Past projects 8
Vertical White Boards! Building Thinking Classrooms Through Collaboration
Funded Sep 5, 2024Thank you so much for donating for the vertical white boards! I love using these when the kids are encountering problems that are either more challenging, or that could have a variety of ways to solve them. The pictures are from our first unit on data and graphing, and the second from double digit addition. You can see the variety of solutions in the photos.
In general, kids are used to working with partners or small groups, but sometimes there is a bit of competition when sharing ideas outside of the group or the feeling others are "stealing" their ideas. While there is a time to do your own work, the vertical white boards are part of teaching the kids how to work in a larger collaborative environment. A vertical white board naturally breaks this down. We enhance this by putting the tables in "star position" where they are all pointing inwards, shown in the photos. Kids who are struggling to get started have access to multiple starting points looking around and kids who finish early can feel helpful by clearly showing their solutions.
The kids LOVE IT when it's a vertical white board day and I notice they are all naturally more engaged. Standing makes it easier for them to all be close in to the work. You can see the kids in the photos huddling around. They are taught early on to "pass the pen" frequently and the board is big enough to give room for everyone's participation. They like writing on the white boards and they are erasable which encourages them to get started and take chances. There are lots of happy smiles when we use them. You can see them all engaged in the photos even through the distraction of hat day!
Functionally, these white boards also fold up and are easily stored. Thank you for gifting these to our classroom. They will be continued to be happily used throughout the year with all of our math units for sure!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
Racial Equity on the Bookshelf for Equity in the Future
Funded Jun 26, 2020Thank you so much for funding this book collection. I feel so much better when I look at my bookshelf, but I do still have more work to do. Our district is still in remote learning, so these books are not in the hands of children, but the impact is still there.
I used one from the collection for my very first read aloud of the year (on video!) The subtle effects of erasure from literature is real and on the opposite side, so is the validation of being represented. What I love about many of the books in this collection, is that the characters of color are just kids doing kid things... being a person of color is normalized. By choosing When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree for a read aloud on the very first day, it was a way for me to send a message to my kids of color, that from the first moment their lives matter to me. These books with people of color in everyday situations I use for read alouds and also just to have on the shelf for kids to choose from. Representation in my bookshelf if a work in progress...
Some of the books are more challenging, taking on issues of racism and even racial violence directly. These are the books that would be part of my social-emotional learning lessons, ones that we read together and discuss. Empathy can be cultivated through good literature. For example, when Sulwe wants to change the color of her skin because she is teased, kids can connect to those feelings and see the injustice of the teasing, the harmful effects, and how to overcome them. I found Sulwe particularly heartbreaking, making many connections to the themes in Toni Morrison's Bluest Eye. Kids books can tackle tough subjects if we are brave enough as teachers to engage. These books will give me a springboard for the important learning that must take place to create a more equitable future for todays kids.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 9 other donors.Grow 2nd Graders' Programming Experience with Robotic Mouse Extension Kit!
Funded Feb 23, 2019Thank you so much for the Robot Mouse extension kit! The kids were very excited to play the board game, and they love it! It's nice to see the kids put the programming skills into a different context. The extra mice have made it possible to extend the kits into working with different classes, and make it easier to share. These robot mice are a great start to getting coding, programming and robotics into our school in a hands-on, age appropriate way! We intend to keep exploring more options of robotics and programming at our school and up the grades in our district, but the robot mice are a great first foundation. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
Inspire Future Programmers With Robotic Mice and Mazes!
Funded Dec 11, 2018Thank you so much for the robot mice! We opened the kits together after winter break and the kids were very excited. These programmable mice are just the right level of challenge for these second graders. The kids build mazes of varying complexity, place the mouse at the beginning and the cheese wedge at the end. It takes focused thinking to program the mouse to run the mazes, but with enough "debugging" of their programming and some teamwork, the kids succeed! The mouse lights up when it reaches the cheese - and so do the kids!
We use the Code and Go Robot Mouse kits on Friday afternoons. After a week of working hard on reading and math, playing with the mice (computer programming in disguise!) is their reward. The robot mice and maze challenge is so engaging that kids seem to view it as play time rather than work time... a win-win situation for both teacher and students!
These robot mice are a nice hands on extension to the online programming activities we did in conjunction with Hour of Code. After our class has had a good immersion to programming the mice, I intend to share them with the four other second grade classes at our school. The vision is to build a foundation of age appropriate programming and robotics experience for kids in our K-2 building to support robotics and programming as they move through the Elementary, Middle and High Schools in our district. In the future, I'd like to expand the number of kits so kids could program in pairs and also investigate other STEM "toys" that explore mechanical engineering, electronics and more complex robotic tasks.
There is a growing future in computer programming and robotics and I am so happy to be able to bring this experience to our small town students at such a young age. Thank you so much for getting our class started on this path!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
Seeing Our Diverse Selves Reflected in Our Books
Funded Feb 18, 2018Over the past two years, I have become aware of how powerful and subtle representation in literature can be. It is an ongoing project of mine to continue to update my classroom library so that children of color see themselves, their heritage, and their experience represented and honored in our books. Equally as important is for the majority Caucasian kids in our small, rural community to have a book collection that opens their eyes to the diversity in our classroom and the larger world.
This collection of books included several stories and themes that are general (birthdays, school, etc.) but the characters and settings are from Spanish speaking families and communities. My intention was to avoid casting the culture as exotic and different, but rather emphasize how different cultures reside within our common, everyday lives. I also included some folk tales and historical figures, and of course the one book on the movie Coco that I could find at our reading level! :)
The books were introduced to great excitement! We formed a big circle and opened the box of books. Kids got to preview each book for a few minutes and decide which ones they wanted to read first. These books are for the children's independent reading choices. Over the past several weeks, it has been great to see which students have chosen which books. The Sofia Martinez series has been very popular with both Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers. The Frida Kahlo books I notice being chosen mostly by my quieter female readers. Coco is a universally popular choice with all the kids.
It is hard for me to describe the impact of adding these books to my library. It's subtle. From the bilingual boy who now respectfully corrects me on my Spanish pronunciations (I welcome and affirm this!), to the Spanish speaking girls who are coming out of their shell socially, to seeing a Caucasian boy dive into reading about Sofia Martinez making plans for her abuela's birthday - I can't help but believe that all of my students are feeling more honored, respected and visible in our classroom.
We are required by law to say the flag salute every day in our classroom and we faithfully follow that requirement. As we do so, I sometimes look at my diverse group of kids who start with different advantages and disadvantages and wonder, what am I doing to make the promise of equality come true? Thank you for helping me in my quest to make my classroom one with literature and representation for all.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
Alternative Seating = Healthy Bodies = Focused Minds = Learning!
Funded Sep 28, 2017Thank you so much for funding these seat cushions! The kids were SO excited when they came! And they have been very happy to use them. We drew names and each kid got to pick out the color they liked. They have their "pet cushion" for the year, and have been taking good care of them. I've been extremely pleased with their bright colors and sturdy construction. I am confident they will last through several classrooms of youngsters!
The cushions are very versatile and provide comfort while the kids are sitting on their chairs, and while they sit on the floor. As you can see in the pictures, they can use them when they are reading or working on the floor as an elbow cushion, a pillow or a very low desk! It's very nice for sitting on the floor as it make for a clearly defined spot. If a student gets up to blow their nose or use the restroom, they cushion saves their place!
Focus and achievement seem to have improved and there have been no problems. In addition to helping focus, I believe that having these little cushions also adds to a friendly and warm atmosphere and makes the classroom more inviting. When the classroom is a place kids want to be, it's easier to generate enthusiasm for learning! Thanks for your generous support of this project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
At Risk Readers Need Structured Success
Funded Aug 21, 2017Thank you so much for funding these books! They are part of a special collection that I only give out to readers who need a little extra push to get started with their home reading. The kids are excited to have books they can read on their own and it makes them feel a little special that they get to take books home from my "special collection". I have them carefully leveled so I can start kids with books that they can succeed with, and then step them up slowly, so they can keep building on their skills. We have incentives at school on a big bulletin board for kids who do their home reading and these kids are now on their way to reaching their home reading goals by reading these books.
With beginning readers and for those for whom reading does not come naturally, early success is key to building motivation. I often see kids come in that say they "can't read" because the experience has been hard. Thanks for providing these books that will help them build success, confidence and achievement. They are timeless and fun books that will help kids not just this year, but for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman
Books Can Be the Door to Compassion and Understanding
Funded Feb 3, 2017The books you funded for our classroom included books about real people and fictional characters that are African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Latino/Latina, Middle Eastern, African and female, as well as informational books on different countries. The first titles I featured in our classroom were to support African American history month.
I introduced the books to the class by reading two of them aloud: Henry's Freedom Box and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. I accompanied these books with some background about slavery in America, and supplemented with additional articles from the ReadWorks website. These two books and other biographies were then made available to the students for individual reading choices. One of my purposes for these books was to increase compassion and understanding. The children were moved by hearing of the conditions that Henry Brown and Harriet Tubman lived under, and especially sad about how parents and children, husbands and wives, were separated.
It was interesting to see which kids gravitated towards the books in the collection for their own individual reading choices. When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop was a popular choice with children of all backgrounds. Of special note to me, is how the girls and children of color seem to have been drawn to this collection. Recently, I have come to see my own classroom library as a form of microaggression, by not providing enough representation of marginalized groups. The collection funded by this project is helping me change this. I noted that one young lady was taken by the heroism (or heroine-ism) of Harriet Tubman, and chose a longer biography about her. Two children of color immediately took to a biography of Michael Jordan, Salt in His Shoes. Another was reading and rereading Henry's Freedom Box. I'd never seen this child reread a book. I asked her why, and she said she just really liked the story.
Most heartwarming has been the change I have seen in one of my students of color who receives special education services in reading. Both the special education teacher and I have provided books for him to read at home and take quizzes on at school, but he had not been been reading them and had not been making as much progress as hoped. He was looking through the books, most of which are above his current reading level, and I offered to let him take one home so his parents could read it with him. Two days later, he came back ready to take the quiz on that book, along with four others! He then asked if he could borrow another "American history" book (I love that generalization!) and took home Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Again, two days later, he was ready to take another five book quizzes. He said he wanted to be the top reader in the class this trimester and has continued to take more quizzes than anyone else. It is thrilling to see this change of belief and behavior!
I was hoping to elevate the status of marginalized groups through these books. Though these children can't necessarily articulate it directly, their actions lead me to believe the books have done that in both subtle and powerful ways. Thank you so much for providing the funding for these books and helping me begin to create a more equitable and inspiring classroom environment for all children. They deserve it. All children deserve it.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Ryckman