Past projects 15
Creating a Welcoming Space
Funded Aug 3, 2023Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom. Words cannot even begin to express my gratitude for your gift to my students. Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom. It is wonderful to see that others truly value the power of education. The students and I will all benefit greatly from this thoughtful donation.
I am so excited to start each day with my new students in our new and improved learning space! We have so much to learn, and now we have a comfortable place to do so! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 2 other donors.Building Up the Foundation for Reading
Funded Oct 21, 2021Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom. My students have really been working hard to learn the skills necessary to become strong readers. They have been practicing and it has been amazing to watch their skills grow. As they become better readers, they want to read more and more.
My students really love our new books! The Whole Phonics books are wonderful, with vibrant and fun illustrations and silly stories that the students enjoy. They love the different characters and the fun stories, but you know what they love the best- that THEY are able to read these stories ALL BY THEMSELVES. Watching their faces as they realize they can read all the words on the page, without having to resort to looking at the pictures or guessing, is amazing. These books have given my students the opportunity to practice the skills we've been learning and build their confidence as readers. It is so much fun to watch, and I am so proud of how hard my students have worked and how much they have learned. Having these amazing decodable books has really been wonderful for my students because they feel like they are reading real books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
Reading Foundations
Funded Sep 23, 2021Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom. My students have really been working hard to learn the skills necessary to become strong readers. They have been practicing and it has been amazing to watch their skills grow. As they become better readers, they want to read more and more.
My students really love our new books! They love the different characters and the fun stories, but you know what they love the best- that THEY are able to read these stories ALL BY THEMSELVES. Watching their faces as they realize they can read all the words on the page, without having to resort to looking at the pictures or guessing, is amazing. These books have given my students the opportunity to practice the skills we've been learning and build their confidence as readers. It is so much fun to watch, and I am so proud of how hard my students have worked and how much they have learned. Having these amazing decodable books has really been wonderful for my students because they feel like they are reading real books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.Phonics Fun with Decodables
Funded Dec 31, 2021Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom. My students have really been working hard to learn the skills necessary to become strong readers. They have been practicing and it has been amazing to watch their skills grow. As they become better readers, they want to read more and more.
My students really love our new books! They love the different characters and the fun stories, but you know what they love the best- that THEY are able to read these stories ALL BY THEMSELVES. Watching their faces as they realize they can read all the words on the page, without having to resort to looking at the pictures or guessing, is amazing. These books have given my students the opportunity to practice the skills we've been learning and build their confidence as readers. It is so much fun to watch, and I am so proud of how hard my students have worked and how much they have learned. Having these amazing decodable books has really been wonderful for my students because they feel like they are reading real books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 8 other donors.We Love to Read!
Funded Mar 7, 2020Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted schools in a negative way over the past year, and this includes the materials I received through my this Donors Choose project. The books arrived two days before we left school because of the pandemic, and as you know, our two week break turned into almost an entire year. We reentered the school building in March of this year with strict COVID guidelines in place.
Since these materials arrived just before the pandemic, I have not yet been able to get them into the hands of my students. I switched grade levels, and am now teaching first grade. The books that I ordered were intended for my second grade students who were reading on a third grade level, and I was not able to use them with my first grade students this year. I will be teaching first grade again next year, and the books are quite difficult for first graders.
However, these books make great read alouds and I love to read chapter books to my students, so I will definitely be using them in this way! I also would like to allow some of the older students to borrow them, so I may set up some sort of lending library for my former second graders (who are now 4th graders!) to come by and borrow them to read. I hate for books to sit around and collect dust, so I promise I will find some way to get them into the hands of our students when school begins in August.
Thank you so much for your generosity! I really appreciate you thinking of my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 5 other donors.Learning to Read With Book Boxes
Funded Aug 8, 2017My students and I absolutely love our new book boxes. The students love filling them with their favorite books to read again and again. I love that my students have a box of books to call their "own" for reading. They grab their book boxes when they are at the Read to Self center, and they also know they can grab their book boxes anytime when they are finished with their work. They keep classroom library books as well as books they've created in the classroom, such as our Sight Word Stories, that they can read on their own.
These book boxes allow my students to have individualized books that are perfect for them. I can provide them with on-level texts to read, but also allow them the flexibility to choose books that look interesting or fun. They love when it's book shopping day and they get to trade out their books for some new ones. I love the engagement that comes with allowing them to choose their own books and watching them read their favorites again and again!
Thank you so much for your generous donations and allowing my students and I to have these fabulous book boxes for our classroom. We love them so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by Lakeshore Learning and 2 other donors.Making Math Fun!
Funded Mar 1, 2019Thank you so much for helping to make math fun for my students! My students learn best with hands-on activities that really allow them to engage in what they are doing, and these new math materials really allowed them to do that. Using the balance helped them to understand concepts like greater than/less than and balanced equations that can sometimes be difficult to understand for first graders. The dominoes were perfect for working with equations and fact families.
I think their favorite item that we received, though, were the Hot Dots. Their eyes lit up when I introduced them. They were so excited to practice skills such as addition and subtraction facts and word families with the Hot Dots. I also used the cards with a student who is really struggling and it helped him build confidence with counting and one-to-one matching. I also used the Hot Dots stickers to create some other cards that matched other standards we were learning.
I cannot wait to use these items with my students next year, and I know they will love them too! I plan to use them in even more fun ways with my students and I can't wait to hit the ground running with them at the beginning of the year!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 13 other donors.Get Those Wiggles Out Through Dance in Kindergarten!
Funded Aug 22, 2016Thank you so much for the brand new technology you have helped provide my classroom with. Having the bluetooth speaker and iPad have been so helpful in my classroom in so many ways. The iPad can be used in so many different ways throughout the day, so it has been very useful in my classroom. Throughout the day, when I notice my students are starting to get a little wiggly and having a hard time focusing, it is so easy to have my students get up and we can do a quick brain break. It doesn't take much time out of our day, so we can get up and move as often as we need to- which is a LOT in Kindergarten! We have even taken the iPad and speaker to the gym on cold and rainy days so they have tons of room to move around and dance. They love it!
My students love choosing the song we're going to do. Whenever I tell them it's time for a brain break, they immediately begin raising their hands and shouting out songs they want to do. Some favorites are "Tooty Tah", "Shake My Sillies Out", and "Animals in Action", but I think their absolute favorite is "Counting to 100!" I love that song in particular because it gives them a lot of practice with counting while they get to get up and get those little bodies moving. I love using the iPad because it helps get me up and moving as well! They love that their teacher gets up and dances with them. Since the iPad is connected to the internet, I can find new songs to do whenever we need to switch something up and find something new, or if somebody has told me about a great song that we should try. I was also able to load all the songs from the Cd's onto the iPad, so we have a wealth of songs to choose from on there as well. It's so convenient to pick up the iPad and choose a song to sing and dance to.
The iPad also contains games and apps that help us with our learning as well. When a student is finished doing their work, they can get up and get an iPad to play on quietly until their classmates have finished. The bluetooth speaker has also been helpful in many other ways as well. I was able to connect it to my classroom computer, so we can use the website "Go Noodle" to do brain breaks or indoor recess. Before, we were unable to hear the sounds coming out of the computer, so it was difficult to use. Now, the bluetooth speaker is connected so we can use it with both the classroom computer and the iPad. It seriously has felt like a lifesaver and I've commented so many times on how wonderful it has been to have this amazing new technology in our classroom. I only wish I could upload videos so my donors could see how much fun the students are having with this technology!
My students and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
This classroom project was brought to life by Target and one other donor.Tech Savvy Kinders
Funded Jan 1, 2016Thank you so much for donating the funds for our new iPad and Touchtronic letters. The students and I love having this new technology in our room to use. They are so excited to have the opportunity to use our new iPad each day. It is wonderful to see them using this technology and working with other students to learn.
We use the iPad almost every day. They are very easy for the students to use due to their small size. I keep them easily accessible so that students can go get one whenever they are finished with their work. They love using the iPad with the Touchtronic letters too. We are all in agreement that they are seriously some of the coolest things ever. They work perfectly with the Touchtronic apps that allow them to work on important Kindergarten skills. The iPad allows them to practice sounds, make CVC words, practice their numbers, and more. They love getting on the different apps that I've downloaded to the iPad and choosing the appropriate activity for them. The games are so fun, they don't even realize they are learning!
Another wonderful thing about the iPads is how it fosters independence. I keep the iPads and the Touchtronic letters and numbers in an accessible place, and my students know they are allowed to go get one whenever they complete their work. They know exactly where to go and how to get the iPad and the letters out. They know where and how to put them back, and they are careful about making sure everything is put back correctly. They are so careful with the iPads and the Touchtronic letters because they know how special they are! I love how this technology makes my students more independent!
It is amazing to see how they learn not only academic skills with the iPads, but social skills as well. Often, two students will be found sharing an iPad. And I mean they actually share it- very rarely do I hear squabbles over the iPad! They will take turns putting down a letter or doing an activity on the iPad. It warms my heart to see them getting along so well and sharing! My students need to learn how to get along with each other, and the iPad actually helps them learn how to do that.
Some of the students in my class do not have access to a computer or have Internet access at home, so they are thrilled when they can get on them. They are having so much fun, they don't realize they are learning! And the iPads grow with us throughout the year- as their needs change, I can add more apps that help with the skills they are working on. What a wonderful resource that keeps on giving!
If it were not for generous donors like you, schools would be without the resources that students need to learn. My students wouldn't have the opportunity to use iPads and the Touchtronic letters and numbers in their learning. I am appreciative of your thoughtfulness, and I know my students are too. Thank you so much for taking the time to donate to this project. You have impacted not only the group of students I have this year, but students for many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler
Tech-Savvy Kinders
Funded May 5, 2015Thank you so much for donating the funds for our new iPad. The students and I love having this new technology in our room to use. They are so excited to have the opportunity to use our new iPad each day. It is wonderful to see them using this technology and working with other students to learn.
We use the iPad almost every day. They are very easy for the students to use due to their small size. I keep them easily accessible so that students can go get one whenever they are finished with their work. They love using the iPad with the Touchtronic letters we have. The iPad allows them to practice sounds, make CVC words, practice their numbers, and more. They love getting on the different apps that I've downloaded to the iPad and choosing the appropriate activity for them. The games are so fun, they don't even realize they are learning!
Another wonderful thing about the iPads is how it fosters independence. I keep the iPads in an accessible place, and my students know they are allowed to go get one whenever they complete their work. They know exactly where to go and how to get the iPad and the letters out. They know where and how to put them back, and they are careful about making sure everything is put back correctly. They are so careful with the iPads because they know how special they are!
It is amazing to see how they learn not only academic skills with the iPads, but social skills as well. Often, two students will be found sharing an iPad. And I mean they actually share it- very rarely do I hear squabbles over the iPad! It is so important that they be able to get along in life, and the iPad actually helps them learn how to do that. Some of the students in my class do not have access to a computer or have Internet access at home, so they are thrilled when they can get on them. They are having so much fun, they don't realize they are learning! And the iPads grow with us throughout the year- as their needs change, I can add more apps that help with the skills they are working on. What a wonderful resource that keeps on giving!
If it were not for generous donors like you, schools would be without the resources that students need to learn. My students wouldn't have the opportunity to use iPads in their learning. I am appreciative of your thoughtfulness, and I know my students are too. Thank you so much for taking the time to donate to this project. You have impacted not only the group of students I have this year, but students for many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Butler