Past projects 3
Headphones, Mice, and Pencils, Oh My!
Funded Feb 22, 2023Your generous donations have been extremely beneficial to my classroom and my students. Specifically, the headphones and mouses have made so much academic content more accessible. Many of our Chromebooks have taken a beating over the years, so the mouses allow students to deftly use the computers and click where they're actually trying to click (especially important during a test!). The headphones have opened up a world of possibilities of individualized learning, since students can now listen to videos and read-aloud text at their own pace.
We used to watch academic videos as a class, and then students would not have the opportunity to re-watch them, slow them down, or subtitle them in a different language. With the addition of quality headphones, students can now take their learning into their own hands and watch the videos in the way that works best for them. They can also have challenging texts and words read aloud to them at their own pace instead of having to wait for a teacher to come read to them. This allows them to learn with much greater independence and efficiency.
All of the school supplies your donations paid for are invaluable to my students. I cannot thank you enough for how much my kids benefit from your generosity. Thank you so much for making a difference in their education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amstutz
This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 21 other donors.50 States Worth of Research
Funded Dec 12, 2017Thank you so much for your generous donations to my students. The books have made an incredible impact on student learning, motivation to read, and research. In my classroom, we usually read independently or in partners. Since we don't have textbooks, we are often reading printed articles or a packet of a book passage that I've copied. While this allows students to practice annotating texts, it doesn't allow them to use pictures, maps, or diagrams to add to their comprehension. Books are so important because many of my students don't have books at home, so they need to have their hands on beautiful color books as much as possible to foster a love of reading.
In social studies, we use multiple texts to research the states in a region. Students use the texts to find information on natural resources, landforms, bodies of water, climate, manufactured goods, agricultural products, and interesting places to visit in each state. They then take their research and turn it into a persuasive essay in the form of an over-sized postcard where they try to convince a family member to visit their state. The state books have made this information attainable while helping the kids practice important reading comprehension skills. While electronic texts are important (and we certainly use internet sources), there is something so special about finding information in a book. Not only that, but you can't type in a search box in a book! The students get the opportunity to find information by using text features and logic to figure out where it might be. This helps them to become better problem-solvers, which is a huge goal in my classroom.
We are lucky enough at our school to have access to Chromebook carts whenever we need them. I try to integrate videos on science concepts and subsequent comprehension questions about those videos to help kids practice their listening skills while also diving deeper into whatever science content we're learning about. Before we had headphones, it was very chaotic to have students watching videos in class. Not only do the headphones calm the overall class environment, but they also allow the students to really focus on their work.
Before I conclude, I want to share a small story with you from my class. When I told my students that we got money to buy books and headphones, they burst into huge smiles and energetic applause. Cheers erupted when I announced that the books would be about science and the different states. The first day we used the state books, almost every student came up to me during the day to share an interesting fact they found or to declare how awesome these books were. When asked how we got the money for these materials, I shared with them the process of Donors Choose and how most people who donated to our classroom were kind strangers who think education is important. My kids were so moved by not just having new exciting things, but by your kindness and generosity. As a teacher, I try to teach my students how to be good people. Your donations lent themselves to a natural lesson on gratitude and kindness. I strive to give each of my students the opportunities to be successful, and your donations have helped more than I could possibly imagine. Thank you so very much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amstutz
2nd Graders Love Literacy
Funded Nov 25, 2015Thank you so much for donating to my 2nd Graders Love Literacy project. The books and headphones that you helped buy have added depth and variety to my classroom literacy time. In my classroom, literacy is broken up into three periods. The first period is where students work independently or in partners to work on reading skills like comprehension, word identification, or vocabulary. This work is mostly done by using leveled worksheets, passages, and word games like crossword puzzles to help solidify and practice skills that I've already taught them. While kids are working independently, I meet with small guided reading groups to read books and talk about them. In the second literacy period, we come together for a whole class lesson using thematic books; this is where I teach new skills like comparing and contrasting, inferring, summarizing, and finding the main idea of a text. This part of literacy is where the poetry books are really important because poems can be used as model texts to support skill development. Poems are great to use because they are quick to read and kids of different reading levels can read a poem multiple times within half an hour and still have time to do work on and about the poem. The third part of literacy is our writing block where I emphasize different kinds of writing (like narrative, opinion, informational, etc.) and we practice skills such as editing and sentence structure. Literacy and writing take up over two hours every day, so having extra materials is so important so we don't run out of quality texts and activities throughout the year.
Poetry is not always an easy thing for students to connect with. Like books, kids are much more engaged when reading about a subject they enjoy. Since poems usually have fewer subjects within them that kids can connect with, it can sometimes be a struggle to find a poem for everyone. I have a student who has a very hard time engaging with texts. He's a great reader, but just isn't interested in that much. However, he adores basketball. The basketball poetry book, "Jump Ball," has grabbed his attention in a way that few academic things do. He actually asked to borrow it one day, which is miraculous for a reluctant reader. Having a book that he can connect with and then use to apply reading skills to is so important for him to build the foundation needed to be successful in school.
Even though I teach in a low-income area and school, my classroom has 6 iPads in it at all times. We use these iPads to practice math facts, reading skills, and spelling games. Without headphones, the spelling app that we have is virtually impossible to use without disturbing the whole class. Similarly, we use reading fluency apps where the kids listen to a passage read aloud to them and then practice reading that same passage themselves. Without headphones, children can't concentrate on the words coming from the iPads enough to be effective practice. The addition of these 6 pairs of quality headphones have made the iPads a feasible tool to use throughout the day for all students, especially those with attention issues. My students are now able to earn iPad time as a reward for good behavior or excellent work production, as well as use the educational apps to help reinforce a variety of skills. We even have a routine for how to take care of the cords on the headphones so they stay nice! My classroom has truly benefited from the beautiful poetry books and the iPad headphones. Thank you again for helping to support my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amstutz