Mrs. Holdren's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 26

• Snackin' With Seuss and Other Authors

  Funded Jan 9, 2024

  Thank you for donating to our classroom snack project. The response was amazing! We received enough funding to purchase snacks to last us the rest of the year! The kids loving having a snack and relaxing to practice the reading skills we've been talking about in class. Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) time is the kids favorite time of the day. We have some students who have food insecurity at home so providing them a little snack before dismissal is huge in their eyes. Thank you for making DEAR time so special in our class! When visitors come into our classroom at the end of the day and kids are sprawled out enjoying books, they comment how quiet and relaxing it is in our room. Some visitors have said they're going to grab a book and snack and join us. I've learned to set an alarm because there have been some times where we've all been lost in books and the dismissal bell has rung as we're still reading! Thank you again for blessing me and my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by LOFT and 14 other donors.

• Learning Never Stops

  Funded Jan 4, 2024

  Thank you for helping me get the UFLI Foundations manual to teach explicit and systematic phonics to my students. Our current reading program has some "holes" in the phonics instruction. I want to make sure my students are prepared for a successful educational experience by filling in the gaps. I requested two of the manuals so I can learn alongside another peer at my school. We are excited to learn how to teach phonics lessons in a way that is rooted in science and best practices. Thank you for providing us the materials to continue our own personal learning and professional development!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

• Comfy and Cozy on the Carpet

  Funded Aug 3, 2023

  Thank you for generously donating to my classroom project to get a large rug for our library area. The rug makes the area cozy and comfortable for the children. Their favorite place to be is in our library area now that they don't have to sit on a cold linoleum floor.

  There were some setbacks to receiving the right rug (we received the wrong rug twice), but once the correct rug arrived, we were all cheers! The kids expressed, "WOW! It's beautiful!" as I unrolled it and put it in our area. Kaplan was very generous and let us keep the other rugs mistakenly sent to us. The mistake was actually a huge blessing for our school because other classrooms were gifted with a comfy area for their students too.

  Thanks again for supporting public schools and my class, "Second Grade City"! We appreciate your thoughtfulness!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.

• TIME For Kids in Dog Town to Read Articles

  Funded Nov 29, 2022

  Thank you so much for providing funding for my class to have Time for Kids Magazine. The kids loved getting their magazines each month. We all looked forward to reading the articles and discussing the current events. The timing was perfect for some of the articles. For instance, we read about space exploration and later that evening, the news reported NASA's plan to fly to the moon within the next 2 years. The kids came to school the next day excited to share that they heard on the adult news the same information about what we had read about in class. It's awesome to see the kids making real-life connections to current events. Thank you again for supporting me and my classroom. We are very grateful for your kindness!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 5 other donors.

• Motivation for MAPS Test and More

  Funded Apr 8, 2022

  Thank you so much for supporting my classroom, Lego City! As you can see in the first picture, when the boxes of prizes arrived, the children were very excited and wanted to see them up close. The second picture is of the prizes displayed on the table. The children asked to keep the prizes visible so when they felt discouraged, they could look at the table and remember why they were working so hard. I saw kids stealing glances at the table often when they were doing difficult assignments and higher-order thinking. The other pictures are of the children working on reading and math lessons independently or in a small group.

  The students worked SO HARD to meet and exceed their goals. They were very motivated to try their best and show growth on the MAPS math and reading tests. Every child was able to choose a prize off of the prize table for making their projected growth score in either reading or math. Many students were able to choose 2 prizes for surpassing their growth in both subjects. Some students increased their score from winter to spring by over 25 points (4 points is average) in each subject. As a class, we exceeded the national and district grade level norms in both reading and math. Thank you for helping me motivate my young people to finish the year off strong. The effects of COVID on education will be felt for years, but encouraging our youth to set high goals and giving them the tools and knowledge to reach their goals will make a huge impact on their education as they move forward. Thank you again for supporting me and my students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 10 other donors.

• Count Down to Family Math Night

  Funded Dec 17, 2021

  Thanks for supporting our 2nd graders! We held our first ever Math Family Night for 2nd grade students and their guardians. For 2 hours students played math games with their parents to improve their fact fluency and number sense. The kids loved playing with the decks of cards and dice. Each family got a baggie of materials including 3 different colored dice, a deck of cards and a packet of 16 game directions and accompanying board games (if needed).

  I created an agenda for all of the 2nd grade teachers to follow. First, we explained the reason why we wanted to host a math night (because our students' learning was interrupted in kindergarten and first grade due to the pandemic). Then we explained some of the ways we encourage children to solve addition and subtraction problems using multiple representations and strategies. Most parents learned regular algorithm (carry the 1 to the next column) and were at a loss about how to support their learner with bar diagrams, math mountains, and expanded notation. Once teachers explained these concepts, there was a resounding, "Ohhhh" heard around the room.

  Next, students taught their parents the games we learned in class and challenged them to games like Addition War and Going to Boston. There was laughter and excitement in the classroom. One of my boys was so excited, he couldn't sit down and kept jumping and clapping. In between games, I reinforced the great dialogue I heard around the room by repeating what I heard as I walked around the room such as "Start with the bigger number and then count on" and "That's a double! 5 +5 is like how many fingers you have on your right and left hands." The parents left positive feedback such as, "It was fun to play games with my kiddo while supporting his learning."

  I can't wait to see the students' progress on our next MAPS math test scheduled in a few weeks. I predict students' scores in the areas of number sense and algebra will increase, in part, due to this math family night. I have posted another projects to Donors Choose to purchase prizes for students who meet or exceed their MAPS projected goal. The kids have worked so hard this year and are making tremendous gains. I am so proud of them!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

• Lego City Math Night

  Funded Dec 7, 2021

  Thank you for supporting me and my students in Lego City. You helped us purchase a deck of cards, 3 dice (red, green and white) and math board games as door prizes for my class. You also bought a snack for the children and their parents to enjoy during our math evening. After securing donations for my classroom math night, I spoke with my colleagues and we decided to go bigger and do a GRADE LEVEL math family night. We hosted our first ever math family night for 2nd graders and their guardians. We had a great turn out and received positive feedback from the kids and parents! Some feedback include: "I like that it helps us parents know ow to help them with learning tools," "This was super engaging and we enjoyed it!" and "This was a great bonding one-on-one moment for our family."

  We made a game packet for each child that included directions and board games to play the fact fluency and numeracy games. The kids LOVED learning with the dice and cards. We learned some games beforehand in class and the kids cheered when I said, "Get out your cards and dice for math today." One of my reluctant mathematicians exclaimed, "I love math now!"

  We will take the MAPS Math test later this month. I'm excited to see my students' growth from the winter to the spring. I predict students' scores in the areas of number sense and algebra will increase due, in part, to our math family night. I have created another Donors Choose project to purchase prizes for students who meet or exceed their projected MAPS goals in math and/or reading. My students have made tremendous growth this year and I am so proud of them!

  Thank you again for supporting me and my students! You are such a blessing!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by 3Mgives Valley NE.

• Perfectly Printed Papers

  Funded May 5, 2021

  Thank you so much for supporting my classroom by purchasing a colored printer. It has been a huge blessing this year. In another year of difficult teaching and learning, the printer has given me some independence to do what is best for my students without relying on our overworked and understaffed office personnel. I have been able to print multiple pages for students' families on a moment's notice.

  I have 5 home languages spoken at home other than English. I can easily send documents home in various languages with the help of my printer. I also can print out differentiated lessons for my diverse learners based on their needs.

  The colored printer is helpful to highlight important points in my notes that I send home to parents. I can highlight words in my electronic document before printing it instead of taking the time to use a highlighter to highlight every black and white copy. Many of my students' families don't have a printer so I printed a copy of our district calendar for them.

  Thank you so much for supporting me and my students. I'm sure a printer doesn't seem like an important purchase, but it is a game changer for teachers. Your generosity and kindness means the world to me. Thank you again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

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

• Please Raise Your Hand And Ask Your Teacher For Help

  Funded Dec 3, 2020

  Thank you so much for supporting our classroom during this unique and uncertain time. My students have done an AMAZING job of learning to be flexible and "going with the flow" this year. We've been fully remote, fully in class and hybrid coming to school certain days and working online during our "off days". The kids have watched me teach live and have watched pre-recorded lessons by other teachers.

  This year has been full of challenges, but with your generosity, you helped to eliminate one of our barriers. ALL of my students now have working headphones. The students love being able to hear their apps and concentrate on their learning programs without the distraction of iPad sounds going off around the room.

  We are not able to get out of our seats this year to move around to reading centers during our guided reading time. The headphones with the microphones allow students to work quietly on their reading, math, science and social studies apps while I'm working with small groups of children.

  I also have remote only students tutoring students in-class who are struggling. The fully remote students love this time because they get some social interaction and feel valued in our learning community for helping their peers. The students in class no longer distract the rest of the class because they are wearing their headphones.

  Thank you so much for providing the funds necessary for my class to run more smoothly and to provide an equal opportunity for the children to learn, regardless of their family's ability to afford headphones.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

• So Many Books, So Little Time

  Funded Aug 3, 2020

  Thank you for the baskets for our classroom library! They fit perfectly in our space. My students and I were very excited to move our books from the previous baskets that were broken. The old baskets had broken edges and cracks that fingers and clothing sometimes got stuck inside, causing tears and sadness. The blue bins are bright and cheerful for our library. Although we can't gather together on the rug right now due to COVID, we can see the new addition to our library from our seats. The students can't browse the books in our library right now, but they have completed book interest forms so adults can choose books out of our classroom library for them to read during free time. We quarantine the books for a few days before putting them back in the baskets in our classroom library. This has been such a unique year, full of surprises and innovative thinking to overcome obstacles. Thank you for helping to make our classroom a little safer, but more importantly, to show my students that complete strangers care about them and their education. Thank you again for your generosity! Have a blessed holiday season!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Holdren

  This classroom project was brought to life by Tyson Foods and one other donor.