Ms. Castaneda's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 11

• Sing a Song of Compassion

  Funded Aug 28, 2024

  Thank you infinitely for the donations you helped us obtain for our school.

  Our special needs students love the gel pads. The second they walk into the music room they are asking for them. There are times that they are not in music class that the special needs teachers ask to borrow those aquarium gel pads. They have become essential to calming a student down and encouraging cooperative problem solving coping skills in the classroom.

  The students who had the opportunity of being teacher-for-a-day got the chance to see firsthand how important the right planning and use of materials is for success in every type of classroom. The students who were not assigned to my class but still had the chance to visit my classroom were amazed at how much fun we were having with the glow sticks. I could not be more grateful for the beautiful and exciting learning experiences we have been able to have because of your donations. Bless you all!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Compassion Project and 3 other donors.

• The Earth Has Music for Those Who Listen 3

  Funded Nov 29, 2023

  You should have seen the excitement among my students when your donations arrived to our classroom. As soon as the packages were dropped off, we could not wait to get our hands on them! We opened the boxes so excitedly and were amazed at all the donations we were able to get for our study of music and biology. This year we have added a new unit about identifying birds and their bird song. This could not have been possible without your donations.

  We used these donations to learn about the birds we have around us. We hear them every day even during recess and that is because our school is fortunately surrounded by thick tall trees. I tell the students we are so lucky to get to study these birds and show everyone our identification skills that are the same careful listening skills we use in music and outside of music. Because of their love for the animals around them, we have learned a lot about identifying birds that are right outside of our windows.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• The T In STEAM Is For Technology

  Funded Nov 29, 2023

  Thank you so much donors!

  Your generosity has made it's way into our elementary public school music classroom. The kids will be delighted to hear they have the support of amazing donors like you! Somewhere out there technology, life, and Donors Choose brought us together to unite the opportunity to give and the most innocent and deserving little hearts in our country together. You are the angels that were sent to bless our school.

  We needed these electronics in order to perform for our annual Arts Extravaganza. The students used this in their performance of Dancing Queen by ABBA and Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses. All of the fourth and fifth graders learned to play the songs and were equally encouraged to audition for a part in the show! We had over 80 fourth and fifth graders pass their audition and perform for an audience of hundreds of parents and friends! We used the extension cords to plug in all our keyboard pianos around the stage. We used the keyboard stickers to guide the students that chose that instrument for their parts. We also plugged in the drum set with the mic cables. We used the microphones and mic stands countless times throughout the year but this was their biggest concert of the year and it wouldn't have been as successful without your donations!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• Music Benefits Our Mental Health!

  Funded Nov 29, 2023

  Thank you so much donors!

  Your generosity has made it's way into our elementary public school music classroom. The kids will be delighted to hear they have the support of amazing donors like you! Somewhere out there technology, life, and Donors Choose brought us together to unite the opportunity to give and the most innocent and deserving little hearts in our country together. You are the angels that were sent to bless our school.

  We needed these contrabass bars in order to perform for our annual Arts Extravaganza. The students used this in their performance of Dancing Queen by ABBA. All of the fourth graders learned to play the song and were equally encouraged to audition for a part in the show! We had over 50 fourth graders pass their audition and perform for an audience of hundreds of parents and friends! We have never had a full set of contrabass bars in this school and we are one step closer to achieving this with your help!

  This would not have been possible without your donations, so thank you so much!!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• Protect Our Children's Knees!

  Funded Nov 29, 2023

  When the boxes arrived we were beyond delighted to see them in our front office. We brought them into the room and opened them right away! Students were thrilled to use the mats and play with the lava tiles. They all said that now this was one of their favorite classrooms in the entire school.

  In our special needs classes, we came up with several games for the lava tiles. They immediately were drawn to the lava designs on the tiles. They pressed on them with their hands and feet and they asked me if it was ok. I told them that is what they were designed for! The children were so happy to have permission to use their new sensory tiles. Some of the nonverbal students started to use the mats right away and claim one mat to be designated for one activity. For example, this mat is for playing with blocks! The students felt so excited to have colorful soft mats in the room.

  After they used them, we were able to easily spray and wipe them down clean and leave them as good as new! Thank you guys so much. The crawlers and explorers of my classroom appreciate it!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• Protect Our Children's Knees

  Funded Aug 31, 2023

  When the boxes arrived we were beyond delighted to see them in our front office. We brought them into the room and opened them right away! Students were thrilled to use the mats and play with the lava tiles. They all said that now this was one of their favorite classrooms in the entire school.

  In our special needs classes, we came up with several games for the lava tiles. They immediately were drawn to the lava designs on the tiles. They pressed on them with their hands and feet and they asked me if it was ok. I told them that is what they were designed for! The children were so happy to have permission to use their new sensory tiles. Some of the nonverbal students started to use the mats right away and claim one mat to be designated for one activity. For example, this mat is for playing with blocks! The students felt so excited to have colorful soft mats in the room.

  After they used them, we were able to easily spray and wipe them down clean and leave them as good as new! Thank you guys so much. The crawlers and explorers of my classroom appreciate it!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by BJ’s Charitable Foundation and one other donor.

• The Earth Has Music For Those Who Listen 2

  Funded Aug 31, 2023

  When the items arrived to our school the students were jumping out of their seats! They would not wait to get their hands inside of those boxes. It took a lot of calming the students down to get them to be quiet and seated to the point where they could be careful and appreciative of the materials. Once they were seated and listening quietly, we took our time opening the boxes one by one. Some students had told me that they had seen some of these instruments on videos on the internet but they had never seen them in real life. Some students even told me that when they saw them online, they wondered if those instruments really existed. The students were talking about the Tibetan singing bowl and the Tongue Drums of different sizes.

  When we explored the singing bowl and the tongue drum we discussed how important and unique your touch is. The things we do with our hands are special and not easily replicated. If you have never tried a singing bowl, I encourage you to try it out. It is almost magical how vibrations around the bowl make it sing from within. It also helped us connect science to music and students of all grades were enthralled.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Castaneda

  This classroom project was brought to life by BJ’s Charitable Foundation and 5 other donors.