Past projects 3
Wiggling While Learning
Funded Apr 14, 2018I want to thank you for supporting my students through your donations for wiggle chairs. These wiggle chairs provide my students much needed movement breaks while continuing to learn and get their work finished. They also allow us to have extra room in our classroom full of 27 3rd grade students.
My students were amazed when the boxes arrived. They could not wait to open them and put them to use. Prior to receiving the wiggle stools, my students were learning how to write persuasive essays. Several students wrote essays describing and providing reasons why they needed these stools. They also decided to research what types of chairs offices used and found that research said they workers performed better when they had comfortable work chairs. Needless to say, my students agreed. They couldn't understand why it didn't apply to students also. I agree. We expect our kids to sit for hours at hand, recesses are cut short, lunches even shorter. Our students need chances to move around. They need to wiggle. These stools provide those opportunities!
Each morning students are excited to draw names for who will receive the wiggle chairs. When they receive the chance to use one, they are so excited. One student wrote her persuasive essay on why everyone needs a wiggle chair. She says, "If we all had wiggle chairs we could wiggle all we want without distracting other people." It is true. In our classroom, there is very little room to wiggle without distracting students. They try to lean back in their desk chairs and fall or bump into another student, which is not save, but also causes a distraction for those around them. The wiggle chairs provide the movement without other students being distracted.
Students use the wiggle chairs throughout the day. They are able to bring them to small group instruction, use them at their desks and move them to work with groups. My goal is for all students to have wiggle chairs to replace the hard chairs that we currently have and allow students to opportunity to move while learning. Thank you for your support in this!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Solada
Wiggling Through Education
Funded Mar 7, 2018I want to thank you for supporting my students through your donations for wiggle chairs. These wiggle chairs provide my students much needed movement breaks while continuing to learn and get their work finished. They also allow us to have extra room in our classroom full of 27 3rd grade students.
My students were amazed when the boxes arrived. They could not wait to open them and put them to use. Prior to receiving the wiggle stools, my students were learning how to write persuasive essays. Several students wrote essays describing and providing reasons why they needed these stools. They also decided to research what types of chairs offices used and found that research said they workers performed better when they had comfortable work chairs. Needless to say, my students agreed. They couldn't understand why it didn't apply to students also. I agree. We expect our kids to sit for hours at hand, recesses are cut short, lunches even shorter. Our students need chances to move around. They need to wiggle. These stools provide those opportunities!
Each morning students are excited to draw names for who will receive the wiggle chairs. When they receive the chance to use one, they are so excited. One student wrote her persuasive essay on why everyone needs a wiggle chair. She says, "If we all had wiggle chairs we could wiggle all we want without distracting other people." It is true. In our classroom, there is very little room to wiggle without distracting students. They try to lean back in their desk chairs and fall or bump into another student, which is not save, but also causes a distraction for those around them. The wiggle chairs provide the movement without other students being distracted.
Students use the wiggle chairs throughout the day. They are able to bring them to small group instruction, use them at their desks and move them to work with groups. My goal is for all students to have wiggle chairs to replace the hard chairs that we currently have and allow students to opportunity to move while learning. Thank you for your support in this!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Solada
Getting Cozy with Literature Circles
Funded Mar 29, 2016Dear Donors,
Thank you for supporting my students. I was able to loop up to the next grade level with my class that you donated to, so they get to enjoy the materials for two years.
Last year, through your donations, I was able to get a beautiful rug that had room for everyone. Each student received a dedicated spot which was amazing. This allow all students to have room and space to learn while on the rug. They were no longer fighting for spots and all students could easily participate in discussions. The rug became an area that students wanted to be. The space has made it so students are able to enjoy being together which makes learning fun!
The day the rug arrived was the day we came back from Spring break. I will never forget their faces when it was delivered to our room. It was huge! All of my students helped unwrap the plastic wrapping and exclaimed how beautiful it was. One child yelled "it looks like a Kandinsky piece!" Others soon joined in and mentioned that it was like his art "Ringen." It is true, this rug is beautiful and truly is the center piece of our classroom!
The literature circle books were a blessing. All students are now able to participate in book clubs that are quality literature instead of a basil readers. When students saw all of the new literature circle books, they are so excited. They could not wait to get their hands on them. Students created their own groups based on likes instead of my choosing them. They had deep conversations and encouraged others to read their books. It seemed like all of a sudden everyone wanted to read. They created sign ups for our listening station and practiced reading them to each other. I was very proud of them. These books not only provided resources for students, but also improved participation and encouraged my class to keep reading. Having books that each child connects to is so important in literacy development and I am proud to say that with your help, my students are now life long readers. Their summer reading logs prove that.
I am excited to be able to continue to work with these kiddos as their teacher again. This year we are continuing our work around reading and writing. We are excited to continue to build our literature circle books by adding in more chapter books. We are also building a library to use as mentor texts for writing.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Solada
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 7 other donors.