This year we are focusing on efforts of bringing science books to high-poverty classrooms. Hands-on activities and field trips are fabulous, but books have their merits too. Until we make space travel accessible to elementary students, books about our solar system are a pretty darn good way to learn about the planets. Books are a great way to provide extra content and context to enrich those incredible hands-on activities, like creating a school arboretum on a Native American Reservation in New ... more
This year we are focusing on efforts of bringing science books to high-poverty classrooms. Hands-on activities and field trips are fabulous, but books have their merits too. Until we make space travel accessible to elementary students, books about our solar system are a pretty darn good way to learn about the planets. Books are a great way to provide extra content and context to enrich those incredible hands-on activities, like creating a school arboretum on a Native American Reservation in New Mexico. Books also allow students to explore a wider range of topics than might be taught within the formal curriculum of a single school year - everything from friction, gravity, and geology to the life cycles of a whole host of plants and animals. Reading science books improves overall literacy. Classroom books can survive years of student use, and they are often more affordable than some of the science inquiry kits that teachers seek.
Please take a moment to look through the projects on our challenge page and see if the topics strike your fancy or the stories from the teachers melt your heart. hide
Thank you greatly for your support. The books my students received were very enjoyable and connected to the environmental education theme of my Science and English Language Arts Special Education classroom. We created a great end of the year project based on the books you helped us to get, 'Champions of the Oceans'. The timing of these books were great because my students and I had been discussing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill and the destruction of the ocean ecosystem made the students hungry to learn more about the current problems that exist in the world's oceans. The books gave the children hope that we can protect our oceans for the future but much work would be needed to be done to make that happen. My students began to understand that a focus on reading and writing would be an important first step to helping the oceans of the world. The books also helped my students to open their eyes to the local ecosystem and nature around them. My students have become stewards of the local community and have also created a local food garden that has created habitat, healthy food and beauty around the school. I will also be able to use these books for the next academic school year 2010-2011. Thanks again for your kind donation. It has been a huge positive in the lives of my students and to me as a teacher. The books are GREAT !! All the best to the wonderful donors.
The Lorax and There's a Hair in my Dirt, books received because of your generous support, have provided the opportunity for students to reflect on the interconnectness of all living things and the responsibility of each of us to be good stewards of the earth. The message from The Lorax is this: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. In addition to answering questions from the book, for a final project, students could A) research an endangered or extinct species harmed by an industrial practice (similar to the Truffula trees), B) write a sequel explaining how the Truffula trees made a come back through replanting and proper care, C) write a song to describe what happens 50 years in the future to the Land of the Lifted Lorax, or D) create a diorama or computer-generated picture showing how the company made the Truffula trees come back and how environmental quality was maintained while making thneeds. The culminating project addressed multiple learning styles and was well received by students. There's a Hair in my Dirt emphasized symbiotic relationships and allowed students to understand life is a circle. The moral of the story is "Nature is part of us and we are part of nature. I was pleasantly surprised to see the student enthusiasm as they read to each other! These books provided a novel, but enjoyable way to teach and for students to understand ecosystems. I appreciate your generosity for a gift that will be enjoyed by students for many years to come.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Bryant
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.
On behalf of our Alternative school and myself, I would like to thank you for your generous donation of funds to purchase the mystical garden, garden spade, and the grow lab lights. Your contribution makes it possible for us to equip our new Green House we received from another granting agency with some of the materials we purchased with your donation. Since receiving our supplies the students are learning that these items play an important part in starting a green house. They have learned that all gardens don't need dirt to grown just water ( mystical garden crystals). Also, the more lights the plants have the faster and bigger they get. They have also learned that you don't need a big shovel to dig dirt for planting but can use a small garden spade to accomplish this task. This was only possible because of thoughtful contributions from people like you. In 2010 - 2011, we plan to implement a horticulture curriculum in order to provide hands on education for our high risk students and maximize the use of our green house. As you know, the cost of supplies and materials does not go away for schools and its much harder to get extra curricula materials funded.
We hope for your continued support in the future. Without donors like you we would not be able to dream beyond the walls of our classroom due to budget constraints and our students would never be able to experience new learning experiences that enhances the regular school curriculum. Once again thank you for your generous donation. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. M.
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 9 other donors.
Thank you again for funding my project. I have been able to add lab experiences to my meteorology lessons. This made fabulous and "real" learning opportunity for my students.
The Power of Science Weather Kit permitted me to turn my students into amateur meteorologists who built their own weather stations. They were also able to measure temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and map reading. The inflatable weather kit will allow my "meteorologists" to use props as they delivered the daily weather.
The experiences that my students had have increased their science knowledge and will help them to be successful in higher level science courses. Again, thank you for allowing me to bring quality hands on science to my current and future students.
I cannot tell you how much your generosity is appreciated by myself and my students. I have used all the resources that you have helped purchased, and the students are benefiting greatly. They really took to the books that are geometry based and we refer to them in class often. You have helped my students become experts at all things circles with the Sir Cumference stories! They like when I read the books to them, and it helps them understand why something works the way it works. I hope you understand how grateful I (and all teachers) are of your generosity and willingness to help teachers out. What a tremendous gift for us and our students. Thank you so much again!”
Every year I teach a life sciences unit with butterflies, moths, and radishes. It is an exciting time of year for the students and they look forward to being responsible care-givers. The central idea for this unit is that all living things change within their life cycle and while students become familiar with the specific examples they observe in the room, they have been somewhat unsuccessful transferring their learning to other living things due to our lack of appropriate reading materials.
This year, thanks to your generous donation, I was able to provide my class with a number of appropriate texts regarding life cycles. It was wonderful! We have books on all manner of animals and plants and the students could not get enough! They read them during class group work, chose them during independent reading time, and shared them with one another during reading centers. Students from other classrooms came in to read and use our books as well. The books answered many questions and in doing so generated many more!
Finding resources for the research report is always a struggle but for the first time, it wasn't! Students had books at their fingertips and were inspired to choose a report topic from the books at hand -- rather than choosing a topic, hoping to find something at the library only to be let down, and then having to choose a different topic. In the past I had many frustrated students. This year I had excited, enthusiastic students who wrote amazing reports and who were able to use these books to help them create beautiful dioramas.
The books you sent us are quite a gift. They dramatically changed my lessons this year. The class learned both science content and language arts skills. It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it again next year! Thank you!!”
We have embarked on the this "Green" project since late November until now. This science unit has created a series of on-going connections to other objectives in science. Therefore, your donations to this project have been the gift that keeps on giving!
What a blessing! The students learned to analyze, grow and conserve the earth and environment using all of the materials that were sent. We are thankful for the opportunity to continue this project into the spring, as we will fully take advantage of nourishing plant life.”
Thank you so much for funding the purchase of the books on game programming for my computer science students. They are now beginning their semester final project, which will be to create a fully realized two-dimensional game of their own making. They will be creating the code, storyline, art, music and sound effects themselves!
We've used the book "A Theory of Fun" already as a jumping-off point for the project, and each group will have reference access to the other books you have provided us as their projects grow and mature. I haven't explored to what extent I'm able to add information to this project's page at DonorsChoose, but if I am able, I will post online links to their finished games at the end of the semester.
The level of excitement and creativity about this project has been inspiring. The students are pumped up to apply some of the programming concepts they've learned this semester, and you made it happen! Thank you so much once again.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Kiesel
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.
My students have always liked reading, but now they love it! Daily, they beg me, "Mrs. Bernabe, Can I read one of our new non-fiction books? I'm done with my other work!" They are so excited to be using the literature that you donated to our classroom, that I can see their eyes sparkling as they learn and grow through the use of these fantastic books.
These games have made the difference between obligatory reading and pleasure reading for a huge percentage of my students. So, from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of my students, thank you!”
Thank you so much for the books about the seasons. Students were able to use their reading skills to read the information and then apply it to art, science, and writing. This unit has made a lasting impact in the life of 20 happy first graders and it will be a unit of study that will be remembered for years to come. We greatly appreciate your generosity and are thankful for your example of giving in the community. My students have not only been grateful for your donation but have also seen an example of what it means to give back to the community.
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. M.
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