Steel City Science Blog Page

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I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity, through your donations we were able to purchase our camping equipment so that this year we will begin to take students from the inner city and introduce them the great outdoors. So many of our inner city students have never been outside of the city or experienced the wilderness, a national forest or learned about nature in it's natural setting. This donation will be the first steps in building a long running outdoor education program that students will be able to enjoy for years to come and your donation has made it happen! I and my students applaud you efforts in helping to move this project forward and our students have already begun to learn during their advisory/activity period how to assemble their tents and build a camp. Once all students have learned all skills needed for their first trip we will begin planning our first trip which will be in the Laurel Mountains in Ohiopyle State Park. Here students will begin to learn the love of nature, complete a service project, and learn about their natural surroundings (indigenous plants and animals, ecosystems, and ecology). Once again I want to thank you for your support you made this happen and we thank you.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Geiger

Our sincere thanks for all your support in reaching our goal of differentiating activities for all learners. We have been busy using the donated materials over the last 2 months.

The roll and learn cubes have allowed me to create fun, exciting center activities in three different readiness levels. Our class is divided into three groups, below level, on level, and the exceeding level. These are flexible groups, meaning students do not always stay in the same group. Students only know the color of their cube and folders. I come up with respectful tasks on the same topic, but at three different levels. For example, the "exceeding" group cube activity may be to put 2nd grade words in alphabetical order. The "on" level cube activity would have them put first grade sight words in alphabetical order. The "below" level may have them putting letters in alphabetical order. The cubes that you purchased have pockets which allow me to save time and easily write new activities on slips of paper and slide them in. I am able to add new activities each week to keep the students attentive and excited.

During the cube center activities, students also use the write/wipe pockets to slip worksheet activities into and complete. They are more excited to use dry erase markers than pencils and it saves paper!!! One of the cube activities also includes practicing spelling words with the magnetic letters. While two of the groups are working individually rolling cubes and completing tasks, the third group is in a small, teacher-directed group. We read stories and work on skills. This is where the guided reading beach balls liven things up! The kids catch them and answer questions about the story.

The four Reading/Language Arts Whole Class-Partner games and the 8-in-1 Math Partner game sets are amazing! The students love playing them on their own or with a partner as anchor activities when they finish assignments early. The games are engaging and enriching. The idea of "games" disguises the fact that they are really learning and motivates all students. There are numbered sets of each game which are also leveled. It is an activity that occupies all learners, allowing me to give individual assistance to those in need!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Hackett

There is no possible way that I can thank you enough for the donation that you made to my classroom. The calculators that you helped me to obtain are used on a daily basis and are a vital part of my classroom. Not a day goes by when I don't remind my students of how lucky they are that people like you were willing to help them receive their calculators.

With the budget crisis that Pennsylvania is facing, I didn't think that I would be able to provide calculators for each of my students. In my district, despite the necessity, many students would have simply gone with out this important tool and would not have been able to reach their full potential. Instead, I see my students flourishing and excelling in every topic that we study. This is because you have given them the ability to concentrate on the big concepts that we study instead of the mechanics that they might struggle with.

Without donors like you I would not see the amazing progress that I have witnessed this year. Thank you for providing my students with another tool that will help them excel in life.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Libell

I wanted to take this moment to thank you for your generous donation to my class. The students were enthralled with the models and enjoyed exploring them. The models enabled my students to gain a better understanding of the human body and how it functions. The models provided a detail view that the students could touch and manipulated. They made the lessons more interesting and exciting to the students. They were able to ask questions and use the models to find their answers. The models made the human body come to life! The posters also intrigued the students. Many of them enjoy reading the posters and relating them to their own bodies.

I cannot express the gratitude that my students and I have for your kind donations. Without you, the students would not have been able to get as excited and motivated as they did. It really did help them to become excited to learn about the human body. The expression on their faces when they saw the models and were able to use them were amazing. Thanks again for your support. It means so much to us!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Koloshinsky

Thank You all so much for helping out the ENTIRE third grade at our school! I would like to forward that same message from all of the teachers in our wing. We are all so thankful for people like you. You don't even know us, but you are all generous enough to donate your hard earned money to make our wishes come true.

I keep laughing to myself. Of all the things we needed to ask for, electric pencil sharpeners were the highest priority on our lists. Without sharpened pencils our kids cannot solve math problems, write paragraphs, learn cursive handwriting, or draw pictures. All of these things are so basic to elementary school. And you helped us out more than you'll ever know! Once again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. DeFazio