Tag Archives: mini grant

Resources, School Media Specialist

Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Mini Grants Available!

This sounds like a great opportunity for our members! Teachers and librarians from public or school libraries, check out this opportunity to get some funding for a program that “demonstrates creativity and a desire to make learning fun.” They’ll award approximately 70 grants up to $500 each! Deadline for submitting your application is March 31st 2019 so you have plenty of time. (Contact us at CMLE if you need help with yours!)

Here’s more info from their website:

“The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, dedicated to supporting arts and literacy programs in public schools and libraries across the country, is encouraging qualifying educators to apply for a 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Mini-Grant. Applications are currently being accepted, and the deadline for submissions is March 31, 2019.

Approximately 70 grants, up to $500 each, will be awarded to teachers and librarians whose proposals demonstrate creativity and a desire to make learning fun. Decisions will be emailed to all applicants in May, allowing educators to plan for the 2019 – 2020 academic year.
“For over three decades, it has been our privilege to support the vision of the most innovative teachers and librarians, who inspire students to read joyfully, think creatively and support one another with generosity,” says Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Since 1987, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation has provided over $1,000,000 in support of EJK Mini-Grant programs spanning the 50 states and U.S commonwealths. The Foundation welcomes Mini-Grant proposals focusing on any subject or discipline. To learn more about EJK Mini-Grants, and to see the criteria for application, visit Ezra Jack Keats Mini-Grants.

“With the deadline fast approaching, I encourage all creative educators who want to put their new ideas into action to go online and apply for an EJK Mini-Grant now,” adds Pope.”


CMLE, Services

Want to try something new in your media center? Apply for a CMLE mini-grant!

We get pretty excited at CMLE about the new technology, programs, and makerspaces that have made their way into school libraries and media centers over the past few years. We also know that trying out new ideas may not always be in your library’s budget.

That’s why we started CMLE’s Mini-Grant service!

Last year we awarded six of these mini-grant awards, in amounts up to $300. You can read about the past recipients and their marvelous success on our website. From books about empathy to coding robots, you’ll see the possibilities are endless!

Maybe you got some inspiration for a new tool you’d like to try from a conference you attended this fall? Maybe you finally feel ready to try a new idea you’ve been thinking about for months? Read through our parameters for the mini-grants here, and then fill out an application!

As always, contact us with any questions at admin@cmle.org.

Guest Blogger, School Media Specialist, Services

CMLE Mini Grant: Dash and Dot Robots

This is a guest post from Amy Serbus, Media Assistant at the Kimball Elementary School Library. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

Students at KES have had a lot of fun playing with and learning coding from our new robots, Dash and Dot! Through various apps on an iPad, they are learning to program the robots to communicate with each other and perform tasks such as bringing messages to their teacher, play the xylophone, tell jokes on command and so much more. When using the apps, students can program, or code, the robots by connecting blocks with specific commands. For example, if you want Dash to tell a joke, you start with a block that tells him to “wait”, then listen for voice command of knock, knock, then say “who’s there”, etc. It teaches students the basics of coding and how specific and important each step is.

CMLE, Guest Blogger, Materials, Services

CMLE Mini Grant Report: Computer Science Tools for Elementary Classrooms

This is a guest post from Technology Integrationist Angie Kalthoff from District 742. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

The mini grant I applied for was to purchase a variety of tools to help bring Computer Science (CS) into elementary classrooms.
I am excited to report that they were a success! I was able to purchase many board games and use them in classrooms before the end of the school year and at our local CoderDojoGRRL.

Here are a few items I would like to highlight!

Robot Turtles Extension Pack

I already had purchased the Robot Turtles game. Now, I was able to purchase the extension pack. Using the extension pack I am able to introduce more complex challenges as students progress through the game. In the image below, students are learning to play Robot Turtles.

Dash and Dot Learn to Code Challenge Card Set

We have sets of Dash and Dot in each of our elementary schools. Last year, I was able to work with amazing second grade teachers who created their own challenge cards which aligned to our second grade math standards. These challenge cards align with Code.org’s Computer Science Fundamentals A-F curriculum which we encourage our students to use in school and at home. The challenge cards are a great way to give kids freedom in their creation of code for Dash, while aligning them with skills they have learned about in Code.org! In this picture, we are exploring the cards at CoderDojoGRRL!

Coding Farmers

Coding Farmers is a game for kids seven and older. I used it in a first grade classroom. The goal of Coding Farmers is to “teach real programming concepts in a fun and intuitive way.” Students use cards and dice to move around the game board. A better description from their website is “action cards, which describe an action, like “move forward by two spaces” in two ways: regular English, and Java code. By playing the game several times, kids learn to connect their actions with written code. They become programming literate all while having a blast – rolling a dice, maneuvering around obstacles and chatting with their friends and family.”

CMLE, Guest Blogger, Materials

Report from CMLE Mini Grant: KEVA Blocks

This is a guest post from Technology Integrationist Jill Schmitt at Holdingford Elementary School. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

We are in the process of creating a Makerspace in our Elementary School here in Holdingford. The majority of materials will be housed in one part of the Media Center and made available to classes on a check out basis. These materials rely more heavily on teacher direction and supervision to prevent misuse and to carry out specific tasks.

In the library, however, we wanted our students to have an opportunity to build and create using easy to handle, durable materials without the need for direct instruction. After some experimentation with other building sets, we found KEVA planks suited our students PreK-6 the best. Unlike other products on the market which are made of plastic and include step by step directions, KEVA planks are made of wood and can be used for the construction of any number of creations. Students are able to make simple or complex designs based on their level of comfort. As you can see in the pictures, our students are enjoying their new building materials! Thank you so much CMLE for the mini grant making it possible to add these fantastic building planks to our library here at Holdingford Elementary School!  See link for more information. KEVA planks