it’s obviously less important than English where they have a “bought” copy of their texts; etc.

I need a book that is small enough to hold in one hand – paperback size – so the students can easily rehearse while holding the book, since so much of Shakespeare’s comedy is physical. I need a copy that is well-researched and up to date, so that the definitions are clear and easy to understand. The students respond well to Shakespeare when they grasp the meaning. And when they respond well in my class, it carries over into their other classes: they are more confident; they feel more intelligent; they are more willing think critically about language. When their introduction to Shakespeare is fun and interesting and early – I teach this play to Theatre I students who are primarily ninth-graders – I find that it better prepares them for their literature studies in other classes in high school and in college.

Your help will ensure that my students have the understanding they need to be successful with material that forms the foundation of their studies if English language and literature.

Letter from Mr. O:

Dear VH International Business Solutions, Inc,

On behalf of my students, I would like to thank you very much for your generous contributions. Because of the lack of available funds – particularly in the current economic climate – it is difficult to purchase necessary materials for the classroom. Your donations have made it possible for us to have a class set of the Folger Library’s edition of William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, which will be an invaluable resource as the students are introduced to the beauty, fun, and richness of Shakespeare’s language.

Thank you not only for your financial assistance, but also for your belief in the importance of teaching this material and your support for the public schools.

With gratitude,
Mr. O.

Thank you notes from the Students:

Previously received Thank You packages.