Ms. Friedenberg's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 11

• Calming Classroom

  Funded Nov 8, 2024

  Thank you so much for helping my class receive these items! I am most excited about the lap desks (which have not yet been received) to assist students working in small groups on the rug to sit still and straight. They are currently sitting with their backs curved or laying on the rug, neither which is optimal for paying attention and/or working.

  I am also extremely happy to now have books at AA level for my students who have yet to be able to qualify for Guided Reading Level A. As the years go on I have more and more students coming in without knowing the alphabet or basic sight words. I'm hoping these will help.

  My students were excited today when they came in to the classroom and it was decorated with Winter Holiday symbols. Years ago I purchased a beautiful wooden Kinara, the Kwanzaa candelabra, but have never been able to find candles to fit. Thanks to your generosity I now have a new Kinara with electric candles to add to my other realia.

  Lastly, the students were very excited about the scratch and sniff stickers and squishies (they corrected me and called them mochis). My class' encouragement system is toy money and many were interested and eager to spend their hard earned money on these items.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

• Who Am I?

  Funded Nov 30, 2022

  Thank you so very much for your generous donations!!

  I use maps regularly in my classroom, starting with an introduction to the Pilgrim's voyage. A few weeks before Thanksgiving I give a homework writing assignment asking where my students' families came from before they came to California. Then I have each student tell the class what they learned about their own family's voyage and I mark their names on my world map. After many, many years my map has so many holes that it is hard to find names of some countries. So my brand new world map will replace my much used one.

  Also, even though my world map is huge, the continents, countries, and states on it are quite small. That's where the Continent Maps I ordered come in. Since they zoom in on one continent at a time it will be easier for students to see where places are. I have already started using the Asian map for our literacy unit on Ancient Asian Civilization.

  Lastly, I will use the mindfulness cards and book to help calm students in time of overexcitement and stress. It is so very important for students to learn to self regulate their energy and emotions and these items will help.

  Thank you again for your generous support of my classroom!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

  This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 3 other donors.

• Advancement via Individual Determination

  Funded Dec 3, 2022

  Thank you so much for helping fund my project!! I promise to put my items to good use!

  There are three copy machines in my school for over 40 teachers. Although I do my mass copying on those machines, I desperately need my little one, which also doubles as my printer, for times when my sets wind up incomplete. It saves me from classroom catastrophes multiple times a week! This machine, and the ink, are not provided by the school. So keeping it in supply comes out of my pocket each and every time, except this time. I thank YOU for that!!

  Our new literacy series has absolutely no color to it! It is all on gray paper! The hilighters are greatly helping me color code the different lessons: Blue is for grammar, purple is for Reading/Comprehension, orange is for spelling, etc. This helps me guide my lessons along much more seamlessly.

  The dry erase markers help me color code my writing on the board to assist students visually. The black markers are for the students to use on their white boards, which they LOVE to use. It's amazing how quickly they dry out even when tops are put on every time after writing a word. Thanks to your generosity each student has his/her own marker and doesn't have to wait their turn when sharing with a partner. This helps lessons go more smoothly as there is less down time.

  Thank you again for supporting my classroom”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

• Give a Teacher a Hand!!

  Funded Aug 7, 2022

  Thank you so very much for helping me teach my students AVID's college readiness qualities. For the younger students a big part of this is teaching them how to be organized. My students have various folders to put assignments in various stages. Having loose paper in their desks is unacceptable. Thanks to you I now don't have to purchase all of these folders myself for the next school year. The electric hole puncher will help me easily and quickly punch holes in papers for the students to put in their folders and binders.

  Also thanks to you they have paw print name tags to help me learn their names and also for them to wear when they have the music and art teachers. Their desks have new paw print stickers on which I put numbers. I can now call students by their numbers to walk across the room for something or to line up.

  Thank you so much for giving this teacher a hand!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

  This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 3 other donors.

• Supplies to Organize and More!

  Funded Jul 22, 2022

  Thank you so very much for donating to my classroom!!! I am excited to start off the new school year with my colorful, and most importantly, STURDY book baskets! With more baskets I will be able to make others lighter and recycle the ones that are falling apart from much use over the years. I chose new colors that I didn't have previously, to organize different Guided Reading Letters and subjects by different colors so it is more efficient to choose the one they need instead of searching through, for example, the 7 green baskets.

  I am also looking forward to using the medial sound puzzle. That is normally the most difficult part of the word for my students to read. They tend to make up words that have the first sound or the last (or both) because they need more practice with the middle.

  Thank you so very much for being part of my classroom and better assist my students! I appreciate you very, very much!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

• Proud to Be Me!

  Funded Nov 13, 2016

  Thank you so very much for helping build my classroom library! I have a wide variety of levels in my class ranging from B-O, kindergarten to 4th grade, and thanks to you I have successfully attained my goal of having a variety of books, both fiction and nonfiction, at every one of my students' independent reading levels.

  Every Monday my students go "shopping" for the books they'd like to read for the week at their level. Books at lower levels are normally much shorter than books at higher ones and before your help some students had read all of the books I had available before they were ready to move to the next level. Some levels only had fiction stories where many students prefer to read nonfiction. Thanks to you I don't expect this will happen any longer.

  I wish I could have taken photos of the kids' faces as all of these boxes came into the classroom! I sat them down and explained what they were and where they came from. They were so very excited and are eager to thank you all! So after the books came, I still had to mark the levels on the back of each one and shelve them appropriately. I completed a pile every day for a week or so, and I'd find students coming up with reasons to pass by the desk where I had that day's pile of books laid out (we had a lot of extra nose blowing and hand wiping that week since that area is close to where the desk was). The first Monday after many of the the books were shelved was like Christmas morning as each group tried to wait patiently for their turn to shop!

  So again, thank you so very much for making a wonderful difference in the lives of my 2nd Graders!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

• Creative and Long Lasting 100th Day of School Projects!!

  Funded Dec 24, 2014

  Thank you so much for the supplies you assisted our classroom in obtaining. We had a wonderful 100th Day. We had numerous 100 activities including "How many addition problems can you solve in 100 seconds?" , "How many times can you bounce a ball in 100 Seconds?", and "How many pairs of synonyms can you list in 100 seconds?" The hit of the day, however, was our 100 bead necklaces. They were extra special with the beads and sturdy strings we received thanks to your help! Although it was a celebration day it was also a learning and reviewing day as they had to count and sort the beads they used before making their necklaces. Thank you again for making our 100th Day of Second Grade a day to remember!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

  This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and 7 other donors.

• Third Sensational Second Graders

  Funded Mar 18, 2013

  Thank you so very much for donating to my DonorsChoose grant. The students were wonderfully excited to use the learning materials. Wonderfully excited to learn!! That is the best way to learn! They begged me to practice syllables, antonyms, synonyms, contractions, plurals, money, addition and subtraction equivalency, and other topics where I'd often received a groan in the past. These games really do make all of the difference in making learning difficult concepts fun, not boring. Lastly, the boards were perfect as sets for our class' play. We had a hard tome figuring out just the right material, and they worked out perfectly!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

• 2nd Sensational Second Graders

  Funded Sep 12, 2012

  Thank you so much for the donations to my 2nd Grade classroom! Having taught first grade for 11 years one of my biggest challenges in coming to 2nd has been teaching reading comprehension for longer stories versus phonics. Using context clues and prior knowledge are two of the strategies teachers use to enhance comprehension. This includes helping students understand that even if they don't know what a few words mean they can use other information given to better comprehend a passage. Some of the games I purchased with the money you donated really help them with these strategies.

  Regrouping for carrying and borrowing has been one of the trickier math concepts students learn in second grade. Two more of the games I selected give them tactile, hands on practice with these concepts. The really like trading 10 of something small for something bigger in addition (much more than trading down for something smaller with the subtraction).

  Lastly, they are really enjoying the Time for Kids magazines that I purchased. With the presidential election especially, they are a great way to bring current events to a primary elementary age classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

  This classroom project was brought to life by Teachers Rock and 5 other donors.

• Sensational Second Grade Students

  Funded Jan 20, 2012

  Thank you all so very much for enabling my class to receive these supplies. The tennis balls have made a tremendous difference in extraneous noise reduction. I have wanted to put them on my students' chairs for years but am way too klutzy to attempt to cut the tennis balls myself!! The spray bottles are permitting students to keep their desks' cleaner. Normally this has been a task that is done by volunteer parents once in a while. I look forward to having students use them at least weekly. The proofreading book will be fantastic fun while teaching my students to edit.

  In this time of tremendous budget cuts it is an extra treat to all of a sudden have materials that I have wanted for my classroom for a very long time. Thank you so very much!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Friedenberg

  This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 12 other donors.