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The Inoculation Project 11/12/2023: Reading in North Carolina [1]

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Date: 2023-11-12

This week, we’re helping teachers at two different eastern North Carolina elementary schools with literacy projects. We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help by sharing or supporting our featured projects.

The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science, math, and literacy projects for public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools.

We have new projects this week! I didn’t set out to do a North Carolina elementary-literacy week; that’s just how it happened, and in fact, these two towns happen to be not that far apart, roughly flanking the midpoint along a diagonal line from Raleigh to the coast.

I am especially glad to be able to show you this one, because we don’t see very many matching offers that are more than 2x. But here, we have a chance to help Mrs. Johnson bring books with diverse characters to her North Carolina third grade, with the help of a 3x match (i.e. we give $1, they give $2) from “a local family foundation” that is not further identified.

PROJECT #1 Project: Building Our Library! Resources: Help me give my students new fiction and non fiction books to grow their love of reading! Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: Northeast Elementary School, Kinston, North Carolina Total: $447.24 (3x matching funds from a local family foundation) Still Needed: $ 447.24 $292.82 ($98 from us) Project description by Mrs. Johnson: I have been given the wonderful opportunity to teach third-graders! My students are unique, loving, witty, and passionate. They have a variety of learning needs and interests, and they're excited to conquer the new challenges of third grade including fractions, multiplication, growing as readers, and new tests. I am lucky to teach students who love to learn! Every student needs access to books with diverse characters. When my students read books with characters that are similar to them, they feel more of a connection with the character and the story. I've chosen many books that have a variety of characters from different backgrounds and cultures so that my students can see themselves as well as their peers in what they're reading, as well as make connections with the world around them. I've also included non-fiction books to supplement topics that we're learning about in class and topics that my students are interested in. The books will be a wonderful addition to our classroom library! DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! I can recall when my mother, a children’s librarian, insisted I take home this requested book, Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery-winning The Tale of Despereaux. I had no idea it had become a movie, but of course it has. Looks like I need to see it, too. x x YouTube Video

This never-before-funded North Carolina elementary-school librarian works with pre-K - second grade students each week, and needs some hands-on activities to go along with their story times.

PROJECT #2 Project: Having Fun Growing Reading Skills in the Library! Resources: Help me give my students a chance to build their reading skills while reinforcing vocabulary they hear during story times in my library. Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: North Drive Elementary School, Goldsboro, North Carolina Total: $584.98 Still Needed: $ 434.98 $355.56 Project description by Ms. Fischer: My Pre-K - 2nd students have library time every week. Library for students this age can't be just sitting and reading books for 45 minutes! Instead I use this time to read stories and get them excited about words and reading. Hands on activities are always a big hit with them, especially the extra wiggly ones!The magnetic letters and boards will give them a fun way to practice everything from their names to vocabulary from story time. The tangrams and shapes help them learn critical thinking, shape and pattern recognition, which are also key skills for reading. These materials will give them a chance to do something active and fun that also reinforces key skills later. It's another way to make them look forward to library time and to learning to read. DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! A lady at the Glasgow Science Center explains how you cam make your own tangram pieces at home, a project probably a bit above the grade levels that Ms. Fischer is seeking tangrams for (among other things). If you are extra ambitious, here’s a video on how to fold your own tangram pieces as an origami project! x x YouTube Video

As you’ve guessed, we have plenty of good news here today! BOTH of our projects from last week were completed, and in particular, we can thank the extra help of some of our donors who showed up on Wednesday to take advantage of a special matching offer from General Motors and Young Sheldon! Project #1, PreK Back to School: Ms. Timms teaches pre-K in a city just south of Dallas, and needed some supplies, particularly math “file folder games”. She has not yet seen the good news, so we will bring you her note next time! Project #2, Snap Your Way to Success!: Mr. Sutherland teaches at an elementary school in a mid-Nebraska city. He’s been hoping some Snap Circuit boards will help his class understand science concepts better. He writes: Thank you so much for your generous donations. With your support, we will be able to expand our light and sound unit. As an educator, you try to find new ways to engage your students and motivate them. This will be a new addition that they will absolutely fall in love with!!! And, a completed project from the week before last didn’t have a note yet last week, so here it is now! Stem Games, Materials, and Resources Oh, My: Mrs. Tillman needed resources to teach science to kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd-grade students in Baton Rouge. She writes: Thank you so much for your generous donations. Words cannot express my immense gratitude for your thoughtfulness. I cannot wait to see the look on my students' faces. We will definitely use these donations to increase our students' engagement and performance through hands-on learning. Your donations are truly appreciated.​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

DonorsChoose has developed the designation Equity Focus Schools to describe some schools that submit projects. They meet two criteria: at least 50% of students are Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, or multiracial, and at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, the standard measure for school economic need. You can read more at the link about their efforts to address the longstanding inequity in education.

Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project seeks to fund science, math, and literacy projects in public school classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding charity founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.

Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund projects in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households. We welcome everyone who supports public school education — no money is required!

Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 1062! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.

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