Past projects 26
Young Learners Love STEM Centers
Funded Aug 30, 2018I have to admit, I'm a child at heart so I knew that these new centers were going to be a hit in our classroom. When the students first saw the new centers their faces lit up with excitement and curiosity. Immediately those centers became the most popular ones during playtime.
There is a really special moment I enjoyed as a teacher, a group of girls were setting up the balls and ramps center and having contests on how far each girl's ball would travel. They were creative, expressive, and cheering one another on, true sportsmanship. Not only are these centers encouraging higher order thinking, patience, and collaboration, these centers are providing the youngest learners a fun safe way to learn and grow. Thank you for your donations.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 3 other donors.Kindergarten Supplies
Funded Aug 17, 2017As a kindergarten teacher, I am always trying out different techniques to help my students thrive throughout the year. The project, Kindergarten Supplies is definitely having a strong impact on the children's success already. This year I started off with more writing tools geared towards developing fine motor skills. This approach worked, their coloring and handwriting is the best I've seen this soon in years. I look forward to introducing all the other new resources that I was able to purchase with your donations on Donors Choose. Thank you for all your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 5 other donors.Playtime Is Back! Developing Language Skills
Funded Aug 14, 2017Children love toys. Especially toys that are unfamiliar and new to them. The impact these new toys have made on this class are already noticeable during writing workshop and during math. The write and wipe table top easel allows the children to play school and recall all the new information that they learned that day. They re-enact the class lessons. Also, creating a mail center allows the children to write without any expectations, which allows a child to build writing confidence while playing.
The S.T.E.M. toys has helped the children build great friendships among some of the children. Those toys which require cooperation, sharing, and listening skills, really teach the children about turn taking and problem solving skills.
I want to thank you on behalf of my students for you generous and continuous support. It is greatly appreciated every day.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 7 other donors.Time To Learn
Funded Sep 16, 2016Dear donor,
The easel has been a great help to all my students. Particularly my English language learners. With this easel, I can hang full-size images, charts, and visual aids. This helps them tremendously throughout their academic day. The easel has also helped my students understand organization and structure. This easel has been a great benefit to my room by allowing me to place it anywhere the students needed at that moment. My students have shown great excitement for their learning when they have multiple opportunities throughout there an academic day to come up to the easel and try out different strategies and techniques.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy
Speak, Build, Learn
Funded Aug 30, 2016This new block center has been a great addition to our classroom's diverse assortment of toys that encourage learning. As I have explained before, most of my students are English Language Learners and therefore need extra support in language development. Through this center, I have seen rapid improvement in these children's oral language development. The children must communicate with one another while building towers, houses, and various block structures. The children love to incorporate the block people in their play and through the pretend dialogue they are mastering social English and building confidence that will carry over to the academics of kindergarten. I can not stress enough the importance of play during the early childhood years. Thank you for giving my class the opportunity to thrive.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy
We Are All Reading Teachers
Funded Aug 17, 2016Dear donor,
As a kindergarten teacher, I have learned over the years; the element of surprise is always a great way to keep young minds curious and engaged. Each Monday we begin a new letter, but it's always a surprise. I do not teach the letters in alphabetical order. However, when I asked my students what letter they would learn first, they all replied," A".
The moment I knew that our new Letter of the Week alphabet chart was a great choice happened the following Monday morning. That next Monday, the children entered the classroom. At first no one noticed anything and they went along with their usual routines. Then, suddenly, I heard a child call out, It's M!" and the look of astonishment on their faces was priceless. The letter was M! Now each week it has become our own little guessing game. We all love it!
All week long the children refer to the chart to help with letter recognition and its corresponding sound. The large clear print makes it a great visual aid from any seat within the classroom. The children also really enjoy the funny little poems that go along with each letter. Overall, the Letter of the Week alphabet chart has had a most positive effect on the class with in all aspects of the kindergarten experience.
Next, I would like to state that the alphabet tubs are fantastic. These little clear tubs with bright letter labels are perfect for this group of students. As part of the word study lesson the children sit in a circle and must look, feel, and say each object's name. All the objects begin with the same letter, like: fox, feather, and a fork. Through this process the children are not only learning that letter's sound, but they are also building scheme and expanding their vocabulary. English Language Learners need a lot of visual and tactile support to learn a new language. Learning the English names for different objects will help them in reading, writing, and with speaking and listening skills.
The children are also making connections within school and their home lives. As a miniature tea pot was being passed around a few children said, "I got one of those in my house." Another child said, "You cook water in it." Here was the perfect moment to take both statements and connect them to the word tea pot. That day the children learned a new word, tea pot. They learned it's a type of pot to boil water in so people can use to make a cup of tea. Now the children could say," I have a tea pot in my house." This may seem over simplified, but to teach children new vocabulary words they must see the actual object. The objects in these tubs are common everyday things children would probably see around the house or at school.
In conclusion, I want to thank the donor once again. These centers have helped us over the last few weeks. The children love the word study routines we have created and established with the help of these new centers.”
With gratitude,
Ms. McCarthy