Ms. Illuminati's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 131

• Confident Readers

  Funded Nov 28, 2023

  Thank you for the books. My small groups have been reading the books if we finish our lesson early and have asked to take them home to finish. One student read an entire chapter book in a 3 day weekend which is a huge accomplishment.

  We recently took our middle of the year assessments and the students' reading accuracy improved greatly because the students are practicing reading. The next step is to improve the reading speed which will happen with plenty of practice from the books that were donated.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Mask Mania

  Funded Jan 9, 2024

  Thank you for the masks. The students, teachers, and families have been very appreciative. Our spring musical is Annie, and our students recently went to a performance of Annie in DC. The students were able to have masks for the bus ride and the performance. We also had a basketball game and a cheerleading performance and were able to offer masks to the families who attended. The masks have help keep our students and staff safe and our attendance up. The weather will warm up so where we are and we won't need as many but for now it is great.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by LOFT and 2 other donors.

• Snacks on Snacks

  Funded Nov 13, 2023

  Thank you for the snacks. I have spread the snacks out school wide and it has made a difference. I teach small group reading intervention and once a week we have small quiz which takes less time than the allotted 30 minutes. When we finish the quiz we have snack and go over the answers and the students love it and the snack helps keep the kids relaxed when they learn they got an answer wrong. I also gave snack to our littlest learners, our Pre-K students. They eat lunch at 10:30 am so around 1 they are ready for a snack and to keep learning.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and one other donor.

• Magnetic Readers

  Funded Feb 21, 2023

  Thank you for the magnetic blending boards. I meet with groups of 3-5 students daily who are struggling in reading. We work on letter sounds and sounding out words. A key aspect to being able to read is to manipulate sounds in words. If the word is "lip" and I tell the students to change the "l" to "sh" the students should be able to tell me the new word is "ship." The magnetic letters help the students do this easily. The magnetic letters also keep certain groups of letters together that make one sound like "ai" makes the long a sound is one tile. This helps the students learn even though it's two letters it's only one sound. The magnetic tiles boards are only one part of the phonics lesson but it is making a huge impact on the students learning to read.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

• Full STEAM Ahead

  Funded May 6, 2022

  Thank you for your donation during teacher appreciation week. Your thoughtfulness makes teaching so much easier.

  The students are going to love their STEAM class. They are going to learn so much and the skills they learn like communication, problem solving and perseverance will help them in the general education classroom as well.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 6 other donors.

• Learning in Kindergarten

  Funded Dec 14, 2021

  Thank you for making my classroom better. This project was particularly important to me because I am currently on maternity leave and wanted to make sure my students had all the materials they needed while I was away. They are currently working on digraphs and the puzzles and phonics stamps have been great. They are able to practice what they are learning independently and have it checked by their teachers.

  They also are having more playtime than earlier in the year. The watercolor paints and foam blocks are fun but do require sharing and they are helping promote their social skills.

  I am going back in a few weeks and I am very excited to see my students again and see what they have learned.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.

• Books for the Holidays

  Funded Nov 30, 2021

  Thank you for your donation during the holiday season. My students were able to take home crayons, Play-doh, activity books and pop its in addition to the book, The Snowy Day. My class is predominantly African American and it is important for them to see themselves represented in books which is why I picked this book. On the last day of school before winter break we wore our pajamas and watched the animated version of The Snowy Day.

  You also helped us add two new books with African American characters and a biracial family.

  Thank you for helping my students see themselves represented in my classroom and teaching them that they matter and can do great things.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.

• Holiday Presents

  Funded Nov 30, 2021

  Thank you for your donation during the holiday season. My students were thrilled to go home with a gift bag to keep them busy during winter break. The pop it was by far the favorite. When we came back in January at least half of the class had put it in their bookbag or lunchbag.

  They also got activity books to go along with the crayons.

  We got enough Play-doh for each student to take some home and to replenishment our class supply.

  My students are an amazing group who are kind, compassionate and eager to learn and they deserve the best. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Fun and Safe Holidays

  Funded Dec 1, 2021

  Thank you for your donation during the holiday season. With your help the students were able to receive coloring books and activity books as we as crayons to keep them busy over winter break.

  The last day before winter break was a very special one. We all wore pajamas and watch The Polar Express while drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn and candy canes.

  Unfortunately, covid was on the rise during our winter break but thanks to you, we all had new masks to wear when we returned in January.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Magazines for Kids

  Funded Sep 24, 2021

  Thank you for the magazines. Not only did the students learn a lot but they loved having their own copy to take home.

  We learned about animals hibernating and in one the pictures you can see the kids practicing curling up and hibernating. We had a whole unit on pumpkins and there was a magazine to enhance our learning. We also learned about setting goals for the New Year and how people celebrate different winter holidays.

  The magazines also come with a digital subscription that teaches more about the concept. For February, we accessed old videos about dental hygiene and played a game guessing which teeth belong to which animals. The students loved it.

  The magazines were also beneficial for learning at home because the students were able to take the magazine home and tell their parents what they learned.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Illuminati

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.