Ms. Helgeson's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 56

• Coloring Supplies for Gifted Students

  Funded Sep 26, 2023

  We have used the crayons and markers many times this year. While these are very basic supplies, when I walked into mostly empty rooms this year, they have been a blessing.

  The crayons most recently have been used to color some flextangles and hexa-flexagons. These were a exercise in accuracy and persistence. Students had to color, cut and fold these correctly. It was a challenge for many of them as those skills are not as focused as they used to be.

  They turned out amazing and the students were very excited to take them home and share them.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by Alaska Department of Education & Early Development and 3 other donors.

• Dissections for Learning About Biology and Physics

  Funded Dec 3, 2024

  Thank you so much for supporting our dissections. This is a very exciting unit. The students are looking forward to their dissection after our winter break. We will come back and basically dissect clams. Then later in the spring we will be dissecting chicken wings. It should be a real eye opening experience.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.

• Rainforest Terrariums to Take Home

  Funded Aug 19, 2024

  Thank you so much. My students were naming their plants as soon as they knew they were going to take them home. Thankfully, they decided against naming every leaf. they have really enjoyed learning about growing plants and how they are so important in the rainforest.

  We are moving into animals and how interdependent all the rainforest parts are. We learned about the Fig Wasp and then tried some fig newtons as many of the students had not eaten anything with Figs. However many were surprised by the Figs.

  We ended the flower/ plant unit by dissecting some lilies. They were very intrigued by this. They thought it was amazing and can't wait for our next dissection.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by Carolina Biological and 5 other donors.

• Folders And Notebooks To Start The Year Right

  Funded May 13, 2024

  Thank you for the amazing folders and notebooks. While I know these are basic supplies it allows me to organize the student and their work.

  Every class I meet with has their own folders, files and notebooks. I have over 80 students materials to organize. The different colors allow me to the different schools to have each grade and or class have their own color folder. When I have four different groups coming in that makes a huge difference.

  The crayons that more represent skin colors has been a work in progress and I am so excited that I was able to get those this year. As skin tones vary from some any people.

  Thank you so much for your support to my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Supporter and 4 other donors.

• Games for Fairness and Rules

  Funded Nov 29, 2023

  These games are beloved by the students. We have been playing them and learning about how to play games fairly. We are have also created our own traditional board games.

  The students often ask if they can play games and we do play so that they can work on fair play and taking turns. They also have to work on strategy to win the games. Shut the box is a favorite of mine as the students can develop many different rules to play the game. It also ecnourages many different math skills in a fun way.

  Thank you so much for your support to bring these fun games to my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Gifted Student Supplies

  Funded Aug 11, 2023

  Your gift of the basic supplies for the gifted program has made a huge difference. We have been able to keep all our paper supplies organized. At one school, each grade level has grown by 5-10 students. This means that the students who are receiving gifted services have the supplies needed when they start.

  We keep our weekly vocabulary words in the notebooks and we will end up having quite a collection. The students are very excited about learning new words. We also use our notebooks for our Units of Study. This semester we have been learning about probability through the use of games especially unfair games.

  Next semester our Unit of Study will be the rainforest and we will be using the rest of the notebook for studying that.

  We keep all our our materials in the crates and the shoeboxes have been used to store many of the supplies.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.

• Printer for Data Chats

  Funded Nov 3, 2021

  We have used the printer for a lot of data chats in our classroom. Each student began to take ownership of their own testing data. The power in their personal ownership of their own data has been powerful.

  We started with looking at their data with a math program to learn their basic facts. They loved coming to my desk to see their daily data. The students began to see their trends and challenge themselves. Then they began to look at their data in the iReady program. They could identify their growth. We spent time seeing where they could grow and where they had their strength.

  The final piece was when we were able to look at and compare their testing data from their MAPS growth testing from 3rd grade and the 2-3 times they tested during the year. The students were finally taking ownership of their learning. They understood that the tests were their hard work and could show their growth. It was a powerful moment.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

• Diverse Books For Our Classroom

  Funded Aug 12, 2021

  These were amazing books that helped the students see themselves in books. They loved reading so many different styles of books. They were set out for the students to use and read on their free time.

  The variety of books allowed the students to see the world around them in the classroom as well as the world at large. Our school is very diverse and has so many wonderful cultures from around the world including first generation immigrants. The books give students a peek into other peoples lives.

  Thank you so much for the chance to explore the world through books.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 3 other donors.

• Alaska Watershed Experiment

  Funded Jun 28, 2021

  Thank you so much. We were finally able to have this fantastic presentation. A professional wildlife biologist came into our classroom to teach us about watersheds. Mr. Marshall had a brief powerpoint presentation then we started the hands on portion.

  Your supplies helped us with the hands on portion. With plastic paint trays, rust is no longer a concern. The water is mixed with food colors to be able to see the water flow. Cocoa is added to the water to simulate dirt and Italian seasoning is added to model leaves and other greenery. The different types of sponges and other surface materials allows the students to see what happens when as we change the ground for roads and houses and lawns. The students learned a lot. Thank you so much.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

• Birthday Science Kits

  Funded Aug 12, 2021

  Thank you for helping to celebrate birthdays in our classroom. The Science kits turned out so wonderful. The children have loved the kits. Each child gets to take home a small science kit containing some simple science experiments. They get the non food items to make ice cream. They also get to make parachute out of paper clips, and a birthday napkin.

  These allow both an educational component and celebration in one fun package that gets the whole family involved.

  Thank you for supporting my students. They have really enjoyed them this year.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Helgeson

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 5 other donors.