FAYETTE COUNTY EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Mini-grant Application 2010-2011

All portions of the application must be completed. Please type your application.
School: Bennett’s Mill Middle School
Project Title: Media Center Play-a-way Collection
Teacher’s Name: Elizabeth Futch, Media Specialist E-mail address: futch.elizabeth@fcboe.org
Subject/Grade: Grades 6-8 Number of students impacted: 600
Grants will be awarded in the range of $200 to $750. If your grant is over $750.00, please include verification
that additionally needed funds have been approved
Grant amount requested: $750
Is this grant application for an individual classroom? YES NO x
Is this grant application for a group / grade level? If so, please list the total amount of the grant and the names of those involved.
This grant application is applicable for the entire student population at Bennett’s Mill Middle School. The
total amount of the order is $1489.42. The excess in amount from the grant and the amount of the order
will be supplemented with book fair and other fundraiser funds. The lead contact person for the purchasing
and development of this collection is Elizabeth Futch.

1. PROJECT / OBJECTIVES What is the need or problem addressed by the project? What do you expect
the students to accomplish because of the project?

Due to the overwhelming popularity of Play-a-way books in our media center collection, we do not
have a sufficient number to meet the needs of our students. The demand from students for high-interest
audiobooks far outweighs our current collection of approximately thirty (?) titles to accommodate the
needs of a campus of (how many?) students.
Having a more adequate supply of Play-a-way books will help to accomplish goals for all levels of our
readers. For many reluctant and low level readers, audiobooks are often the impetus which finally sparks
those students’ interest in going on to read other books, perhaps by some of the same authors they have
thus discovered. Once they have had the experience that reading can indeed be fun, the door is open for
many greater accomplishments. For the more skilled and higher-level readers, audiobooks offer a
pathway to yet higher-level literary accomplishments. Since students enjoy audiobooks so much, they
naturally expose themselves to more genres and authors than they would normally chose from print-only
books. By reading silently as they listen to a professional reader they easily gain greater understanding of
the importance of tone and pacing in reading. In the same way, they find it easier to identify the author’s
voice. They can then more proficiently learn how to apply those valuable skills to both their silent and
expressive oral reading. This important dynamic also transfers to students’ required speaking situations.
Students will expand their vocabulary by hearing words pronounced correctly in context, will easier be
able to identity conflict, mood, and point of view by reading silently as they listen to expressive reading.
Depending on their current skill level and ongoing correlation with classroom and media projects, a richer
collection of Play-a-ways will be of invaluable assistance to students in progressing at their optimum
individual pace in their understanding of a great variety of literary skills including, but not limited to the
following: connotation vs. denotation, forms of figurative language, allusion, imagery, dialect, author’s
purpose, and literary analysis.
2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION / ACTIVITIES: Outline the action steps of the project, including student
activities, timeline, and resources/materials involved. Note any unique and innovative aspects.

Student check-out of Play-a-ways is an ongoing process that occurs throughout the school-year. The
selected Play-a-ways listed in the attached purchase order would be available for immediate circulation
following delivery and cataloguing procedures. These Play-a-ways will remain in circulation for the
duration of the audiobook’s life. Play-a-ways are unique in that they are small, self-contained, pre-loaded
MP3 players – a technology which most children are familiar. Play-a-ways are portable, easy-to-use, and
fun!

3. WHICH GPS / QCC OBJECTIVES ARE ADDRESSED IN THIS PROJECT? List in detail.

ELA6RC1; ELA7RC1; ELA8RC1

The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately
1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and
fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various
subject areas.

4. PROJECT INNOVATION: Describe why this grant is innovative.

This grant is innovative in that it provides students with reading options other than traditional books or
expensive E-readers. Play-a-ways are technology based and help in promoting the implementation of 21st
century skills across the curriculum.

5. PROJECT EVALUATION: How will you determine the results or benefits of your project to your
students?

Results will be based on circulation statistics of the Play-a-way titles. Benefits will be assessed
through an increase in scores on Reading criterion reference tests, as well as an increase in the number of
students meeting the 25 book goal as presented in the Georgia Performance Standards.

6. PROJECT RECOGNITION: If you receive this mini-grant, how will you and/or your school publicize
the grant and Fayette County Education Foundation?

Our school will publicize the receiving of this grant by recognizing the Fayette County Education
Foundation on the Media Center’s home page housed on the Bennett’s Mill Middle School website. The
grant and Fayette County Education Foundation will also be mentioned during the monthly school-wide
faculty meeting. Additional signage will be placed near the existing Play-a-way section recognizing the
Fayette County Education Foundation for their generosity in providing a
7. Detailed Budget Information

Section A—Types of Expenditures

Materials/Supplies BE SPECIFIC and explain use of items you are requesting. Amount
     
See attached Quote from Titlewave.      
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Total Section A      

Section B- Other Sources of Support If requesting more than $750.00, please indicate where
you will get your additional funding (i.e., federal, state, local, local school budget, PTA funds, business, Amount
community, school partner, etc.)
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Total Section B      

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT $1489.42

• Make sure you have read the guidelines before sending in this proposal.
• Make sure your grant does not include food, staff development, workshops, or trips.
• Make sure you have answered all questions completely.
• Remember, it’s due electronically to FayetteEducationFoundation@mail.fcboe.org no
later than December 3, 2010.
• Electronic submission does not require your signature. All grants will be verified and
approved by your administrator.