A Dollar Here, A Dollar There

1. A Dollar Here,A Dollar There Grant Writing Tips and Opportunities Connie Amon Galileo Scholastic Academy

2. Choose a Project Key Questions: • How can you extend or supplement a curriculum topic? • How can you meet multiple learning styles and/or needs of your students? • What have you been wanting to try in the library? • What areas of your collection need an infusion?

3. Chicago Foundation for Education • Annual Workshop (October 19) • Small Grants (November) • Study Group Team Member Grants (April) • Study Group Coach Grants (February) • Action Research Fellowships (June) • Fund for Teachers Fellowships (January) http://www.cfegrants.org/teachers/teachers-overview/

4. CFE Small Grant– Sample Question 1. Describe your project and the key activities included. Be specific about what this project will entail, and how the students will be engaged throughout the project. (1,500 characters maximum) The project, “Who Were They?: Exploring Diversity Through Biographies,” is a library unit developed specifically for fourth grade students to extend a classroom unit focusing on nonfiction, and biographies specifically. This unit will provide students with the opportunity to read additional biographies, focus on key skills of drawing inferences, summarizing, note taking, and writing informative texts. In addition, students will reflect on the lives they have read about and envision the contributions they themselves could make. During this unit, students will: *read and/or listen to picture book biographies; *complete a bio cube (ReadWriteThink.org) for a person of their choice, corresponding with a biography that the library owns; *conduct additional research on the person and compare the information found in the sources; *in art class, create a collage based on the person’s important life events that will become the cover for a student-created ebook on the person; *design, write, and publish an ebook, with audio, on the person’s life, or comparing the lives of two people. Starting with their bio cube, students will follow the writing process, including producing a storyboard; *share their ebook on the library’s blog as well as present orally to the class; *reflect on the diversity of lives represented in the biographies they have read and people they have learned about, as well as the lives of people that are often not represented in books. How do their lives compare to students’ lives?

5. Laura Bush Grant • December--?? http://www.laurabushfoundation.com/

6. Laura Bush Grant – Sample Question 22. Given that $6,000 cannot deliver universal library improvement, explain the priority needs of your library and how this grant will address those needs. Indicate which specific students will use the books and magazines and why they particularly need them. (This answer is limited to 250 words.) Building a vibrant fiction collection for 2nd-8th grade students, overflowing with books they can’t wait to read, is my first priority. Our school relies heavily on numbers: Accelerated Reader levels and Lexile measures. While I support this school wide effort, I believe the library should be a place where students can be free to choose books regardless of the numbers. That will only be possible if the library has books they are interested in choosing. In any given class, reading scores vary from the 1st percentile to the 100th percentile. The library collection needs to reflect that diversity, and include a range of books from concept books to a robust young adult collection. This grant will allow me to update and diversify our fiction collection to better represent the interests and experiences of our students as well as provide books that guide them to new interests and experiences. Another priority is to update and extend areas of our nonfiction section that are used for class assignments and independent research papers. Our 5th-8th grade students are required to complete research papers each year. Fourth grade students are also required to use trade books for projects. Unfortunately, the library has not been the best resource for current, age-appropriate books on their topics. In addition to the nonfiction books needed for research papers and class assignments, many students prefer engaging nonfiction materials for independent reading.

7. ISLMA Grants LBSS Grants: • Reader’s Choice Award Grants (spring) • Read for Information Grants (now!!) http://www.lbssfund.org/

8. ISLMA Reader’s Choice - Sample How will you administer the program (including the tallying and submission of student votes)?  The Monarch Program will be administered through the school library. Information regarding the program will be posted on bulletin boards and online through the library’s blog. The librarian and classroom teachers will keep records of books read during school hours, and forms will be provided for parents to report books read at home. Prior to the vote, students will make book posters for their favorite books and selected students will campaign for books during the morning announcements. Voting will take place in the library during scheduled library periods. The librarian will tally and submit student votes.

9. Illinois State Library • District Level Grants http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/grants/

10. ISL – Sample Question Abstract (100 words) “Reading at the Core,” will promote reading throughout our K-8 school while targeting thematic units created to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Through this grant, Galileo Academy will obtain exemplary books, in a variety of formats and genres, that are current, accurate, and engaging. These books will fill gaps in our collection while supplementing and extending new thematic units that our teachers have developed to meet the CCSS. It is expected that awareness and use of library materials to support the CCSS will increase, and that overall student performance will improve.

11. Other Possibilities • Ezra Jack Keats Minigrant (spring) http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/minigrant-program/ • Oppenheimer/Teacher Incentive Grant (10/1) http://www.offtig.org/index.php

12. Excerpts from final reports • Ezra Jack Keats Minigrant Mythological Story Banners, the project funded for Galileo Scholastic Academy in Chicago, IL, was extremely successful in a number of ways. Sixth grade students (68 total) were exposed to myths from many different cultures. They gained experience discussing and presenting information about their myth and their banner with both peers and adults. They used critical thinking skills to select a symbol representing a component of their myth, as well as to design a visual representation of that symbol. Other students and adults (teachers, parents, visitors) viewed the banners and discussed their possible meanings. I was very pleased with the quality of the work ALL students created, including those students with special needs. Overall, it was a very rewarding project and it would not have been completed without the financial support from your foundation. • Oppenheimer/Teacher Incentive Grant What did your students learn and how did they enjoy the activities? * Students used the Big6 research model to guide their research process. We focused particularly on use of information (citations) and synthesis, a process we will continue to work on in 6th-8th grade. Students gained a better understanding of Galileo’s life and contributions and they particularly enjoyed creating the Voicethread presentations as well as designing and painting the panels.

13. Examples

14. Tips • If you don’t try, you definitely won’t receive • Read the directions, especially eligibility requirements • Don’t wait until the last minute • Be specific • Tell your story • Get your stats in order • Make connections • Why does this matter?