Keeping the Magic in Middle School

School:: Walton Middle School
Subject:: Literacy
Teacher:: Emily Kent
Students Impacted:: 115
Grade:: 6
Date:: September 26, 2019

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

CHELCO - $902.65

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 115

Due to COVID-19, official ‘outcome data’ is unavailable. However, it would be ignorant and untrue for me to say the impact of this grant was unseen. In fact, my students changed the day I received the email saying we were getting the money for this classroom library upgrade. We danced, cheered, and quickly began planning on where all these new books would go and who would get first dibs on certain titles. The joy continued as we tracked our shipments and up until we unboxed our paper treasures! My students participated in a lesson on genre before assisting with sorting books into genre-specific buckets, but many books never made it to the shelf as students begged to take one home to begin reading. Even though we couldn’t complete our 4^th nine weeks novel study unit, our prized books were well in use and already a little worn. Since COVID-19, I’ve had a dozen parents and students contact me asking about certain titles… titles that they saw because of this grant. There’s absolutely no way to measure the excitement these books brought to my kiddos and the joy their excitement brought to me.

Thank you for creating the magic that my kiddos deserve. You've proven that their community believes in them and that's something we'll never forget.

Original Grant Overview

Goal

My goal is to not only increase students’ STAR Enterprise Reading scores, but to ultimately foster a love and genuine interest of literature. My intensive reading courses provide additional reading support to students who scored in the lowest 25th percentile on the FSA ELA/Reading assessment. However, 57% of my students scored below the grade 6 benchmark (expected reading level for a current 6th grader in the beginning month of school) on the first STAR Enterprise Reading assessment (taken in August 2019). My goal is that by May 2020, the number of below grade 6 students will decrease by 15% for a total of 42% students. Research has proven the best method of improving reading comprehension is through authentic and frequent practice with a variety of texts. The texts selected are specific to not only student need, but student interest.

What will be done with my students

I currently teach 115 sixth grade students. My hope is that this addition to my classroom library will allow my students opportunities to interact with a variety of high-interest, readable texts that spark their love of literacy. Ten to fifteen minutes of my class period are allotted to allow for independent reading and many students are unable to find a book that is both at their reading level and grade-level appropriate. This leaves many students frustrated and discouraged with reading altogether. My hope is that this classroom library will give students a safe, manageable space to find books that will ultimately create passionate, life-long readers. I also plan to use some of these novels in novel study sessions in which students will read, analyze, and hold academic discussions regarding their selected texts. Having a variety of novel sets to choose from will increase student engagement and in turn strengthen the core reading skills needed for continued academic success.

Benefits to my students

While I hope and predict that all my students will greatly benefit from this addition to our classroom, my focus will be on the reading fluency and comprehension of my lowest eight students. This classroom library will provide these students with texts that meet both their reading needs, but also spark their various interests. Currently these students’ STAR assessments have identified them as needing “urgent interventions” to prevent further regression. My goal is that these eight students will move from the “urgent intervention” category to the “on watch” category by May 2020. Undoubtedly, this classroom library will serve future student populations for years to come and create a community of readers and leaders.

Budget Narrative

I am requesting the following:
(4) Classroom Library Book Bin- 4 Bins: 80.00
(5) Counting by 7s: 37.30
(5) The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: 29.95
(5) My Side of the Mountain: 26.20
(5) Brown Girl Dreaming: 41.20
(5) Speak: 41.20
(5) Wringer: 29.80
(5) Hatchet: 22.45
(5) Echo: 44.80
(5) Al Capone Does My Shirts: 29.80
(1) Guided Reading Set: Al Capone Does My Homework: 34.95
(1) New Classroom Collection Grade 5: 485.00

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Classroom Library Book Bin- 4 Bins (x4)	$80.00
2	Counting by 7s (x5)	$37.30
3	The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (x5)	$29.95
4	My Side of the Mountain (x5)	$26.20
5	Brown Girl Dreaming (x5)	$41.20
6	Speak (x5)	$41.20
7	Wringer (x5)	$29.80
8	Hatchet (x5)	$22.45
9	Echo (x5)	$44.80
10	Al Capone Does My Shirts (x5)	$29.80
11	Guided Reading Set: Al Capone Does My Homework	$34.95
12	New Classroom Collection Grade 5	$485.00
	Total:	$902.65

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