Past projects 4
Peer Social Group
Funded Feb 2, 2023My students with autism and the general education students (that visit my classroom multiple times a week) really enjoy the fun sensory materials that were donated to our classroom. The excitement in their eyes when I brought out the castle with kinetic sand was magical! Also, the students have created amazing structures with the magnetic blocks that were also donated.
These sensory materials have encouraged team work and supported social interactions between all of the students that attend Social Group! We will continue our Social Group for the next school year. We cannot thank you enough for your generous contributions!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gregory
Visuals Supports for Students With Autism!
Funded Jan 13, 2022Thank you all for your generous donations and support. My students have successfully accessed our curriculum (Unique Learning System) with the help from you. When I print out colorful pages from our leveled stories and math pages, my students' engagement and participation increases, greatly.
My students require repetitive instruction and visual icons to learn and retain the information taught. When they are able to hold visuals in their hands it only increases hands-on learning, and then I can assess what they know. The laminating pages I received from Donor's Choose, help protect the visual icons I can now print.
As I mentioned above, your donations help my students in math, reading, science, and social skills. In math, I print one-to-one correspondence pages, addition and subtraction pages, analog and digital clock pages, skip counting, and many more areas in math. In this thank you package, I provided a picture that includes a student working on an addition page and a 1:1 correspondence page. Writing (fine motor) skills are often deficits for students with autism. When we are able to print the numbers and laminate them, they can show me what they know by selecting the correct number (in a field of three to five other numbers) and placing it in the empty box. The student (in the picture I uploaded) is working on addition with sums less than or equal to 10. He has acquired 1:1 correspondence for numbers 1-20 and will work on/ maintain that concept as time allows. As you can see, printing and laminating pages in math from our curriculum strengthens learning in my students.
I also provided a picture of a student matching a vocabulary word to its definition while reading a leveled story from our curriculum. You can see that both the vocabulary word and the definition include the same visual and this helps with errorless learning. Another significant deficit for individuals with autism is communication. Most of my students are non-verbal or minimally verbal. Providing visual icons to my students not only increases learning, it also increases communication.
The two other pictures that I included in my Thank You Package was an individual Visual Schedule and my classroom Calendar Time icons. In the individual visual schedule, a student is able to keep that schedule in their desk. Upon arrival, this student sees that it is classroom OT time. During classroom OT, they can choose from a variety of sensory items (beads, play-doh, shaving cream, etc.) to trampoline time. When the classroom timer goes off to signal the end of classroom OT, the students will remove O.T. Time from their visual schedule and place it on the inside of the folder that says "All Done". Then, they know it is time to move on to the next section on their visual schedule. These visual schedules help my students stay organized and in the know about what will be happening each day.
Lastly, the calendar icons are used daily with my entire class. Each student has their own laminated calendar page in their desk. Depending on the level of the student, they are either writing, matching, and/or stating the response as I present them the calendar icons.
I would not be able to personally provide my students the materials I received from your kind donations. My students and I truly appreciate your consideration to our project, "Visual Icons for Students with Autism". Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gregory
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.Awesome Visuals for Students with Autism
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you so much for your generous donation to my students. My classroom will greatly benefit from all the visuals created from the ink you provided. The visuals will support my students with Autism in multiple areas that include; social skills, social-emotional skills, self-help skills, and their academics!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gregory
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Awesome Autism Supplies
Funded Nov 8, 2017I can't thank you enough for your generous donations! These supplies will provide my students with the colorful visuals that they need to learn. They will also help my students with organization, planning, and comprehension. I am so grateful for these wonderful gifts. Once again hank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gregory