Past projects 5
Let's Create a Safe Calming Space for Kids
Funded Aug 15, 2024Words cannot express the gratitude I have for you and the materials you have provided my students and our sensory room through your donations. The students have been having so much fun exploring the different sensory items in our sensory room. The children love using the sensory table, sand trays, and water cube. It has added so much to our sensory environment.
The sensory room, that your donations have helped to create, is a place where student's are able to choose what best suites their emotional and regulation needs at that time. They can freely select sensory activities and move throughout the room as they need to. It is amazing to see how a short break in the sensory room allows the students a space to calm themselves and then return to the classroom.
Thank you ever so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wise
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 2 other donors.Sensory Table for Super Students!
Funded Aug 14, 2024Words cannot express the gratitude I have for you and sensory table you have provided my students and our sensory room through your donations. The students have been having so much fun exploring the different sensory mediums in our new sensory table. The children love pouring, scooping, It has added so much to our sensory environment.
The sensory room, that your donations have helped to create, is a place where student's are able to choose what best suites their emotional and regulation needs at that time. They can freely select sensory activities and move throughout the room as they need to. It is amazing to see how a short break in the sensory room allows the students a space to calm themselves and then return to the classroom.
Thank you ever so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wise
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.An Oasis of Calm for Kids with Unique Sensory Needs
Funded Jun 29, 2024I cannot express enough gratitude for the new safety mats you provided that make it possible for my students to use our sensory swing. The children in my classroom love the new swing. The rhythmic movement of the swing helps them to regulate their emotions when they are having a tough day. It also great FUN when they are having a happy day. The swing is a WIN WIN tool. It provides an avenue for motivation, regulating emotions, gross motor development, the list goes on and on.
Just one example of the swing's pivotal use occurred when a student came into class very upset one day. The student could not be consoled or distracted using any of our other methods or strategies. We took the student on a walk to the sensory room in hopes of taking a break and calming down. Upon entrance, the student walked straight to the sensory swing and stayed there until he/she had calmed down. Then the student returned to the classroom and was able to re-engage in the learning activities of the day.
The swing and mats are working in exactly the manner we had hoped they will. Thank you for providing them for our students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wise
An Oasis of Calm for Kids with Unique Sensory Needs
Funded Jul 28, 2024I would like to share a personal experience of one of our students. Our student came to school highly disregulated and very upset. This was not typical behavior for the student. As a staff we tried everything within the classroom to help calm the student but he/she was completely inconsolable nor could we distract the student or engage him/her in any other activity. After trying several different strategies to help the student with no success, one of our staff members took the student to the sensory room. The student swung back and forth for over an hour and was able to calm down and return to the classroom. Without the safety mats provided by your donation we would not have been able to use the sensory swing provided by another donor. Your donation allows us provide students with another strategy or avenue to regulate their emotions when they are overstimulated or disregulated. The best part is that they are then able to return to the classroom environment to keep learning and interacting with their peers. Thank you so very much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wise
Let's Get Inspired to Write!!
Funded Aug 16, 2018My students have grown leaps and bounds using the books you provided to inspire their writing. The engaging books I was able to select and purchase are being used as mentor texts on a weekly basis. Each book has been used as a tool to exemplify the different ways authors make their writing more interesting and engaging. I have used the texts to teach my students about developing ideas for their writing, how to organize their writing, add voice to and critically evaluate the choice of words they use, and build the sentence fluency in their writing. The books "Baghead" and "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge" were used to teach the children how to find an idea for their writing, narrow the idea, and use juicy details to describe their idea. For example, in the book "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge", the main character talks with many people who share a treasured memory with him from their life based on an object they have. After reading this book, the children (with help from their parents), selected an item from their home that holds a special memory that they could write about. We talked about how objects/people around us can inspire us with an idea for our own writing. The children were so excited to write about the memory that was inspired by their objects. You wouldn't believe what they brought from home....turtle shells, starfish, photos, headbands from Disneyland, stuffed animals, blankets, and more!
I read several of the purchased texts to teach the children how to organize their writing. The children learned to organize their writing with 1) a BOLD BEGINNING, 2) a MIGHTY MIDDLE (transition words), and 3) an EXCELLENT ENDING. More specifically we learned that a BOLD BEGINNING is just like a "hook." It is a way to engage our reader so they become extremely curious about what is going to come next and they just CAN'T stop reading. The children learned that we can use onomatopoeia words, questions, opinions, and single words to begin our writing to hook the reader. Their favorite book for finding awesome onomatopoeia words was "Squeak, Bumble, Whomp, Whomp, Whomp."
I could go on for countless pages telling all the we have learned by reading our new mentor texts! I wish I could send you pages of photos showing all the children's writing up to this point. At this point in the school year, my students are writing more and with greater skill and confidence than any other class I have had in the past. I am so proud of them and all they have accomplished. June is going to be an exciting month when I can look back at all their previous writing and observe how much they have grown. I cannot express my gratitude enough for all the books you have provided us.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wise