Past projects 4
Seeing Is Believing In First Grade!
Funded Oct 5, 2016Your donation helped us to purchase an amazing piece of technology that began transforming our classroom from the start! The ELMO document camera and tablet are used daily in class by both the students and myself. One of the greatest ways that this technology has helped students is the ability to see live demonstrations of activities, such as games and experiments. Our math curriculum incorporates a multitude of hands on games with small boards and a plethora of tiny pieces. Rather than holding up the small boards to demonstrate to the class and cross my fingers that they can see and follow along, the ELMO allows students to play an actual game under the camera and magnifies the process for all to see and learn!
For students, the most exciting part of the ELMO is that it comes with a wireless tablet. We can wander the room and magically write on the Smart Board! It took a bit of getting used but now students can circle, highlight, underline, or zoom in from anything under the document camera—from across the room! Super fun for first graders!
This technology has improved student learning by allowing instant sharing of anything we put under that camera. We can look at science materials—or even money—so close up that you can notice details you never knew existed. It has allowed our class to be much more flexible with demonstrations, real life materials, modeling work, and simply facing each other when we are learning rather than having our backs turned toward to write on the board. Thank you for this terrific technology you have provided to our class!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Djajakusuma
Weekly Wonders for First Graders
Funded Sep 24, 2014I would like to express sincere thanks for the subscription to Scholastic News and Scholastic Spin for my first graders! Thanks to your generosity, each week students receive a magazine that presents relevant, non-fiction information in a fun format easily accessible for my six and seven year old students. They look forward to learning about holidays, history, science, sports and more, each week guessing what the magazine will be focused on.
Students love to take home the paper magazine to share with their family, but they also delight in being able to access it on devices in the classroom as well as on computers/devices at home. The video overviews, vocabulary instruction, and games provided on the Scholastic website take their learning far beyond what is in print. They buddy read with the text, do close reads and highlight core vocabulary words, and often use the supplemental games and activities that go with it. The Donors Choose grant has provided students with interactive social studies and science texts that they meet common core standards and bring a smile to their faces each and every week! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Djajakusuma
This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 5 other donors.Cultivating Creativity In First Grade
Funded Apr 4, 2013On behalf of all of my students last year and in the upcoming school year, thank you immensely for the gifts of joy you have given us! The thrill of receiving new art supplies generates universal excitement shared not only by all six and seven year olds, but their teacher as well. I wish I could have bottled the squeals, gasps, and smiles to share with you.
Students were thrilled to sift through beads of buckets in order to create their perfect personal patterns after having used colored dry erase markers to create the master plan. They stretched cotton cords across looms to create patterned pieces. New pencils were used for self-portraits, math problems, and plenty of sketching. Markers galore allowed students to find patterns in animals and art as well.
By having ready access to all of the supplies provided by this grant, I am able to expand my teaching beyond paper into action. Incorporating art across the curriculum has become a habit rather than a challenge because of this grant. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Djajakusuma
Seeing Is Believing
Funded Nov 2, 2012I would like to express my sincerest thanks for helping my first grade students experience a new level of interaction in their education through the use of our new document camera. From the moment that it was connected (wirelessly and with great ease), students have been enthralled by it! It has enabled them to literally take a close look at anything we are studyingâfrom words, to works of art, to worms. It has allowed us to conduct impromptu investigations as we inspect insects outside as well as dive deep into books and round up rhyming words.
In addition to tremendous enjoyment by students, your donation has provided me with great freedom. I no longer have to have all documents scanned ahead of time; I can use real-time student work and share the process as we go, rather than just an end product after we have finished. It has also given me great joy in my ability to keep my eyes on the students, rather than to the smart board. I had forgotten how much you can read from facesâunderstanding, confusion, and joyâduring a lesson just by looking out at the class.
We are also becoming more fluent readers through the use of the Readers' Theater Kit and Monthly Fluency Kit that you purchased for us. They have encouraged reading and added an extra bit of fun to the class. Thank you again for helping my students to understand that "seeing is believing."”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Djajakusuma