Past projects 13
Do You See What I See?
Funded Oct 10, 2012Thank you so much for you wonderful donation of microscopes, microscope slides, and Dust-Off to our classroom! The children were so excited and touched to learn that "strangers" would care enough to help them be successful in school.
Before the new supplies arrived, we had one microscope for every four students. You can imagine how difficult it was to make sure each child was able to really study the specimens crowded around that one microscope! Thanks to your generosity we now have one microscope for every two students and our labs are running much more smoothly.
Please know that your donation has made a difference in the education of some very worthy students in Houston.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
It's Alive!
Funded Feb 11, 2011I wish you could have been here to experience for yourselves the excitement of my students as each of the components of our project arrived in the classroom! The children are absolutely loving the new members of our classroom community. Each day when they come in the door, the first thing they do is head over to the counter to check on the tadpoles, butterfly larva and land crabs.
We have planted seeds in different types of soil to record which germinates first, and there have been some surprises when the seeds planted in sand did sprout. Most of them predicted that only the potting soil would grow anything and it was an excellent lesson for them. Each group has been keeping their own butterfly larva and monitoring it's progress toward chrysalis. They can't wait to see the butterflies emerge. I think the biggest hit of all has been the land hermit crabs. The class has had a wonderful watching them walk and burrow in the sand.
All of the children are very touched that "people we don't even know" care enough to send them these materials. You have made an important contribution to the success of my students and I'm very grateful.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
Hot or Cold?
Funded Dec 3, 2010I want to thank you for your donation to our class project, Hot or Cold. Before we received these resources, students were struggling to understand the proper way to read the temperature because they had to share one thermometer in a table group of five to six children.
We used the materials for the first time today and I can already see a difference in their understanding of the use of a thermometer. Students were measuring the difference between air temperature in the room and the temperature of water and soil in the classroom. They were so engaged that they wanted to try other things as well, and before I knew it we were checking temperature in the aquarium and classroom plants! Tomorrow we will go outside and make comparisons in soil and water temperature outdoors.
Your contribution to our Science Lab will go a long way toward my students' success, and your interest in their education has touched them deeply. They are thrilled to find that strangers care enough to help them in their studies.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
Where in the World Are We?
Funded Jun 22, 2010Thank you so much for donating to our project! The day the materials arrived the students were excited to unpack them and see their "presents". I wish you could have seen their faces when they realized that each group would now have a globe for their work table.
Today we used the globes for the first time as we prepared for their Hispanic Heritage projects. Students were to find Central and South America on the globe and everyone was able to get close enough to understand the relationship between North, Central, and South America. Using the globe instead of just atlases really helped them put everything in perspective and see the big picture.
I so appreciate your contribution toward my students' success.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
Read All About It!
Funded Dec 3, 2009I want to thank you again for providing these wonderful resources for my students. As ELL students, the biggest challenge they face on the state testing is reading and understanding the questions in English. We have spent many hours working on test questions and they were getting 'burned out" on the work. The games and materials that you provided have been a refreshing change for them.
We began using the games in Saturday tutorials. As you can see from the pictures, they are really enjoying playing the games. They don't even realize that they are working! Last week we had about twenty minutes of "free time" at the end of the day and I gave the students some choices of what they would like to do. There was a rush to the Science game center and each of those games were quickly scooped up.
It's clear to me that these new resources are already helping my students with the concepts, and your donation is making a positive impact on their attitudes and their success.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
This classroom project was brought to life by The Simmons Foundation and 2 other donors.Picture This!
Funded Aug 12, 2009I want to thank you again for your generosity toward my students and you donation to my classroom. As I mentioned in my project description, my students are all English Language Learners, who are in their first year of all English instruction. While they love Science and hands on labs, the vocabulary and concepts are difficult for them to learn in English.
This week we have been working on the properties of light with the vocabulary transparent, translucent, and opaque. These concepts are not easy for native English speakers, and for ELL students the words are very difficult to remember. Today students took the cameras on "learning walks" to take pictures of examples of each of their vocabulary words for the week. They had a wonderful time "roaming" around the school and courtyard finding their pictures. Whenever they came across another teacher or administrator, they explained what they were doing, so the whole school was involved in the process. Next, they will use their pictures to create a multimedia project illustrating their understanding of the words. They best part of all is that they children had no idea they were taking a vocabulary test!
I hope you enjoy the pictures of the students working!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
Measuring Up!
Funded Nov 29, 2008Thank you so much for your generous donation to our Science lab! When we come back from the holiday break, we'll be working hard to perfect our Science process skills, and triple beam balances are critical for our success. Because of your help, each lab group will be able to have a balance at their table, which gives students a better opportunity for hands on learning”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
This classroom project was brought to life by The Simmons Foundation and 4 other donors.Seeing is Believing!
Funded Jul 19, 2008I'm so excited to find that your generosity has funded our project! The students are always fascinated to look at things under a compound microscope. Last year, we borrowed one for a month, and they were putting everything they could think of, from pencil lead to their fingernails under the scope to see what they "really look like". I think they were most fascinated when we found a dead bumblebee and they were able to see the tiny hairs on its legs. It reinforced pollination like nothing else could.
None of my students have access to this type of technology in their own homes, so thank you for making these experiences possible.
Susan ”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
This classroom project was brought to life by The Simmons Foundation and 8 other donors.We Can See Clearly Now!
Funded Jun 27, 2008Thank you so much for your donation toward the success of my 5th grade students! Using the microscope will be a daily activity in our classroom as they explore the concepts and become scientists in the "real world".
It means a great deal to struggling students to learn that people they will never meet care enough about them to contribute toward their educations. Each time I have a project funded through DonorsChoose.org, the children ask why strangers would give them classroom supplies. It leads to wonderful discussions in stewardship and societal responsibility, and I know makes a great impression on them and their own contributions to the world.
Once again, thank you for caring.
Susan ”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet
This classroom project was brought to life by The Simmons Foundation and 3 other donors.We Learn Levers And Pulleys Best By Doing!
Funded Apr 17, 2008Thank you for purchasing these much needed science materials for our class. Our students are very excited about getting these much needed science materials that they will be working with in the coming months. I know that i speak for our school as well as our whole community when i say thank you for purchasing these much needed school materials.
I know that you could fund any of the other proposals, so thank you for choosing ours”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Laforet