Mrs. Wolf's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 20

• Circle Graphs Are Where It's At!

  Funded Sep 2, 2019

  Thank you for providing the chart paper and the math ten frames with magnetic organizer bags. We have been enjoying using these materials in both reading and math this year.

  My students' learning is displayed around our classroom thanks to the 3M chart paper. The ABC charts we made are now our word wall for all our sight words. My students refer to these charts daily as a tool for their writing and reading. We have also made charts for non-fiction units of study and for our science curriculum.

  The math ten frames help my students explain their mathematical thinking in a concrete, visible manner during our daily number talks. During small group instruction, my students use the ten frames to assist in building their number sense.

  Once again, thank you for supporting my classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• Becoming a Scientist

  Funded Aug 12, 2019

  Thank you for supporting my classroom by providing lab coats to help my students step into the role of being a scientist.

  My students were so excited to slip on the lab coats to perform their first experiment. First, we predicted what the outcome would be when we combined vinegar and baking soda. Once our hypothesis was created, we prepared our materials for the most exciting part of our day. Many of us predicted that there would be a reaction, and our experiment did not disappoint. The classroom exploded with cheers and awe as the chemical reaction caused our vinegar to expand out of the cups.

  My students continue to enjoy slipping on the lab coats each time we have our "Mad Science" day. Thank you for bringing this excitement to each one of them.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• Stack It Up

  Funded Jul 7, 2019

  Thank you so much for supporting my classroom project by funding the Math Stackers for my students. My students have enjoyed using the math blocks to visualize how numbers are related to each other.

  Since the Math Stackers resemble building blocks, I introduced this new tool during a free choice playtime. This allowed a small group of students to explore freely without any instruction on "how to play with them." Some students quickly figured out how to put the numbers in ascending order, which created a "staircase" with the blocks. This discovery excited the whole class.

  I incorporate the Math Stackers into as many lessons as I can. My favorite experience was when we used them to determine if a rectangle could also be classified as a square. If the rectangle was a square, all four sides would equal the same Math Stacker block.

  Thank you again for your continued support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• I Need to Elevate My Classroom

  Funded Dec 28, 2018

  Thank you for allowing me to travel with my two other colleagues to the Elevate event held in Nashville, TN. Mr. Greg Smedley limits the conference to only 250 attendees so that he can meet with each teacher. During the conference, he shared honestly about successes and failures in his classroom.

  My two favorite topics that he covered were how he conducts his morning meetings and his mad science lessons. In the morning meeting, his goal is to build relationships with his students. Relationships are vital to a child's learning and development. I already do parts of his morning meeting format, but I will be adding a daily greeting and fun activity to begin the school day. These two additions will help build Social-Emotional Learning in the classroom.

  The mad science topic was what caught my eye when I first read about the conference. Mr. Smedley's explanation of this topic did not disappoint. His mad science experiments are meant to do once a week to help students build inquiry skills. Although I have done some science in my previous years, it has not been a weekly scheduled lesson. Our kindergarten team is committing to doing one science lesson a week by using his mad science curriculum. We should see our students being able to form a hypothesis and ask questions and report on results while figuring out why.

  Lastly, I want to share that our team felt like we were on the Oprah show with all the door prizes that were given away. We each won a special door prize in a drawing, and then all 250 attending teachers won a wireless doorbell which is used as a class management tool that Mr. Smedley explicitly taught how to be successful with its use in the classroom. At the moment he said we were all receiving one, the room erupted in "Oprah-like fashion."

  Thank you again for your generous support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

  This classroom project was brought to life by 3M and 2 other donors.

• Focus on Motor Skills

  Funded Sep 2, 2018

  I hope you have had a chance to view the photos of my class enjoying the new resources. Can you see the excitement in their faces? Imagine the excitement in their voices as they discovered how to work together as a team to make a maze that could deliver the red ball into the small container. Or the excitement of playing with the new puzzles to help develop their fine motor muscles.

  The maze has sparked their creativity. They have done a great job taking turns with the maze and discovering just a small adjustment can make a big difference in how the maze works.

  The fine motor puzzles have been enjoyed by the whole class and by individual students. I have a few students who use some of the finger puzzles to help them stay focused during a lesson. When the student has a small puzzle or fidget in their hand, they are able to listen longer to instruction.

  Thank you for your support and bringing these items to my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• Our Kinder-Garden Part 3

  Funded Apr 13, 2018

  Thank you for supporting this project to bring a Learning Garden to our school. The benches and camera create a beautiful way to enjoy our garden.

  This project has done more than just brought a Learning Garden to unused space outside my classroom door. It has begun to bring our school community together. First, we were able to include our Kindergarten Class in creating a mural on the garden wall. The students were excited to add their handprint as a flower on the wall.

  Next, our PTO was able to help supply the needed soil, mulch, and plants for the garden boxes. Upon talking with our PTO president, the three kindergarten teachers began to explain how we could expand the garden towards the other half of the outdoor space if an old, unsafe piece of playground equipment could be removed. Our PTO president caught our dream and is working with other community stakeholders to help remove the old equipment to make way for an expanded outdoor learning space this summer.

  Stay tuned for more to come to this newly improved area of our school. Thank you again for coming together and supporting this project.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

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

• Music to Our Ears

  Funded Mar 5, 2018

  Thank you for supporting "Music to Our Ears". Each MP4 player is now loaded with our favorite educational songs. The charging stations are perfect for keeping each device ready to use. I was able to create a "charging basket" to help manage the cords and keep the devices organized when not in use.

  The students were able to quickly learn how to work the device. The delight on their faces when a song they knew came on was contagious. My hopes for a "quiet" time did not occur at first. Each student had to share what song they were listening to with the closest friend. Once the sharing of this excitement settled down, each student found their own comfortable place to listen to the songs.

  Two students, in particular, caught my attention. One went to her favorite chair. At times this student had difficulty being comfortable and focused. But with the MP4 player delivering sweet music to her ears, she was calm and peaceful. The second student could never be still or quiet during instruction. His energy level was continually revving. However, when putting on the headphones, he found a spot on our carpet to be still and just listened to the songs.

  Music speaks a language that helps us all be more comfortable and peaceful. Thank you for bringing that comfort and peace to our classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• The "Bare" Necessities for Writing

  Funded Mar 9, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  Thank you for supporting our entire school by funding a Bare Book for each student. Each grade level had their own writing project focus for their books.

  Kindergarten is a year of filled with memories as each student starts off their educational journey. Each kindergarten student wrote and illustrated a memory book about their first year in school.

  Second and third grade students learned to craft a fairy tale of their own. Once they were ready to publish, they used their Bare Book to share their piece.

  Fifth grade has an annual Wax Museum. Students researched a historical figure and wrote a factual piece about the chosen figure in their Bare Books.

  Without your support, this annual tradition would have ended due to our funding shortage. Thank you again for stepping in and overcoming that shortage for our school.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• Singing & Dancing to Learn

  Funded Jul 1, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  Thank you for your support on Hip Hopping Through Our Day. This year is off to a great start due to having these 18 DVDs for my students to get up and move to while they learn new skills.

  We began this year by learning a letter a day. The Letter and Sounds DVD was perfect for this unit. The students were excited to learn the next song. We still use the DVD to review how to write our letters on white boards. Once a student writes the letter, they can get up and dance to the song.

  The Sight Word videos have made it a lot easier for my young students to remember new sight words. We just used the Word Family DVD to introduce the "at" family of words. We also learned about "y" making two syllable words say "e" by using the Phonics DVD.

  In Math, it is so much fun to dance to learn our numbers. The students' favorite song is counting to 100. Half my class has already counted to 100 which is an end of the school goal!

  Once again, thank you for your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

• Hip, Hopping Through Our Day

  Funded Aug 19, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  Thank you for supporting my project to help keep my students active throughout the day. My students have enjoyed the fine motor activities for their morning tubs too!

  The activity mats are a great plus to both our Language Arts and Math blocks. It is so much more fun to hop on a number line or step onto a sight word than just seeing it on a worksheet. My students are engaged more since they are in motion with their learning.

  During our end of the day play time, the students love trying their skills at moving the ball through a maze on the balance board. The stilts are a classroom favorite too. They challenge each other to see who can walk the longest without losing their balance.

  Without your support, my classroom would not have these new activities to engage them.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Wolf

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