Past projects 8
Durable Headsets for Digital Reading Tutor
Funded Mar 31, 2023My students were so excited to receive these new headsets! They had been using old ones that were falling apart and showing exposed cables. We got a great new reading tutor program this year, but students were experiencing frequent issues with headsets not working properly and the program kicking them out when it could not clearly detect their voices. Now with these brand new headsets, students are able to do the Amira reading practice with no audio issues!
As a teacher, I can attest to how technical difficulties quickly undermine students' attitude toward any digital learning platform. With these new headsets, I no longer had students getting frustrated and complaining about Amira. They were able to read their practice stories with fewer audio glitches and finish more quickly. As the year ended, data showed that my students who read with Amira this year were able to improve their reading fluency on average 29 words per minute. That is huge!
Thank you again for your generous contribution. It has made all the difference!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
Math Flash Cards for Low-income Students
Funded Dec 8, 2022Thank you again for your generation donation to my classroom project! My students love their new flashcards! Many of them really struggle with their math facts and now they have a fun, easy way to practice at home without needing internet access. We kept some flashcard sets in the classroom to model the best strategies for quizzing themselves or a partner. The rest of the sets have been checked out to individual students to use at home for the rest of the school year.
The biggest benefit is for my low students who have younger siblings. They may feel self-conscious about their ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide when compared to their same-age peers, but at home they can help their little brother or sister practice their basic math facts while simultaneously sharpening their own.
I really appreciate your support for math education. For some kids, this may make all the difference!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and one other donor.Snap Circuits Alternative Energy Kits!
Funded Mar 1, 2018Thank you so much for your generous donation! My students are loving these Snap Circuit Kits! Ever since they arrived in the mail, the 5th graders have been begging me to be able to use them. Today they finally got the chance to open them up and apply their knowledge of electrical circuits. They were so careful with all of the components and even the boxes because they knew that these were brand new and had been donated by kind people through Donors Choose. Not once did I have to ask someone to be on task because they were 100% engaged. I am so grateful to have these for my students because hands-on activities are so helpful in the learning process. Thanks again for making this project possible for us!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
Cross-curricular Science Texts for 5th Grade Spanish!
Funded Mar 27, 2018Thank you so much for your generous donation! Our new cross-curricular books have arrived and my students are genuinely excited to read them. Since we now have four sets of six books each, my students have been able to rotate during centers and read different sections of the books in a small group while the rest of the class is working on something else.
In our 5th grade dual immersion classroom, students learn about science in the Spanish language. They really enjoy learning about earthquakes, volcanoes, and animal adaptations but we did not have science books for them to practice reading informational text. These new Abecé Visual books are so engaging! The diagrams and illustrations are very high quality and my students constantly ask if they can read the "nice books" today.
I have several students who are really interested in biology and so they have been reading the books "Animales salvajes" (Wild Animals) and "Plantas y flores" (Plants and Flowers). Each book has about 20 chapters in it that cover the majority of topics from our science curriculum. Students have been able to deepen their understanding of how the earth is formed and how different organisms can adapt to survive in different climates, etc.
Thanks again for choosing to fund this project! It really means a lot to us.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.Cross-Curricular Texts for Spanish!
Funded Jan 25, 2018Thank you so much for your generous donation! Our new cross-curricular books have arrived and my students are genuinely excited to read them. Since we now have four sets of six books each, my students have been able to rotate during centers and read different sections of the books in a small group while the rest of the class is working on something else.
In our 6th grade dual immersion classroom, students learn about science and social studies in the Spanish language. They really enjoy learning about world history and different cultures but our thick history textbook was so boring that the students used to complain every time they had to read from it. These new Abecé Visual books are so much more engaging! The diagrams and illustrations are very high quality and my students constantly ask, "Can we read those new books today?"
I have several students who are really interested in science and so they have been reading the books "La Tierra" (the Earth) and "El Universo" (the universe). Each book has about 20 chapters in it that cover the majority of topics from our science curriculum. Students have been able to deepen their understanding of the solar system, the water cycle, how wind and ocean currents affect climate, etc.
Thanks again for choosing to fund this project! It really means a lot to us.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by The First Million Fund and 3 other donors.Print Our Science Textbooks
Funded Nov 29, 2017Thank you again for helping us print our Spanish science textbooks. These textbooks were created by our state science specialists to support our new curriculum. It focuses more on using science concepts to explain engaging real-world phenomena instead of simply memorizing scientific vocabulary and facts to pass a test. As a result, these books are more engaging than many traditional textbooks.
Each chapter begins by presenting a phenomenon such as how a semi-truck can suddenly crush into itself like a smashed soda can. Then it asks questions to guide students through the scientific concepts that could help explain why that occurs. It is a great way to teach students about density and pressure because students are more motivated by the mysteries of the natural world than by being told to read definitions.
In our class we have been able to use the books twice already and students really seem to enjoy reading through them. I am also new to teaching 6th grade dual immersion this year and so it is a wonderful resource to guide me through the science curriculum in Spanish.
Thanks again for your generous donation to our class!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Wells Fargo and one other donor.Build Our Spanish Library!
Funded Nov 8, 2017Thank you so much for funding additional books for our Spanish classroom library. My students are already enjoying these new stories. I have several students who love soccer and they have been sharing the biography of Lionel Messi and the ¡Gol! Series. Some of my native Spanish speakers have said they really like the Tía Lola stories. It is great for them to be able to read about Latino characters whom they can relate to. Many of my non-native speakers are grateful to have more books available in Spanish because they are asked to read 20 minutes per night (10 min in English and 10 min in Spanish) for homework but some do not have any Spanish literature at home.
Thanks again for your generous donation!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell
This classroom project was brought to life by Wells Fargo and one other donor.¡Mejora Tu Español With Voice Recorders
Funded Aug 31, 2017Thank you for your generous donation to my classroom project. We were able to order a dozen voice recorders for our Spanish dual immersion students. The students were so excited when the package arrived because they love getting to play with technology. I appreciate these particular voice recorders because they are simple and it is easier for students to focus on the assigned learning activity while using them, unlike recording devices on computers and cell phones that come with other distracting features.
My students have used the voice recorders several times already to practice conversations in Spanish. I give them a topic to discuss in partners and they get to record their conversation, play it back, and try it again. Each time they are expanding their language skills by using more words in complete sentences and increasing their fluency.
Out of all the projects that you could have funded, we really appreciate that you chose ours. Thank you again for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Campbell