Past projects 12
Ready to Read!
Funded Apr 10, 2025Thank you for donating to my project! I’m so excited for my students to begin reading these wonderful novels. We’ll be reading them in class and independently at home to prepare for the reading bowl competition. These engaging texts and the competition will spark my students’ enthusiasm for reading. We really appreciate your contribution to their education and love of reading!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 9 other donors.Rockstar Readers
Funded May 9, 2024Thank you so much for your donation to our Rockstar Readers project! This project provided books for my students to read in preparation for our annual Reading Bowl. For this competition, students read 10 young adult novels. Then they compete in a game show style competition, answering questions about the key details from the novels.
The competition, and your generous donation, expose my students to a variety of genres -- mysteries, graphic novels, poetry, and more. Currently, we are preparing for the competition by reading and discussing the novels in small groups. This creates a community of readers that is so encouraging for my students. They push each other to read more and to analyze the books deeply. The process teaches them to read deeply, to focus on details, and to try books that they might not otherwise choose.
In addition to honing their reading skills, my students are building social-emotional skills: teamwork, confidence, self-motivation, and a positive competitive spirit. Your gift is bringing learning and fun to my students. We are so grateful and excited for the Reading Bowl!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Supporter and 7 other donors.Reading Bowl Bound
Funded Apr 7, 2023Thank you so much for your support of our Reading Bowl Bound project. This project ensured that all of our 4th and 5th grade Reading Bowl participants had the books they needed to prepare for our reading competition, especially over the summer. Every child received 2 or 3 of the young adult novels. They read independently and then worked together in "book club" groups to review and discuss their reading. We focused on comprehension of the plot, identification of key characters and events, and making real-world connections.
In early January, students competed in the Reading Bowl. Working as a team, we competed against other schools from our District Cluster. Although we did not win the competition, we still had a great time answering questions pulled from the novels you provided! It was an excellent opportunity to build confidence and camaraderie while testing our knowledge of the books.
We truly appreciate your generosity and support of our Reading Bowl team.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.Reading Nook
Funded Sep 6, 2023Thank you so much for your donation to my Reading Nook project. Thanks to you, we now have four super comfortable and cool-looking bean bag chairs in our library area. My students were SO excited to see and try these chairs!
We use the chairs for independent reading time. They make our reading area feel cozy and inviting, and I notice my students wanting to spend more time reading in this area. Reading is critical to their growth and progress in all areas.
We also use the chairs when we are working in groups. Students use this area to collaborate on assignments and discuss their learning.
Above all, the chairs make our classroom feel like a welcoming place to be, a "real-world" environment, which enhances their learning. Transitioning to and from this area is also an authentic way to incorporate movement and get the "wiggles" out.
Thanks again for your support!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 3 other donors.Back to the Basics
Funded Aug 2, 2023Thank you so much for supporting this project. These resources have meant that every student has what they need to be successful in our classroom.
I have students from 1st through 5th grade, and we work on all types of cross-curricular projects and units of study. We focus on critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and hands-on engagement with the content. These materials -- from the markers to the measuring cups -- allow us to design, create, and experiment. We are also able to stay organized with the binders and work on our writing skills and note-taking in the journals.
We truly appreciate your generosity. You have allowed my classroom to be an equitable and creative space!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 9 other donors.STEM Stories and Stuff!
Funded Feb 8, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to this project. The resources have been so beneficial, and the kids absolutely love them. We use the STEAM-related books for research on various topics including the environment, animals, scientific careers, and much more. They align with our Math and Science units perfectly and are very engaging.
We have also really enjoyed the coding activities and the multiplication game. They make learning fun!
Our absolute favorite part is the educational escape room kit. My students BEG to use this all the time! It is a really great program with digital escape rooms and in-person / physical options with cool locks. There are pre-built games that align with our learning standards, and I can build games specifically to review the concepts we are working on. Playing these games has allowed students to work on their critical thinking and problem solving skills, as well as interact with the academic content in a unique way.
We are truly grateful to you for supporting this project and enabling us to have these awesome resources in our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by Black History Month Partners and 11 other donors.Book Bowl
Funded May 25, 2022Your donation has been so valuable to our school's Reading Bowl team! Every year, our best readers in 4th and 5th grade participate in the district Reading Bowl competition. During the competition, they work as a team to answer questions about 10 different novels. The competition is in a game show format, and we compete against other schools in our district. This is a great way to motivate students to read and encourage them to focus on key details in the books!
Thanks to your donation, this year we have several copies of each of the 10 books. All members of our Book Bowl team have easy access to the books so they have flexible reading time. We read together once a week, and students also read during their free time and at home. I love to see students discussing the books, sharing recommendations, creating their own reading schedules, taking notes, reviewing practice questions, and working as a team to be prepared for the upcoming competition.
The Reading Bowl competition is in January. Thanks to your support, I am certain we will show off our hard work and enriched skills, and we'll have fun at the same time!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 5 other donors.Super Science Stars
Funded Dec 29, 2020I am so very grateful for your generous donation towards our Super Science Stars project. We were able to purchase subscriptions to two wonderful science applications that have enhanced our teaching and learning of science.
The programs have lesson plans (that make my preparation easier!), videos, songs, games, literature, quizzes, experiments and activities with at-home and in-person instructions... everything we need to study science in an engaging and challenging way. They allow virtual students to have an "almost hands-on" experience along with the in-person students. In several cases, we've been able to use the platforms to pair virtual and in-person students to work on the experiments and activities together for greater learning and student interaction.
Science is such an important part of an equitable classroom, and it has been one of the areas most impacted by virtual learning. Your gift is making a tremendous difference in the lives and learning of my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
Math Moves
Funded Jul 29, 2020I cannot thank you enough for your support of my Math Moves project. It is critical for students, especially young learners like mine, to have hands-on materials as they are learning math concepts. Number charts, counting blocks, base-ten blocks, analog clocks, and other physical manipulatives help to make math visual and concrete. Not to mention, they are engaging and a much-needed addition to our digital resources. In my opinion, the lack of physical resources like this has been one of the biggest impediments to learning in our current virtual world, and you helped us overcome it!
We began the year fully virtual. As of a few weeks ago, we have some students in-person and some virtual. The in-person students cannot share supplies, including math manipulatives. Your gift meant that every student in my class, whether at home or in-person at school, received a complete kit of materials that they need to support their math learning!
We use these supplies EVERY DAY. We use the number charts for counting and comparing numbers; the blocks are for representing and manipulating numbers as well as addition and subtraction; the clocks are of course for learning to tell time (we start that in a few weeks!). Your generous donation has made and continues to make a world of difference in my students' academic growth.
Please know that we appreciate your and your support of education at this difficult and critical time!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
Book Boxes!
Funded Aug 28, 2020Thank you so much for your donation toward our Book Box project. Each student in my class received 2 boxes with at least 16 books in each box! These are Beginning Reader books that gradually increase in difficulty so that every reader has some books they can read easily and some that will challenge them to grow their reading skills. Best of all, they are really interesting and funny books that engage the students in a love of reading.
I was able to give the book sets to my students during our Fall supply pick-up process. It was so exciting to see them come to our virtual classroom the next day and tell me that they had already started reading! Many of my students do not have access to physical books at home, particularly during the current pandemic where there are limited opportunities to check out library books. Digital books are great, but there is nothing like holding a book in your hands. My students use these books for independent reading as well as reading in groups with me during virtual class. It's so helpful for each group of students to have the same books so we can read and discuss them together.
Your support truly makes a difference in the lives of these children. Please know that your generosity is impactful and appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Curtis
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 10 other donors.