Unique to be me at PME

School:: Pelican Marsh Elementary
Subject:: Language Arts
Teacher:: Kathleen Lawler
Students Impacted:: 80
Grade:: K-5
Date:: August 5, 2020

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Suncoast Credit Union - $500.94

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 80

The goal of this grant was to put carefully selected multi-cultural texts in the hands of diverse learners to facilitate authentic engagement and provide fair representation. Although we have read only half of the books so far, the impact has been immediate, the conversations have been powerful, and the interest has been contagious.

My students became enamored with the characters they found in these stories because they represented people and places that were familiar to them. While every student had their favorite book, each of the books provided interest and engagement in learning about cultures that are different from their own. As word spread of these new books, I welcomed frequent visitors to my classroom who were interested in borrowing one of these books.

These books also had a positive impact on learning as evidenced by the variety of choice based learning activities. This provided clear evidence of comprehension, vocabulary development, and mastery of given grade level standards. In addition, the timing of this grant happened to coincide with a district wide initiative to incorporate diversity and inclusion at all levels of teaching and learning. I plan to place these books in the "spotlight" for our upcoming Literacy Week. The theme this year is "Humanity - What's Your Chapter?"

The impact of this grant will continue to be evident as we progress through this year and years to come. This grant has been so successful, that I fully intend to add to it again next year as our student population grows and becomes more diverse.

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

Each student who arrives at Pelican Marsh Elementary enriches our school with diversity. During the 2019-20 school year, Pelican Marsh took great pride in celebrating and embracing the 34 languages represented at our school. The intent was not only to create awareness and appreciation of our diversity, but to also empower all students with their "uniqueness". This is extremely important for our E.L.L. (English Language Learners) who are being immersed in to a new language and an unfamiliar culture.
The goal of this grant is to provide culturally relevant texts in which students' unique strengths are identified, nurtured, and promoted in daily reading instruction leading to authentic engagement and academic achievement across all language arts standards .

What will be done with my students

During regularly scheduled guided reading groups, E.L.L. students will be presented with texts that illuminate culturally authentic characters and story elements, while incorporating grade level standards in literature.
This student centered approach, is intended to validate their experiences, while promoting high interest and authentic engagement. When students read stories in which they see themselves and their culture, they are better able to make connections to the characters and events, which is a necessary skill for comprehension. This knowledge can then be applied to all other components of reading.

Benefits to my students

Research demonstrates that diverse learners read better and read more when they are presented with texts that are relevant to their personal experience, background, and culture. In addition, the careful selection of texts where characters from different cultures are portrayed in positive roles, helps to improve students' self esteem and pride in their heritage. Most importantly, providing these books sends a message to our newcomers that they are recognized, valued, and welcome here.

All of the selected texts have been approved by the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. Each title was carefully chosen to portray a country currently represented in our student population at Pelican Marsh.

Budget Narrative

The budget reflects 6 single copies of each title to be used in small group instruction. Prices are reflective of current Amazon inventory. There is no sales tax if ordered from school. (tax-exempt)

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	6 copies of "The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote" @ $6.99	$41.94
2	6 copies "Milo's Museum" @ $10.00	$60.00
3	6 copies of "Islandborn" @ $12.89	$77.34
4	6 copies of "Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey" @ $12.29	$73.74
5	6 copies of "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut" @ $7.89	$47.34
6	6 copies of "The Name Jar" @ $7.99	$47.94
7	6 copies of "Dreamers" @ $11.70	$70.20
8	6 copies of "The Proudest Blue" @ $13.74	$82.44
	Total:	$500.94

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