Ms. Garcia's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 5

• Encouraging Our Learners to Shine Brightly!

  Funded Jan 19, 2024

  On behalf of my students, we Thank You! for all your donations for the "Encouraging our Learners to Shine Brightly!" project.

  Since last year, our school received a large number of immigrant families mostly from South America. We had students from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and other places. Most of our students lived in remote areas making it difficult for them to go to school. I decided to create this project as a way to bring more resources to the classroom and to support my English Language Learners (ELL) and their families. My students need many resources in all academic areas to support their learning. I figured why not implement fun games in literacy and math. In this project, I incorporated math games such as "math swatters" an addition and subtraction game. Students enjoy this game because they get to spin a wheel or roll a dice and be the first to swat a card that equals that sum. Another game is Sea 10 math game where students have to flip number cards that equal 10. They enjoy playing these games.

  I also added literacy and phonics games for letter and sound recognition. As you can see in the pictures, they enjoy fishing for letters. For our guided reading groups, I engage my students in activities creating CVC words. We look for the missing sounds and letters to complete the word.

  My bilingual students are enjoying these resources very much. I want to be able to help my ELL students develop their language skills. I think that these resources have been very beneficial in my classroom. The best part was receiving a color printer. In the classroom, with the help of my co-teacher, we are able to The materials in the lessons such as pictures, visual aids, and student handouts are now provided in color. This printer has brought colors to our walls.

  Again, we thank you so much for all your help and support in helping us achieve this goal.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Garcia

  This classroom project was brought to life by Someone who cares about New York City and 7 other donors.

• Let's Read Juntos!

  Funded Nov 30, 2021

  On behalf of my students, we Thank You! for all your donations for the "Let's Read Juntos!" project.

  Last year, students had to attend school remotely which was very difficult for many of us. Due to the pandemic, guided reading and small group instruction was different since we all had to connect and engage remotely. There were also many technical difficulties when students logged in which made learning, socializing and teaching hard.

  We are thankful that this year we had the opportunity to return back to school and engage in in-person learning. I decided to create this project so that students have the opportunity to engage in small groups, read books with the support of the classroom teacher and read at home. Having a book in your hands and being able to point under each word is an exciting feeling. The visuals are bright, the words are clear and they are just right books for my students.

  As you can see in the pictures, the students are reading in their reading centers

  and in my guided reading small group. One of the books that we were reading was about a dog named Rex and the fun things he likes to do. Students were able to make text to self connections since so many of them have dogs at home.

  My bilingual students are enjoying these books very much. I want to be able to help my ELL students develop their language skills. My students currently read on a Level A. I want to motivate them to go beyond and read past their current level. I think that these books have been very beneficial in my classroom.

  The best part is that they get to borrow the books to read at home with their parents and siblings.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Garcia

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 6 other donors.

• First-Year Teacher in Need of Supportive Resources!

  Funded Dec 11, 2019

  Thank you! I am beyond blessed for all your help. All of these books will help me as I plan and support my students in reading and writing this school year.

  When I read I enjoy and retain more information out of the books by highlighting, or marking the page with post-it notes. As I am planning activities for the week I can just go back to the marked page and make a reference to my lesson plans. I do most of my studying at home because I am too busy during the day. I spread out all the activities for a particular subject and think about what will work and what might be a challenge.

  The books that I received offer different skills that will be of great support in my class. one of them is the Anchor charts book that illustrates colorful pictures of charts to improve and build on student achievement. I have a large group of students that learn best by looking at visuals and charts. The next best book is "The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading" its such an amazing tool. In our school, we do guided reading which is separate from our reading time. Guided reading is done in groups of 4 students and we read a book together and do activities about the book. This resource will help me organize activities for each group of students whether they are emergent or fluent.

  Thank you again for all the support! As a first year teacher, I feel more confident in helping my students succeed.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Garcia

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 3 other donors.

• Bring Light to Our Eyes!

  Funded Nov 1, 2019

  Class 1-222A and I are beyond grateful for all your support in this project.

  The project "Bring Light into Our Eyes" consisted of a document camera to be used in the classroom. The document camera makes learning more fun and engaging. For example, during math, students see examples of the problem modeled on the document camera using manipulatives. During math small groups, students explain their work using the document camera for other students to see. We are currently writing about informational animals, and as part of the writing process, we get to look over and edit our work. We use the document camera to analyze a piece of writing. Students enjoy coming to the front of the room to add their markings to the writing to make it better.

  The students enjoy using the document camera. They enjoy explaining their thinking to the teachers and other students. At times students bring artifacts from home and they ask if they can share it with the class. They use the document camera to display it. It's a lot of fun to see my students engaged in learning. I think that this is the best thing that was added to our classroom. They find it so amazing to put an item under the light and for it to be shown on the big screen, the smart-board.

  Again, we thank you so much for all your help and support in helping us achieve this goal.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Garcia

  This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and 3 other donors.

• Bring Life in Color to Our Walls!

  Funded Aug 28, 2019

  On behalf of my students, we THANK YOU! for all your donations.

  This printer has brought colors to our walls. The materials in social studies, math, reading, writing, and science lessons such as pictures, visual aids, and student handouts are now provided in color. In the pictures attached, the students are using vocabulary words color pictures of the different members in a family for our social studies unit. As they complete the family tree, they are able to use visual aids to help them make a connection with their own family.

  For our next project in the classroom, students will be able to look up information about animals and write an informational book about a particular animal. They will have the opportunity to print pictures of their chosen animals and use them in their book. They are so excited to begin this project.

  In past experiences, students were given handouts and visual aids in black and white, which made the lesson boring and without interest. Color printing has increased engagement. My students are able to understand and engage in discussions. They are able to retain more information in class. Adding colors to the lessons is more inviting, especially for my students with special needs that need a lot of visuals to support their learning.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Garcia

  This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and 5 other donors.