Past projects 8
Small Group Instruction Activities
Funded Oct 15, 2021Thank you so much for supporting our classroom. My students are loving our new listening center, they listen to stories read aloud on cd and have been making story maps focusing on characters, setting and plot. They just love to sit in our little nook, put on headphones and be transported to another place and time. Its so great to see them talking to each other and making their maps. The math number puzzles have also been a huge hit the kids have been working in partners to order numbers from 1-20 and 1-30. I can see such improvement.
When these new materials first arrived the kids were excited, wow it is such a big box can we see inside they asked. While opening the box the kids were all around just waiting to see inside. Each item brought screams of joy and we unpacked , found places to put everything and tried out all the activities as a class.
Soon my students will be independently working on the activities to support classroom skills taught. Thank you once again for your generous donations and bringing such joy to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 4 other donors.Tools to Help Boost Our Skills
Funded Jan 2, 2020My students are using their new spacemen when they write sentences to help them remember to leave space between each of their words. They have been using the letter cookie game with my TA to increase letter recognition and first sound fluency. The phonics phones have been a big hit for independent reading time, the kids just love to hear themselves read. Lastly, the cvc word blocks and picture cards have been a big help for hearing all the individual sounds in words.
The children literally screamed with excitement when we opened that wonderful amazon box. They could not wait to get their hands on all the new reading and writing tools.
Next up for these little learners is to start stretching out our sentences by adding adjectives such as color and size words to our sentences. We will continue with our phonics instruction and keep working on identifying letters, those first sounds and sounding out cvc words. Kindergarten is a busy place and our classroom is no exception. Thank you to all the wonderful people who donated to my project!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
Kindergartens Love Read Along Books
Funded Jan 16, 2018We all love to read and room 11 is truly grateful for the generous donation of listening center books you provided us with. Kindergarten is the time and place to install a love of reading. I read to my students everyday and now they have another wonderful example of fluent reading to hear in the classroom. I have been working on the kids comprehension strategies when reading a story. Its very hard to teach comprehension skills to new readers. Kindergartners are still reading to read they are not yet reading to learn, that is where these books come into play, since the kids can listen to the stories fluently read they can work on skills such as retelling, ask and answer questions, characters, setting and problem solution.
I work everyday with reading, we work in small groups, the kids rotate through stations working on different reading skills. The kids will listen to the story and do flow maps or mini book reports about the story they listened to.
The kids are loving these new books! I see them smiling as they listen and they come running to tell me what has happened in the story.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
I Can Hear Fluently Reading!
Funded Oct 7, 2016Everybody loves to read! My little students are learning what fluent reading sounds like from these amazing books on cd. They are learning to raise their voice when reading a question and to pause at punctuation marks. They are also hearing the excitement in the voice of the reader as they read sentences with exclamation points.
The students have been listening to the stories read on the cd and then using the books to retell the story in their own words. They have also been using the books to create story maps that tell the characters, setting,problem and solution in the stories.
I have a group of struggling readers who just love going to the listening center. They put on the headphones and are transported to another place and time. I have heard them talking about Martin Luther King, "Do you think things will ever be like this again?" "I hope not Martin died to make things change." "We can help change the world too by being nice to our friends and helping people who have trouble." It is wonderful to hear discussions like these happening in my classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
Learning to Love Reading
Funded Mar 9, 2016My classroom is loving all the new books you donated to us! The kids are learning to retell stories, organize events in a story, classify and tell which things happened in the story and which did not. With each new book we open excitement fills the air, cheers and questions what skill are we using today ? Predicting, sequencing or tell about their favorite part in the story are what the children are enjoying most.
Everyday when I take out the book of the day a hush falls over the classroom. The kids rush to the rug asking is it going to be a real story or a made up one. Who are the characters and where does it take place. When I am done reading the story the kids all want to look over the book before doing their assignment and then many times through out the week I find them going back to the book and "reading" it to their friends.
Even the students who never really cared to much for stories are thrilled to hear all the new stories and ask constantly what is next? Please just give us a hint. The love of reading and hearing stories has been permanently instilled in these little ones, thanks to your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
Books For Our Little Readers
Funded Sep 22, 2015The feel of cracking open a brand new book for the first time is like no other, students get transported to far off places real and made up, when in reality many of my students never leave their home town. Thank you so very much for your kind donations and helping to create a love of reading! Reading stories is among the top favorite activities in my classroom. Students enjoy being read to and reading independently or with a buddy. With these new book my students have been working very hard making connections to text, predicting, retelling and giving opinions about the stories.
Whenever I take out a book the classroom falls silent with anticipation for what will happen in the story. We have been engaged in some very deep conversations, making connections about have new brothers or sisters added to our families with Peter's Chair, we have predicted where Knuffle Bunny was left and learned facts about penguins in Tacky.
I have one little girl in particular who can hardly wait for story time each day, with a twinkle in her eye she will ask "what will we learn today from our story, what skills will I be using and is this a real story or a made up one." Again I thank you for all the joy you have brought to these young boys and girls through reading.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 3 other donors.Help Us Visualize The World We Study
Funded Oct 11, 2013My students were very excited to see all the new supplies we received, they loved seeing the models of all the famous us landmarks and are very eager to dig in and use them all. The books that correspond to each kit we got made for many smiles. The kids also said the time magazine is "awesome" because it is real pictures and stories that give lots of information about the things we are learning.
Our class has been enjoying the monthly time magazines that show us pictures and give us information on holidays that happen each month as well as animals or other topics that relate each month. The children are very excited to see that package of red magazines and can't wait to read them. We have been enjoying reading them in circle time and then returning to our desks to complete the tasks that go with each lesson.
The new materials such as the magazines and resource boxes have really opened the children's eye to the world we live in there is nothing, short of being able to take field trips to all the places and see first hand the landmarks, than the real life pictures, books and statues we received thanks to your generous donation to our class. You have helped make the world we live in a real place to these children that rarely leave the community in which they live.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt
Eager Readers Want A Larger Leveled Library
Funded May 16, 2013Thank you from the bottom of my heart for these wonderful new books! The children are so excited, I have heard the best side bar conversations about lets get our work done so we can read those new books, wow I have never seen so many books in one place and finally some chapter books!! Needless to say the kids are loving the new additions to our classroom library.
I have been using these books for students to buddy read and then they come to me for a comprehension activity to go along with the book to complete as partners. This new leveled library has given me the resources for all the different leveled readers I have. The children have been enjoying reading and working on activities with these new books.
This new library has increased teaching and learning because it gives us materials at various levels that the children are excited to read. Thank you once again for your generosity. The children will be greatly impacted and remember these books for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Schmidt