Past projects 25
Loose Parts and Ephemeral Art!
Funded Jan 20, 2022Thank you for your generous donations to my unique project. I have been learning about Ephemeral Art and Loose Parts through a monthly William Paterson University workshop and a grant they secured. I have brought what I learned into my classroom, with your help in providing many of the materials.
The students have been busy creating with the loose parts and natural materials. They enjoy being independent and free to use any of the materials in any way they want. There are no directions, so they are in charge. I cannot wait to bring the project outside to a natural environment this spring.
We will start the literacy portion of the project once they are comfortable creating and photographing their art. As they describe their creation, how they made it, or what they see; in other words, their vision, I will write their words and together we will use their words to create the poetry. I am very excited for this piece of their journey. We will publish a class book of their poetry and photographs of their art in the spring.
Thank you for believing in me and my eager students. They are our future and you helped make it brighter for them.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation and 11 other donors.Innovative Enhancement to Block Play
Funded Dec 1, 2021Thank you so much for the generous donations provided for my project to purchase this unique building set to expand on the unit blocks we already have in the classroom. Personally, I love playing and building with the materials. We can create roadways, bridges, tunnels and draw bridges that really lift up. The cars or trains and people are very unique. They enjoy playing and creating with this set.
Each time it is used there is a different structure build. I just received the trees and bushes set to go with it.
I wish you could have seen and felt the excitement when the box arrived! We still have to make a "Waiting List" to play in the block area because of this set.
Please look at the photos I sent so that you can see some of the ways they are playing and building with the materials. They are so creative and I can see how their minds and ideas are changing and expanding each time they experiment with it.
Thank you for believing in me and in my little learners who are our future engineers, teachers, artists, and leaders.
Thank you from my heart.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation and 10 other donors.Spark the Magic of Reading!
Funded Nov 14, 2021Thank you for the wonderful selection of books. I wish you could have seen and felt how excited my kids were to unpack them. In the beginning of the year, many did not enjoy story-time very much. I must tell you they ALL enjoy when I read a good book to them now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Books are my passion.
I selected books about kindness, compassion, and making mistakes, different nationalities and how girls can have any job they want and strive for.
I teach them how to do a "story map"; the main characters, setting, beginning, middle and ending, and the problem and solution in the story. We often compare and contrast two stories or characters from books using a "Venn diagram". These "graphic organizers" will help them organize their ideas when they write their own stories in the future.
Even at 4 and 5 years old they know what the author and illustrator do. They will be ready to read and write their own stories soon. We will start to write our own class book and have it "published" in the spring.
Thank you for believing in me and my wonderful class. They are our future and they deserve to be read current literature at least twice a day, as I do. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation and 7 other donors.Diversity, Kindness and Confidence; Even More Important This Year!
Funded Oct 17, 2021My students were thrilled to receive the beautiful new carpet for our Dramatic Play area. We counted 30 colorful children dressed in costumes from 30 countries. We tried to determine their country. That learning experience alone was exciting. As you can see it has given the area the warmth and coziness it lacked before. It makes the area more inviting and more like a real home. Thank you!
The multicultural dolls look more like my students. They are happy to play with "friends" of different colors.
The books; We All Belong, Kindness is My Superpower and Our Class is a Family help me explain the concepts of compassion, empathy, race, diversity and kindness and to my young students. I Am Enough, I Can't Do That YET and Mistakes Are How I Learn give my students confidence to persevere & try their best.
One student who helped me unpack the books said, "Wow! Are you kidding me? Those are all new books for us? I love it! You must be so happy too, Mrs. Schatmeyer!" She was right! Having this project funded made me so very happy. I appreciate your generosity & helping them succeed in today's world. Thank you from my heart.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by The Allstate Foundation and 3 other donors.Preschool Engineers Need New Building Materials!
Funded Jul 3, 2021I am so grateful for your donations which funded my project for three wonderful and enticing materials for my young engineers to explore. They crave interaction with each other, but due to procedures we must follow this year, we must social distance. These materials allow them to safely work across the table with the plexi-glass divider, and still interact using the same materials in their own bin. They are not able to work together, but can still share the experience.
Over two months into school, and we still have to make a list of who goes next for the Marble Run and Little Bricks! I love that they share how they constructed the Marble Run, Little Bricks, or Goobi Magnetic structures with each other as they play. I was excited when they thought to use the Little Bricks to build sturdy homes for the "Three Little Pigs."
Thank you for these engaging and challenging materials which allow them to construct and reconstruct the Marble Runs and create innovative structures using their imagination and engineering skills to the fullest.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
My PreK Students Need Individual Supplies for Virtual Learning
Funded Apr 12, 2021Thank you for providing the funding for my project to give my young remote learners the hands-on materials to enhance their learning and my teaching. It has been a challenge to keep them engaged in learning virtually. They were thrillled to receive their own dry erase board, magnetic letter and numeral sets, magnetic ten frame paddles and magnetic disks. They explored how the magnetic disks attracted or repeled. It was exciting to have them use new vocabulary. The ten frames concepts will be used next year in kindergarten, and I am grateful to give them the oppoportunity to work with them in Preschool.
My students used the Bears to count, place in size order, sort by color/size and create patterns. The learning links were used for counting and creating patterns. They showed their creativity in making braclets and necklaces and even handcuffs. I used the magnetic easel for teaching and it was easily visible for them on the computer or tablet.
All the resources were used for learning remotely and in my classroom when the schools finally opened safely. Thank you for providing the funding to enhance and enrich my students' remote learning experience and my teaching, virtually. I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to provide the hands-on experience my young students needed to learn and explore and provide effective virtual teaching for them. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 5 other donors.Engaging My Eager Remote Learners
Funded Dec 3, 2020Thank you so much for all the wonderful materials to enhance and improve our Remote Learning experience. It has been a challenge keeping my young students engaged while on-line in their homes. The dice and spinners have given them the opportunity to be involved in the games. They were able to roll the dice themselves, as opposed to watching me roll it. I supplied them with various "boards" for the spinners: shapes and colors, numerals/higher numerals and letters, so we were able to use them for multiple activities. They love the new resources you enabled us to use. They were so excited to use them.
I was able to enhance their family nature walks using the magnifying lens. They used language and new vocabulary to describe what the saw and experienced outside during our on-line meetings. They looked closely at the plant roots and insects they found. The flat marbles were used for sorting colors, creating patterns and counting, both at home and when we finally returned to school.
All materials I selected enhanced the activites done virtually and in the classroom, once we were finally in our classroom. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to teach more effectivley and my students to be excited to learn using hands-on materials.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 4 other donors.Newest STEAM Materials for Eager Pre-K Learners
Funded May 3, 2019Thank you so much for believing in my students and myself, as an educator. My students loved all the new materials and were very eager to learn how to play with them. They loved the BeeBot and other teachers have ordered them for their classes for September.
The students were challenged to build and design with the Incastro set and the Brackitz Inventor set. It was amazing to see some of their ideas and what they created.
Many students explored the engineering and building of the Playground and Tree House. They combined the sets to make their own designs. They built with the PowerClix set to make wonderful creations. I had a very small set and was eager to see what they could do with a full set. They exceeded my expectations.
Your donation will help support STEAM learning in my classroom and spark the young minds of Pre-K Students for years to come! Thank you from the bottom of my heart”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 2 other donors.ABCs and 123s: The Foundation for All Learning!
Funded May 20, 2019Thank you so much for all the wonderful new materials for engaging my students while learning and reinforcing their knowledge of numbers and letters, the basics for all learning. This group loved all the new materials. They were very engaged in the hands on materials, as you can see from the photographs.
They enjoyed playing with the Alpha-bots and Number-bots, as I knew they would. The Rocket Numbers and Build A Letter were also a big hit. Thank you so much for making my job so much more enjoyable when I see them having fun and learning.
The Letter Locks and Number Locks were also great learning and fun. I cannot wait for my new students to play with them in September. I know they will enjoy the hands-on manipulatives.
Your donation will help support new literacy and math centers and spark the young minds of many Pre-K Students this year and in many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 11 other donors.The Miracle of Hatching Chicks!
Funded May 3, 2019Thank you for the incubators. I hatched 8 out of 12 chicks~the best results we have had in my 8 years incubating eggs. My co-worker hatched 3 ducklings and another class hatched 4 chicks. My students were able to study about chicken/duck life cycles & were able witness them actually hatching and growing. We traded for a few days so all students were able to compare and contrast the animals.
We used math in calculating and counting down the 21 days for the chicks to hatch. I read about 50 books both fictional and non-fiction pertaining to chickens and ducks. They put duck and chicken puzzles together, They created life cycle posters. They created open ended, process art with various materials. The students counted chicks and counted corn kernels into plastic chicks. Patterns were made using the different stages in the life cycle. They learned to read the thermometer and measure the humidity. They practiced letter identification & sounds using chick/duck teacher created games.
This wonderful hands-on, engaging learning would not have been possible without the incubators, which we will use for many years to come. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schatmeyer
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 5 other donors.