Past projects 12
Fine Tuning Fifth Grade
Funded Aug 2, 2022I can't thank you all enough for supporting our classroom this year! I learned last year that if I can make our lessons more fun and interactive, my 5th graders are more engaged and build more confidence. It's a big focus of mine to help them build up their academic and personal confidence before heading off to middle school next year. I'm hoping these math manipulatives and games will help students gain confidence and fluency in math. I know students will also get excited about these books and help students build a love for reading.
Thank you all for your generosity and thinking of us! It truly means so much!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
A Library They Will Love
Funded Sep 24, 2021This project has greatly expanded our library! It has allowed us to get more books that students are interested in which has led to more excitement during reading time. Students have been taking turns reading the various Amulet books and many students were excited about the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
At the end of the year, we do a reading unit focused on fantasy novels. In this unit, students choose a fantasy book at their level to read in a group of 3 and discuss. This project has made it so we now have more than one choice for fantasy novels at all reading levels so students will have a choice of what book they read. It has also allowed us to get more current fantasy novels for students to enjoy.
Finally, the whiteboards have made a big impact during our math lessons. For math warm ups, students often work on a whiteboard. They had been frustrated with the state of our old whiteboards and were thrilled to see there were new ones for them to use now.
Thank you all for your support and helping us make this the best year it can be!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Creating a Cozy Classroom
Funded Jul 9, 2021This project has allowed our classroom to become a comfortable and organized space for students. The baskets have allowed us to create a library that is organized by genre so students can find books that match their interests. This has created an easy transition into reading workshop this year and built an enjoyment around reading in class.
The bulletin board paper and maps have become a big part of our classroom learning. The paper allowed us to create large bulletin boards where we can display anchor charts and strategies we've learned. Students are often referring back to these to review material we've covered. The maps have also greatly helped students understand the context of our history lessons.
Finally, our favorite element of this project is the speaker. My students love music and it brings a lot of joy to our room. Students have made a class playlist that we play through the speaker in the morning that starts our day on a fun and happy note. We also use it to play calm music during work time and tests to lower stress levels.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Choices for Children
Funded Dec 6, 2019The materials we received have been so helpful in creating efficient and effective routines for writing workshop! They have also helped provide students with more choice during their writing time.
The new paper tray has allowed me to offer students with 4 more paper choices. This allows students to choose the paper type with the number of lines and picture boxes that is best for where they are with their writing. It has also provided them with the option of creating dedication pages because I can offer additional paper styes. The paper tray also gave us a space to store the new mini staplers we received. This allows students to staple on additional pages to their booklets when they want to add even more to their writing!
The pillows have made our low writing table more comfortable for students. The carpet we have is starting to wear and isn't as comfortable as it once was. The pillows help make that space more comfortable for students now.
Finally, the additional baskets have provided a home for books in our library. They are now in their own baskets with labels indicating the level or genre to students. The additional science books have provided students with more choices of books to read during our non-fiction reading unit.
Thank you so much for helping our classroom run more effectively, be more comfortable and provide more choice to students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 5 other donors.Kindergarten Readers and Writers
Funded Apr 2, 2019The materials we received have been so helpful in creating efficient and effective routines for reading and writing workshop. The wicker baskets have allowed us to store large groupings of books in our library. The baskets are easily labeled so we know which books to put back where. The new C level science readers have also been very helpful with our first unit on reading informational books.
The grey folders and date stamp have been very important for writing workshop. We use the date stamp to mark when we started each new writing piece and the folders allow us to easily store all of our writing. Thank you for helping us launch reading and writing workshop.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Relevant Reading
Funded May 6, 2019Thank you so much for the books for our classroom. We were able to get thirty books that address different social emotional lessons kindergarteners need to continue to build their skills for working with others. Many of the books also provide stories that represent the diverse students in our class, so that they can see themselves in stories and feel comfortable at school. Finally, other books are helping us learn about diverse cultures and develop a better understanding of the world we live in.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 3 other donors.A Library Kindergarteners Will Love
Funded Aug 10, 2019Students were so excited when they saw our new library! The benches make the library a more defined and cozy space to read. Students are also feeling much more comfortable having more pillows to lay on while they read. My class is really drawn to the library now and constantly wants to spend more time in the library. It is exciting to see kindergarteners already so excited to explore books and dive into the stories they have to share. I can't wait to see how the space continues to encourage students to develop their reading skills! I can't thank you enough for your support and generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Flexible Seating for Five Year Olds
Funded Oct 9, 2018Students have been really enjoying having a carpet to now sit on when working at our circle table. Prior to receiving these resources, students had small carpet squares to sit on. This large circle carpet has made this work area much more comfortable and inviting.
Students have also been loving the new stools. Before, the kidney table was only available as a standing table. Now students can stand or sit on a stool at this table. Many students are choosing to push the stool in and stand for some activities and then sit on the stool when their legs get tired. This has allowed students more choice in their seating throughout the day!
Finally, the clear pockets have been a great addition to our classroom. Students now can see their work on the wall everyday! Students are even using our Word Problem Wall to help them get ideas when problem solving! It has been wonderful seeing students appreciate each others work and the pride they have seeing their work published on the wall. The pockets have also been helpful for students working on number formation. They work as whiteboards and have made tracing a much more fun activity!
Thank you for all you have done to make our classroom a more welcoming space!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Kindergarten Exploration
Funded Aug 31, 2018Students were so excited when they first saw our new carpet! When they entered the classroom in the morning, they couldn't contain how excited and curious they were about the carpet. It has been wonderful to see all the smiles and joy students have been getting out of sitting on the floor.
This project has allowed our class to begin flexible seating. Now that we have an additional carpet, we were able to lower a table for students to sit on the floor and raise a table so students can stand. Students have been gravitating to these new seating options. It has been really incredible to see how students can reflect and choose the best seating option for their learning.
The math folder games have been a great addition to our math centers. Students have been getting excited each time we introduce a new game to try. The class has been particularly enjoying the books. A particular favorite was The Invisible Boy.
I can't thank you enough for all of your support and generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist
Ready to Read
Funded Jul 30, 2018This project has helped us kick start our understanding of words and letters! We have begun doing small group literacy rotations. Students are loving using the magnetic letters to practice spelling their names and the high frequency words we have gone over already. The word building blocks have been an activity students enjoy using as well because it is so hands on! As students are learning their letters, the magnetic word building boards have been a great start to practice matching up letters and build a better understanding of their letters.
The first week of school, we read The Kissing Hand as a class. Many students were nervous about being away from home and this was a book they could really relate to. We used the large ink pads to stamp our hands on paper and create our own representation of kissing hands to share with our parents.
All of these materials have allowed my students to do more hands on activities at the beginning of the year. I can't thank you enough for your help in making all of this possible!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Newquist