Materials

Thank you for funding my grant to incorporate literacy into my classroom. Your generosity has allowed me to do something I’ve been eager to try for a long time: a whole-class read-aloud.
As an educator, I have always loved doing read-aloud with my students, and now, with these new books, I’ve been able to bring the joy of storytelling to the entire class. These books have not only helped to build a sense of camaraderie among my students, but they’ve also provided a fun and engaging way to practice our comprehension skills. We are learning to use our vocabulary in different contexts, which has deepened our understanding and strengthened our reading abilities.
We started with Holes by Louis Sachar, which is what inspired my grant. We have gotten to do many different activities with the book, including a character study, getting into certain characters’ minds, and incorporating some math skills into it. I cannot wait to use Charlotte’s Web and Freckle Juice next year!
Your support has truly improved the learning environment I can create. Thank you again for helping me bring these valuable experiences to my classroom!

The resources purchased were two novel sets, Charlotte’s Webb and Hatchet. Students were allowed to use a copy of the set to read on their own as well as during class. The project encouraged students to use literature and understand the meaning behind the written novels. After completed chapters of the novels a discussion during class was held. Topics like “how could that have been a different outcome?’, ‘how would you have handled the situation?’ In addition to open discussions, students were able to learn new vocabulary words and their meanings.

My students have absolutely loved using our new magnetic center. My students are now able to take their knowledge of letters and sounds and spell out words and create sentences on our board. They have had so much fun showing me all the sight words they are able to spell out. What I love is that they are fully engaged when using our new magnetic center. Thank you Lawton Public Schools Foundation for helping me provide another learning opportunity to my little learners.

The Music Department of Cleveland Elementary purchased a set of four Flip Form Risers. These risers are popular in music education for their versatility and durability. These risers will be used by each of the five performance ensembles at Cleveland. As risers, the three choirs will use them in every Concert performance. As platforms, the recorder and percussion ensembles will be easily seen during their performances. The Flip Form Risers are functional in the classroom. As multi-leveled seats, every student in the school will benefit from the visually enhanced instruction. As a stage for the music room, students will creative instruction and performance readiness.

The main resources purchased by this grant were materials for creating, experimenting, and investigating electronic and mechatronic devices. These materials include microcontrollers that can manipulate different sensors and connect with different devices, tools for salvaging parts from older electronics and testing them to see how they work, and equipment for testing how well these electronic devices can protect them from special kinds of cyber attacks and hacks. Students are able to use these tools for creating and prototyping features of the same electronics they can see in everyday objects.
The students used them in labs to see the different side of systems they use everyday. When they use electronics they know that these things exist in a system that they can have direct control over. It demystifies complex things for them and empowers them to be more confident and creative. One student used the tools provided by this grant to update and repair one of their older handheld gaming devices. Another student used parts from a discarded controller to use in his own personal electronics project.
The students feel more empowered to investigate their own electronic devices and tools and try to come up with solutions for finding and fixing problems rather than throwing them away and trying to replace them. I have students in my class who were scared about breaking things in a simulated computer and now that same problem seems small. Now they have dealt with soldering circuit connections and putting together different components with their own two hands where mistakes can break something. The best thing about this grant is that it enables me to create a space in which students feel comfortable enough to try something new that they might fail at and use those failures as a launch point for future learning.

With this grant, I purchased new Orff instruments, giving students access to high-quality tools for hands-on music-making. These instruments enhance creativity, collaboration, and musical literacy, allowing students to explore rhythm, melody, and composition in an engaging way. Thanks to this funding, our music program is now more interactive, fostering a love of music that will benefit students for years to come.