Mrs. Martin's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 3

• Reading is More important Than Anything Else!

  Funded Mar 12, 2018

  Thank you so much for donating to my project. These classroom sets of books make my lessons so much better because every can have their own copy to follow along with me when I read and to read on their own. My children and I really appreciate your generous gift. Thanks once again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Martin

• All Aboard, The Polar Express!

  Funded Oct 19, 2017

  Thank you so much for funding my Polar Express book project. I teach this every year in my second-grade class, but this is the first year that my students have each had a copy of the book to read with me at first and then by themselves. It made such a difference in the activities that we were able to do. The students completed a story map of the book. They solved word problems in math that were based on the story. We made elves for art and a shelf for the elf to sit on for science.

  I also found many of the students getting the books out of their desk when they had free time to read it on their own. They all felt special to have their own copy to read when they wanted. The only thing that would make it better would be to give them the book to take home each year.

  We are not allowed to have "parties" at school anymore, so reading this book and completing activities based on the book throughout the week and across the curriculum is our way of celebrating the season and still following the rules. We viewed the movie with another second-grade class while eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate on Friday.

  Again, thank you for making this project a success!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Martin

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 2 other donors.

• Appalachian History; Coal Mining and Quilting

  Funded Nov 29, 2016

  These books were the beginning of a module about Appalachian history. We live in the middle of Appalachia, but my students rarely get the opportunity to venture outside of their neighborhood. They were able to read about a young girl who grew up here and learn about their history, coal mining, and quilting. After reading "The Rag Coat" we found a chapter book called "Minna's Patchwork Coat" which is an expanded version of the same story.

  The students completed lapbooks along the way to document the experience. They conducted a survey of jobs, highlighted a map of the United States with states that have coal reserves, and wrote about Papa's job as a coal miner. The students made quilts in class to donate to the local neonatal intensive care unit for the babies. We mined for coal using chocolate chip cookies and we did core drilling with cupcakes. We also had a geologist and an mining engineer to visit the students and tell them more about coal mining. The students really loved playing a teacher created Jeopardy game to review all that they had learned. We even had to make a second version they loved it so much!

  The students really enjoyed this unit and learned so much about their home state. Thank you so much for giving them and my future students this opportunity.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Martin