Past projects 131
Happy Holidays
Funded Nov 26, 2017Thank you for the presents. This year, I did Elf on the Shelf and it was a lot of fun. I hid him around the room and every morning the kids would come running in to look for him. I even would move him at recess so he could watch them play and to make sure they were playing nicely at recess.
Because of your generosity, the elf was able to give present each week too. The first week, the elf gave crayons. The second week, he gave Play-doh and the third week he gave one big bag of presents with the book, the stuff animal, and the puzzle.
My students really loved December and you helped ensure they all had a wonderful holiday.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and one other donor.Meaningful Playtime
Funded Nov 7, 2017Thank you for helping expand our playtime choices. The transportation carpet has been successful. The students use the community helper cars and "drive" the cars around the road and park them in the various buildings. While we use it now, it will become extremely helpful when we study community helpers in February.
The drill set has also been useful. The students like it a lot more than I thought they would. It helps with their fine motor skills because the screws are small and they have to hold them in the beginning while they screw. It also has helped with sharing because there is one screwdriver and one drill and they take turns using each tool.
Lastly, the timer has been amazing. We use it all day and if the students immediately stop playing when it goes off, I give them a few extra minutes to keep playing since they were quiet enough to hear it and because they followed directions.
Thank you again.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 3 other donors.Making Reading Fun
Funded Nov 4, 2017Thank you for the books. They have been a great addition to our classroom library and our read alouds. We recently celebrate Thanksgiving and I had enough fun Thanksgiving books to read one on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Two of the books were so much more fun than I thought. They took the idea of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" but changed the words to make it about Thanksgiving. The students thought it was so much fun we shared it with the other PreK and K classes.
We also got a lot of community helper books which will be perfect for our unit in February and in the spring we have lots of nonfiction books to read and write about.
Thank you for making reading fun in our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 5 other donors.Building for STEM
Funded Nov 17, 2017My students were thrilled when they received their new playtime toys. The building blocks have been not only fun but helpful. The size is just perfect for them because they are small enough to perfect fine motor skills but big enough that the students can take apart their structures and don't get lost.
The Goobi sticks are novice to both me and them. We weren't quite sure what we could do with them but we were eager to find out. At first the students were designing 2d structures but then we looked through the book and saw the amazing 3d structures we can build. This ties in perfectly with our math unit which is geometry. The students will be able to build cubes, rectangular prisms, and pyramids.
Thank you for your support. These new toys make each day more fun for them.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 2 other donors.Making Math Fun
Funded Nov 6, 2017Thank you for the math materials. The shape center came just in time for our new unit. The day it came, I shared it during math time and then had it out for the kids to work with the next day. At the center, the students make circle pizzas or a tree out of smaller shapes. I particular like this center because it gives a variety of triangles. Most centers and store bought shapes only give equilateral triangles but this center has other isosceles triangles and scalene triangles.
We used the Play-do to make shapes and used the Play-do math mats to review numbers which we did last month.
My goal is to have the students excited about math time and help improve our math scores and I know these materials will help.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 6 other donors.Ready to Read
Funded Oct 25, 2017The books have been an amazing addition to our classroom. When the students enter the classroom in the morning, they are to unpack and then can play with Legos. Since we have gotten the books, the students choose to look at books instead of Legos because they love the books.
We are studying families this month and read "Pete the Cat, Rock on Mom and Dad." You can see in one of the photos we took a class picture with our writings, the book, and the poster that was included in the book. The students were to write about something nice they could do for their parents just like the character did in the book. The students were so excited to do their writing and take the picture. At the end of the day, I was able to give out Pete the Cat stickers that came in the book.
There are a few more families book that have been a great asset to our read alouds and I know the students can't wait until next month when I pull out next books.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 3 other donors.Snack Time
Funded Oct 15, 2017Thank you for the snacks. We recently went to the National Aquarium and had to eat lunch at 10 am. As you can imagine the students were hungry around 2:00 pm but we were prepared and I had cereal bars in my backpack for them.
Today we had animal crackers and I was amazed that no one asked me to open their snack. Everyone asked a friend and every friend was eager to help. Its great to watch them become independent.
Now that it is getting cold, the students are coming to school later and later. Our breakfast ends at 8:15 am but now I am able to give my students something to eat to hold them over until lunch. This is helping with our academics because the students are feed and not crying about being hungry. They are able to focus on their work and complete it.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by Life Essentials Supporters and one other donor.Teaching at Tables
Funded Oct 3, 2017Thank you for the table. It may not seem as fun of a project to donate to as others but it has allowed my students to do so much more. With the larger table, they are able to eat lunch with more of their friends and socialize. They are able to paint because we have more space. Previously, we did not paint because there was not enough space for the paint, water, and paper. Just the other day, we painted a lowercase a into an apple. For Halloween, we were able to carve pumpkins and for the winter holidays, we are going to build gingerbread houses.
Thanks for helping make the lives of 4 year olds more fun.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 3 other donors.Construction Letters and Numbers
Funded Jul 27, 2017The Construction Letters and Numbers are amazing. My students love them so much more than I thought they would and are learning so much. During choice time when the students can paint, play in the kitchen, or build with Legos, they chose to construction letters or numbers. The students are learning how to make the letter Mm, Ss, and T. They are constantly trying to make the number 5 and when they do, they are so proud of themselves. When I am pulling small groups, the students come up to me to show me what they made even though they know they aren't supposed to. They are just so proud of themselves they have to share with me.
Thank you so much. You have made my students so happy. Hopefully, we will take these skills and be able to apply it to writing letters and numbers next.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 6 other donors.Writing Is Easy With An Easel
Funded Aug 29, 2017Thank you for the easel. It has been an amazing addition to our classroom. We are able to read poems on it and find the sight word we are learning. We are able to add magnetic counters to it and count how many and then write the number. We have been able to sort the counters to by color, shape, and size. We have a frog poster that we dress every morning for the weather and hang him on the easel.
In the afternoons, I model how to write on the board like starting on the top and writing left to right. Then the students are able to illustrate my writing.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Illuminati
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and one other donor.