Past projects 11
Girls Can Too! Women in STEM Literacy
Funded Oct 2, 2024Thank you so much for your very kind donation to the Women in STEM library for my STEM classroom! I really believe it has made a difference for many of my students! Not only for the women aspect, but just for the overall possibilities.
My 5th grade STEM students chose a book, read it, completed a story organizer highlighting some key points, did a little online research, then made a number poster. The story organizer included the basic who, what, where, when but also what makes her a person of STEM, a struggle for her, and other interesting fun facts. I had hoped to do a hands-on project as well as the number poster, but time became a factor. Many of the number posters turned out very well! Not just a number line, but any numbers relating to her could be included: siblings, children, anything about her topic. For example a student who read about Evelyn Cheesman, an etymologist, listed on his poster that she has at least 6 insects named for her, and brought 10,000 different insects and 500 different plants on her return to Britain from an island in the South Pacific! Another student included several measurements about the Brooklyn Bridge after reading about Emily Roebling who took over the bridge building after her husband became ill.
Thank you again, for giving my students another chance to see the world, to learn about the world, and see the possibilities available to them!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
Keep Our Steam Program Rolling With Sphero Robots Balls!
Funded Dec 12, 2022Thank you again for your generous donation of two Sphero Bolt robots for my classroom!
I cannot tell you how exciting it is as a teacher to see students working together, involved, communicating, and enthusiastic about solving a problem! I was able to use a mat (see photo) from a different lesson so the boys were challenged to drive the Sphero from planet to planet in correct planet order using block programming. I was completely hands off, I just posed the problem and together they solved it! It was truly amazing! Some students are not especially motivated in the school setting, but this challenged and engaged them. It was so uplifting for me and them!
I have every intention of moving forward with more lessons for more students, adapting the use to every type of topic. Learning should be exciting and these Spheros will definitely help to make it so for many students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
This classroom project was brought to life by Cognizant Foundation.Building STEAM: Picture books, Problems, and Prototypes
Funded Oct 29, 2022Thank you for your amazing donation! The bee bots and books that your donation provided have been wonderful for both the classroom and family STEAM nights! Seeing families share a book, then a simple STEM activity was very satisfying to this teacher!
The Bee Bots were an instant hit! They are so easy to program and adaptable to many different lessons in ELA, Science, Social Studies, and holiday! Students were actually introduced to them using a Christmas holiday set of pictures and skill cards that required them to program the Bee Bots to reach different destinations avoiding the Grinch. I purchased a clear pocket mat that has been very useful as pictures can be changed easily, and have made several picture sets to match the books.
By another Donors Choose project and a donation from the Civil Air Patrol, I have acquired five additional 'next level' robots for our classroom. An Edison robot that supports Lego attachments is programmed similar to the Bee Bots but uses block coding on a laptop. Four Sphero Bolt robots are similarly programmed on a laptop. It is a perfect progression.
Your donation has given many students joy in problem solving and upper level thinking.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
Hot or Cold, Earth is on the Move!
Funded Aug 31, 2021Your gift has been invaluable! Though I was unable to obtain the earth models I had written my proposal for due to the company no longer having them, I was able to purchase so many other items that have been very useful in my classroom!
Fifth and sixth grade science standards include concepts of space. One of the items I purchased in place of the earth models, was a model of the solar system.
I was able to purchase a 'fault model' which helps demonstrate how tectonic plates move or what happens during weathering and erosion, standards for 6th grade. It was used to describe the formation of the Grand Canyon.
An ocean-bottom model was purchased! It can be used without water or with water in an aquarium to demonstrate ocean currents and convection, underwater volcanoes, and much more!
Third grade benefited from a magnet set and a static electricity kit.
Rock and fossil collections were loved by 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade.
A very wide variety of craft supplies were also purchased to support many STEM projects which students of all grades love for problem solving, cooperation, and creativity. THANK YOU!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
This classroom project was brought to life by UPS Foundation and one other donor.Rotating, Revolving, and Evolving into Better Students!
Funded Aug 31, 2021Our new tellurium (earth, moon, sun model) has been used many, many times already this year to help students better understand concepts of earth and space.
Fifth grade science standards include the understanding of rotation and revolution. These ideas are easy to model with the tellurium! The standards also include understanding why certain patterns occur during rotation and revolution such as why certain constellations are only visible at certain times of the year. Now it is simple to do!
Sixth grade science standards include understanding the seasons are caused by earth's tilt, lunar eclipses, and solar eclipses. The tellurium has been invaluable for demonstrating all of these events. The tellurium was even used for an interactive question on a final assessment!
A moving model truly provides for easier understanding of otherwise larger than life concepts. I hope to obtain more models for my classroom. It helps students very much.
Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
This classroom project was brought to life by UPS Foundation and 4 other donors.Blasting Away Math Anxiety with Dynamite DynaMath
Funded Nov 30, 2018As I strive to make Math, a subject in which many students struggle for a myriad of reasons, more interesting and relate-able for my students, the Dyna-Math Magazine has helped to achieve just that. The monthly magazine has stories of different lengths covering a wide variety of topics that are appealing to students. But it also includes standards-based math questions drawn from the stories, at a variety of ability levels, making the stories not only interesting to students, but demonstrating how math can connect to the world. Showing that connection helps answer the often heard question, "But when will I use this?".
Being new to 5th grade and students of a new demeanor, I wanted them to have a positive attitude about Math, a subject that they will use the rest of their lives. I use a Math Joke-of-the-Week, skill-based games, and online games, but this is a very welcomed addition to my Math program that involves reading. The subscription also includes online extensions such as skill sheet extensions and videos that coordinate with the articles, providing more background information, making it more meaningful.
The possibilities with this magazine are endless! We can continue exploring the article topics, the math aspects, create our own magazine of articles and math thus venturing into writing. It also provides the opportunity for my students to read about the world. Many do not know of the possibilities it holds.
So thank you. Thank you for making math more interesting and relate-able. Thank you for sharing the world with my students in a unique way and opening their minds. Thank you for this very positive gift that you have given my class.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
Storyworks is More Than Just a Story to My Class
Funded Nov 4, 2016What a wonderful gift you have given our class! Every two months or so, we receive a new magazine with a variety reading to be done! We have been able to relate several of the articles already! A Science poem, "What Is Science?" reviewed something we had done at the beginning of the year in Science. A biography readers' theater fit great with a biography unit showing students biographies can come in a variety of forms, and it also set us up for our historical fiction unit. We were able to have an informal debate which related to a persuasive writing unit. The list continues! The publication fits our units and the common core requirements for 4th grade. I cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
Wisconsin History in our Classroom: Fossils to Furs to Farms
Funded Sep 22, 2016While we have had two of eight visits with our speaker from the Washington County Historical Society, it has been amazing! The first visit's topic was Wisconsin's Glacial Age where students learned even more about Wisconsin's glaciers, held a trilobite, an ammonite, and turtle dung that was 245 million years old as Wisconsin was once covered by a sea. PERFECT for 4th graders! Our second presentation's topic was Early Wisconsin People. As the pictures show, students were again able to hold a 2000 year old copper point, a 2000 year old piece of pottery, and a 1000 year old hammer stone. Very few museums would even give them this opportunity! To watch the students hold and feel something in their hands truly solidifies what we have talked about. It makes it come to life! Future visits include fur trading and the Civil War, I can't wait to see their faces!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
This classroom project was brought to life by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and 2 other donors.Pompeii, Pele, and Pliny Part 2
Funded Aug 21, 2015Thank you again for the wonderful donation you made to our classroom! I cannot express how grateful I am, and how much my class and I appreciate your gift.
Though last year we put forth efforts to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards, we desperately needed resources. Through Donor's Choose, I was able to purchase books to supply about half of my class. Thanks to you, I have now been able to supply the rest of my class with books to hold in their hands rather than share. We have a dynamic combined Science and Reading unit with texts able to support multiple levels of readers.
As a teacher, I am trying to give students a new sense of reading, reading something of substance, showing them that reading can be fun AND educational at the same time. That it can be an opportunity to think. Most days we read between 30-45 minutes individually while I work with individuals or small groups to improve skills.
With the topic being volcanoes, most students showed great interest. They have the sense of what a volcano is, but not an in-depth knowledge, so it blended with the 'thinking', fun, and educational idea beautifully.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
Pompeii, Pele, and Pliny-What a Way To Begin the Year!
Funded Aug 23, 2014Thank you again for your very kind donation to our classroom. Your gifts have helped to launch a nearly semester long unit on Earth Science as required by the new Next Generation Science Standards. However, not only have they been useful in Science, we have repeatedly referred to them in Social Studies, Reading, and English as well.
The class was very excited to receive the items that you helped to purchase as they cover many student friendly topics at a variety of levels: fossils, rocks, volcanoes, earthquakes, myths, and geography.
It was a great way to start our school year and not only a new science unit, but the sharing of how topics are intertwined in the real world.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barber
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 3 other donors.