{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Highland East Junior High School","outOfStateSupporters":45.9,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":5273772,"projectId":9031379,"letterContent":"My students are already enjoying and using our new resources every day! They were so excited when they first saw the new seating, pillows, and fidgets. The calming area gives students a comfortable, safe place to take a short break, reset, and prepare to return to learning. We will continue using these resources during U.S. History and Geography lessons, independent work, classroom activities, and whenever students need a little extra time to refocus. Thank you for supporting my students and making our classroom more welcoming!","fullyFundedDate":1746479096053,"projectUrl":"project/sped-seating/9031379/","projectTitle":"Sped Seating","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Graumann","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5273772_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1691966293292","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5273772"},{"teacherId":5451506,"projectId":10155820,"letterContent":"One of the most exciting things about bringing new books into our classroom is that they allow students to practice important reading skills in a way that feels authentic. Rather than teaching literary concepts only through isolated passages or worksheets, we can introduce those same skills while students are invested in discovering what happens next in a book they selected themselves.\r\n\r\nRight now, our class is working through a mystery unit, which provides an especially rich opportunity for teaching literary analysis. Mystery novels naturally encourage students to pay attention to **foreshadowing, characterization, setting, conflict, mood, plot structure, and author's purpose**. Students are beginning to recognize that details included by an author are often intentional. A strange comment from a character, an object mentioned briefly in an early chapter, or a sudden change in the setting might become important later.\r\n\r\nOne of the skills we have been emphasizing is foreshadowing. Students are learning to identify moments when an author may be planting clues about what will happen later and, more importantly, to explain *why* they think a detail matters. This moves them beyond simply recalling what happened in a chapter and toward making predictions and supporting those predictions with evidence from the text. In a mystery, that kind of thinking feels natural because students want to solve the case before the author reveals the answer.\r\n\r\nReading in our classroom is also designed to give students some ownership. Students were able to choose from a variety of books within the mystery genre rather than having the entire class read exactly the same novel. That choice has been important. Middle school students have very different reading interests and abilities, and a book that immediately captures one student may not appeal to another. Giving them options allows students to find a story that sparks their curiosity while still allowing all of us to work on common literary skills.\r\n\r\nDuring reading time, the classroom can become surprisingly quiet. Students settle into their books and read independently, while I circulate, conference with students, answer questions, and check on their progress. We also use brief bell work activities to focus their attention on a particular literary element before reading. At the end of class, students use short reading journal entries to record their progress, track important developments, and think about the mystery as it unfolds. They aren't simply recording page numbers; they are keeping track of clues, suspects, questions, predictions, and changes in their thinking.\r\n\r\nThe new books have also helped us reach students at very different places as readers. Some students move quickly through a novel and are already eager to begin something new, while others need more time to work their way through their selection. Both experiences are valuable. One of my favorite things to see is a student who does not normally identify as a \"reader\" become invested in finding out what happens next. Mystery books are particularly good at creating that moment because there is a built-in reason to keep turning pages: **they want answers.**\r\n\r\nThere are also students who have finished their books ahead of schedule, which creates a wonderful problem to have. Instead of asking, \"How much more do I have to read?\" they are asking what they can read next or beginning to think about the project they will create from their book. Other students are enthusiastically comparing theories with classmates—who they suspect, which clues they noticed, and whether they think the author is trying to mislead them.\r\n\r\nThe books also become the foundation for creative projects. Students are able to demonstrate their understanding in ways that go beyond a traditional book report. They might reconstruct a crime scene, create a character diary, develop a psychological profile of a character, rewrite a scene or ending, cast characters for a film adaptation, or create another project that requires them to return to the text for evidence. These projects still demand careful reading and analysis, but they give students different ways to show what they understand.\r\n\r\nUltimately, the goal is bigger than completing one mystery novel. We want students to understand that reading is an active process. Good readers question, predict, notice patterns, revise their thinking, make connections, and support their ideas with evidence. These new books give students the opportunity to practice those skills while experiencing something equally important: the feeling of becoming completely caught up in a story.\r\n\r\nThat is perhaps the greatest gift these books provide. They give us the opportunity not only to **teach students how to read literature, but to help them discover why people love reading it.**","fullyFundedDate":1773858349290,"projectUrl":"project/beefing-up-the-classroom-library-part-ii/10155820/","projectTitle":"Beefing Up the Classroom Library Part II","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Mize","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5451506_orig.jpg?crop=398,398,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1676649247522","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5451506"},{"teacherId":5451506,"projectId":10148153,"letterContent":"One of the most exciting things about bringing new books into our classroom is that they allow students to practice important reading skills in a way that feels authentic. Rather than teaching literary concepts only through isolated passages or worksheets, we can introduce those same skills while students are invested in discovering what happens next in a book they selected themselves.\r\n\r\nRight now, our class is working through a mystery unit, which provides an especially rich opportunity for teaching literary analysis. Mystery novels naturally encourage students to pay attention to **foreshadowing, characterization, setting, conflict, mood, plot structure, and author's purpose**. Students are beginning to recognize that details included by an author are often intentional. A strange comment from a character, an object mentioned briefly in an early chapter, or a sudden change in the setting might become important later.\r\n\r\nOne of the skills we have been emphasizing is foreshadowing. Students are learning to identify moments when an author may be planting clues about what will happen later and, more importantly, to explain *why* they think a detail matters. This moves them beyond simply recalling what happened in a chapter and toward making predictions and supporting those predictions with evidence from the text. In a mystery, that kind of thinking feels natural because students want to solve the case before the author reveals the answer.\r\n\r\nReading in our classroom is also designed to give students some ownership. Students were able to choose from a variety of books within the mystery genre rather than having the entire class read exactly the same novel. That choice has been important. Middle school students have very different reading interests and abilities, and a book that immediately captures one student may not appeal to another. Giving them options allows students to find a story that sparks their curiosity while still allowing all of us to work on common literary skills.\r\n\r\nDuring reading time, the classroom can become surprisingly quiet. Students settle into their books and read independently, while I circulate, conference with students, answer questions, and check on their progress. We also use brief bell work activities to focus their attention on a particular literary element before reading. At the end of class, students use short reading journal entries to record their progress, track important developments, and think about the mystery as it unfolds. They aren't simply recording page numbers; they are keeping track of clues, suspects, questions, predictions, and changes in their thinking.\r\n\r\nThe new books have also helped us reach students at very different places as readers. Some students move quickly through a novel and are already eager to begin something new, while others need more time to work their way through their selection. Both experiences are valuable. One of my favorite things to see is a student who does not normally identify as a \"reader\" become invested in finding out what happens next. Mystery books are particularly good at creating that moment because there is a built-in reason to keep turning pages: **they want answers.**\r\n\r\nThere are also students who have finished their books ahead of schedule, which creates a wonderful problem to have. Instead of asking, \"How much more do I have to read?\" they are asking what they can read next or beginning to think about the project they will create from their book. Other students are enthusiastically comparing theories with classmates—who they suspect, which clues they noticed, and whether they think the author is trying to mislead them.\r\n\r\nThe books also become the foundation for creative projects. Students are able to demonstrate their understanding in ways that go beyond a traditional book report. They might reconstruct a crime scene, create a character diary, develop a psychological profile of a character, rewrite a scene or ending, cast characters for a film adaptation, or create another project that requires them to return to the text for evidence. These projects still demand careful reading and analysis, but they give students different ways to show what they understand.\r\n\r\nUltimately, the goal is bigger than completing one mystery novel. We want students to understand that reading is an active process. Good readers question, predict, notice patterns, revise their thinking, make connections, and support their ideas with evidence. These new books give students the opportunity to practice those skills while experiencing something equally important: the feeling of becoming completely caught up in a story.\r\n\r\nThat is perhaps the greatest gift these books provide. They give us the opportunity not only to **teach students how to read literature, but to help them discover why people love reading it.**","fullyFundedDate":1773538468126,"projectUrl":"project/beef-up-the-classroom-library/10148153/","projectTitle":"Beef Up the Classroom Library.","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Mize","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5451506_orig.jpg?crop=398,398,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1676649247522","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5451506"},{"teacherId":8830169,"projectId":9764496,"letterContent":"My students were so excited to receive the Legos and boards. At first, they thought we were just going to get to build things with them. When I introduced the lesson, they were not so excited to begin but once they got going, it was incredible to see the lesson come alive. \r\n\r\nEach lego was assigned a different part of speech. We began with simple sentences and then we built them into bigger ones! When they built the sentence they had to read the sentence and then identify the part of speech that it was including punctuation. \r\n\r\nBy the end of the lesson, they were building their own sentences and identifying the parts of speech like they had been doing it the whole time! It was so exciting to see them excited to do something they were not comfortable with to begin with. They are now excited to use these resources for many other things! \r\n\r\nI am so grateful to the donors for donating to my class and project!!","fullyFundedDate":1760108470345,"projectUrl":"project/lets-build/9764496/","projectTitle":"Let's Build!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Zimmerman","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-5_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8830169"},{"teacherId":5273772,"projectId":7673183,"letterContent":"My students are already enjoying and using our new resources every day! They were so excited when they first saw the new seating, pillows, and fidgets. The calming area gives students a comfortable, safe place to take a short break, reset, and prepare to return to learning. We will continue using these resources during U.S. History and Geography lessons, independent work, classroom activities, and whenever students need a little extra time to refocus. Thank you for supporting my students and making our classroom more welcoming!","fullyFundedDate":1691968181546,"projectUrl":"project/super-sped-classroom/7673183/","projectTitle":"Super Sped Classroom","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Graumann","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5273772_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1691966293292","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5273772"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_41091","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":768,"numTeachers":39,"percentFrplEligible":42,"percentAsian":2,"percentBlack":5,"percentWhite":53,"percentIndigenous":2,"percentLatinx":16,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":18,"gradesServed":"7 - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"19.7:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":false,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":54.1,"schoolId":41091,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Highland East Junior High School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Highland East Junior High School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/oklahoma/moore-public-schools/highland-east-junior-high-school/41091"}