DrPal's First Aid for Michigan Classrooms

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I am so excited to have these resources in my classroom. I have actually started a little lending library for the kids when they come into my room. They check them out and read them. It is so great to have them reading! They ask questions about the things they learned which is really great. I started an engineering class for elementary which meets during my lunch hour and some of these made great resources for their projects. It has been so amazing to have current resources. I could not have done this without you. thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! each time I see them with a book, it warms my heart and I think of the kindness you have shown my children and I am thankful each day that I found donorschoose.....and so did you1”

With gratitude,

Ms. Atkisson

Thank you so much for your wonderful donations. Your support means so much and has helped us make our learning more rich and exciting. The kids are absolutely loving learning all about the food groups and nutrition. We began in January, and now in April, they still will not let me rotate any of the materials out. They love playing the nutrition game so much that they have created their own version of it- complete with rules and turns!

We extended our learning about nutrition to a field trip to the grocery store. We had a great time picking out healthy foods from all the different food groups. As a class, we also decided to have a "healthy" Valentine's Day celebration. Instead of handing out candy, everyone brought in red and pink fruit to enjoy.

Our learning, thanks to your donations is making a difference in the kid's lives! They have tried foods they have never eaten before and are taking charge of making sure they make good choices to help their bodies go and grow!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. M.

Your gifts have made a fun and exciting addition to our classroom. When I go to the AV cart and put on a CD, the kids know it's time to sing and dance to songs like "Who Let the 'A' Out?" and "We've Got the Whole Globe in Our Hands." My second-graders are proud that they know all of their spelling sounds and the names of the seven continents. Our school district is operating on a limited budget. I would not have been able to get these materials without your generosity. The CDs I was able to select have songs that will also be useful with next year's curriculum.

We have a Character Education focus at our school and your donation gave students a real-life illustration of many of the traits we teach- generosity, caring, compassion, and more. I thank you for a great experience.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Barnes

I would like to thank you for donating to our "No Child Left Inside" project. As you know, my students are unable to have much unstructured outside time. I teach in a large urban area where gang violence is prevalent--parents can't send their kids out to explore. The supplies you provided have allowed my students to learn about science concepts in an informal, safe setting.

Your donations have allowed us to construct our own tool bags. Students drew various scenes of our outdoor classroom in crayon onto sandpaper. I took their art and ironed it onto the fabric you purchased. I sewed the fabric into the bags that you will see the students holding. These bags are used to hold art supplies, magnifiers, thermometers and other tools that you helped to purchase.

Our club meets once a week on our lunchtime to do outdoor activities that we are unable to do during class time. For example, we collected snow and conducted an experiment to see which is more, a cup of snow or a cup of water. We used the UV beads to make bracelets and got into a great conversation about the effects of the sun's rays.

As spring inches closer, please know that the tools you have supplied are being used and appreciated. Thank you for helping me in my quest to leave no child inside!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Lazarowicz

Thank you so much for funding my much needed supply of yarn and warp string. As an elementary school art teacher it might be hard to believe, but weaving is among the most popular lessons I teach. Thanks to your generous donation when we started weaving in January for the first time I had more than enough warp string for students to make looms. That has always a problem for me in the past. Normally I find myself headed to the craft store (spending my own money) to get more yarn for my classes as the most popular colors are used very quickly( red, pink, blue) not this year with your help our supply of yarn was more than adequate. This year my kindergarten to 5th grade students who do weaving on cardboard loom thanks to you had everything they needed to complete this wonderful project. See my lesson here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbtKnvc_9No

Thank you again donors because of you I was able to continue exposing my students to many different types of art. ”

With gratitude,

Mr. Tolbert

Thanks again for your help in funding "Great Gardens- Outdoor Classroom." As I said before, your help could not have come at a better time. I was transferred in the middle of the school year from middle school to high school, and the transition was very difficult for myself and my students. I had a very difficult time gaining their trust and interest. Luckily, they LOVE learning biology through hands-on activities and laboratories. Your funding saved us all from a potentially horrendous situation.

The students are now right on track and happily learning science. We are planning and preparing for our gardens already. We are growing our seeds in the greenhouse for our flower, nature, herb, and vegetable gardens. I am proud to say that this project has been a success so far and it continues to grow. The students are taking care of their own plants and looking forward to planting them outdoors this spring. We are also looking forward to building habitat features such as bird houses and putting them up very soon.

”

With gratitude,

Ms. Williams

Thank you so very very much for your incredibly generous gifts to my students. As the books came in, the students were ecstatic that they each were able to use their own copy of the book, take the book home with them, and read it at their leisure. As I stated in the project request, this book changes my students and matures them in ways that are so clear, yet so awe inspiring. It's such an incredible moment for me as a teacher when my students begin to relate to the story and question humanity in a way that most high school students don't think about the world.

Your gift allowed me to have that moment and permitted my students to have that experience of clarity in the world. Never has another book I've used made such a positive impact on the lives of my students and it is simply incredible that a story, which has been read by millions of people can be shared by my students. Without your generosity, my students would not have been able to appreciate the history of the Holocaust and the story of Elie Wiesel in such a real way and I thank you for that.

I already can't wait to use the books again this semester with the new group of students I have. Thank you for your kindness and sincerity and may God bless you in your path to understanding humanity as my students have begun to with your gift.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Durkee

I cannot thank you enough for the document camera. Although we ran into some technical difficulties at the beginning, it has turned out to be one of the best investments made in my classroom. My students love using it and I love being able to give them the opportunity. I have seen my students use mathematical vocabulary more now than they had prior to our receiving the document camera. It has been instrumental in building mathematical literacy in my students.

I have a wide range of student abilities in my classroom and the document camera has given my students access to the thinking of EVERYONE in the class. Now we have more time for everyone to share their thinking and work with the entire class since students do not have to spend time rewriting their work (which they were reluctant to do). My students work out errors ,if any, together through open discussion. In addition, they also get a chance to see multiple ways to get a solution to a problem.

My first WOW experience was when one of my special needs students volunteered to show and explain one of our math problems. He did it with such confidence and expertise that he left the entire class speechless. This is a child who normally responds to only basic fact type questions and has trouble focusing. The document camera motivated him in such a way that the outcome was great. I am expecting to hear from him more often, voluntarily. Thanks!!

Lastly, I knew that the document camera would be a useful tool for the classroom, but I never expected such results so soon. When a student is up using the document camera the rest of the class is really attentive. They examine the problem carefully before asking questions of the student and they use mathematical vocabulary more frequently and correctly. Once again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Cole

I would like to thank you so very much for your generous purchase of so many wonderful books. My second graders come from low economic backgrounds and from families that do not speak or write English in the home. The opportunity to have such a wonderful selection of books is very important to their learning environment. Second Graders are becoming independent readers and having the ability to pick books that appeal to them is so great.

They love the Judy Moody books by Megan McDonald and the favorite this year is the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborn. The boys especially enjoy these stories. I was able to purchase the entire series which was twenty - eight books. There is a race to see who can read the most. Another favorite are the fiction and nonfiction Level books which are perfect for my not so advanced readers. They feel very successful reading these books of high interest.

We have a program in our school called Accelerated Reader. The students read the book and then take a test on the computer. The computer keeps track of how many books the students have read and how well they read the books. If we did not have such a wonderful selection of books then the program would not work. Thanks to you and your generosity I am able to provide them with so many great stories to read.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Work