Past projects 16
Organizing and Individualizing
Funded May 14, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to my project "Organizing and Individualizing".
When the box arrived the students were so excited to see what our friends at Donors Choice had provided for our classroom. After an introduction to the machine and what it is capable of doing, we brainstormed ways to use it in our room.
The remaining days of the year were spent using the machine to bind memory books and published writing pieces. This summer, I was able to use the machine to bind handwriting practice booklets for my incoming Kindergarteners.
My next steps for this project are to use the machine to bind published pieces this year as well as a journal we are writing in each month to show our growth as writers over the course of Kindergarten.
Thank you for helping me bring this wonderful tool to my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
This classroom project was brought to life by Dalio Education and 7 other donors.Making Fluency Fun
Funded May 9, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to my project "Making Fluency Fun".
When the boxes arrived the students were so excited to see what our friends at Donors Choice had provided for our reading time. After a quick introduction to how the phones and how we would organize and share the supplies, the children dove in and spent the remainder of that reading time focused intently on reading quietly from their writing journals into their phones and listening to their stories.
The remaining days of the year were spent in a similar way, children using the phones in reading and writing class at seats or on the back carpet, listening to their oral reading for fluency building as well as listening to their written work read aloud to check for necessary revisions to improve fluent story telling.
My next steps for this project are to introduce these later this year to my current Kindergarteners as they begin reading CVC and CVCC words independently. I also hope to use these in our Kindergarten writers workshop as we build our skills telling stories of our own. These are a wonderful resource that provide immediate feedback and a fun way to practice an essential skill. Thank you for helping me bring this to my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
This classroom project was brought to life by Dalio Education and 2 other donors.Practicing with Power Pens
Funded May 21, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to my project "Practicing with Power Pens".
When the boxes arrived the students were so excited to see what our friends at Donors Choice had provided for our reading time. After a quick introduction to how the pens worked and how we would organize and share the supplies, the children dove in and spent the remainder of that half hour focused intently on answering reading questions in the booklets and watching the pen light up in response to their choices.
The remaining days of the year were spent in a similar way, children using the pens as a reading station during our ELA block to review and strengthen comprehension and phonic skills necessary for grade 2.
My next steps for this project are to share these with current first and second grade teachers and to begin a new project this spring for the K level books to use in my current classroom. These are a wonderful resource that provide immediate feedback and a fun way to practice an essential skill. Thank you for helping me bring this to my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
This classroom project was brought to life by Dalio Education and 8 other donors.Helping With Headphones
Funded Nov 28, 2022Thank you so much for contributing to my headphone project. The children were so excited on the day they arrived and they have been beyond helpful.
Prior to receiving the headphones, children had to bring in their own set to use the technology we have in the classroom. This led to issues since some children were without, others had devices that did not function well, and some were unable to keep their devices in the school building so they sometimes went without.
Now, all children have a fantastic set of Sony headphones. They work perfectly and everyone can access technology any day of the week. This has led to us using reading and learning apps more frequently and the children gaining independence with classroom technology. It has also made district online testing more standardized and fair as they now all have the same ability to listen to directions with the same clarity and precision.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
Engaging Emergent Readers
Funded Oct 26, 2022Thank you so much for contributing to my project and helping to provide wonderful literature to my first graders.
As you can see in the photos, we have many choices now for reading at their level. Most importantly, the books are new, colorful, and enticing.
When I first put out the new books, the children had a hard time choosing which to read. What a fantastic problem to have! Since then, we have "taste-tested" a few of the series as read alouds and the children have found new favorite series books to keep them reading about their new favorite friends. Their book bins for independent reading are busting at the seems and they often ask if they can bring home books to finish or take them to lunch to read if they finish eating early. Again, what a wonderful thing to have happening at such and important age for building a love of reading.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
My First Classroom for Firsties
Funded Oct 2, 2022Thank you so much for funding our classroom project. When the carpet first arrived the children could barely contain themselves. They wanted to spend the entire day in the back of the room on their gorgeous, new rug!
Since then, the children have been able to sit on the carpet with ample space and can focus on learning and not squeezing on to two smaller, perpendicular rugs. They see each other throughout our phonemic awareness and number corner work and enjoy read aloud time now that we can all come together and get lost in the stories. Writing class has been a wonderful time to witness them laying on the rug with lap desks, writing with partners and bouncing ideas off one another. The joy of working with peers has truly been met with the addition of our carpet.
When not on our carpets, the disk pillows are a wonderful option as well. With these, the children can carry seating by the handle and place the disks down in the hallway, outside on our blacktop in warm weather, or around the room on the tile floor. Being able to spread out and read comfortably has helped achieve an enjoyable reading environment and a love of story reading and sharing.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
Math Differentiation with Style through Versatiles
Funded Nov 9, 2019Versatiles has been a wonderful addition to our classroom. The kit you so generously provided contains eight trays of tiles and allows eight individuals or partnerships to practice math in a fun, hands-on way.
When the children come to school in the morning, they arrive at different times from drop off and buses. They unpack, get their supplies ready for the day, complete their morning assignment and write down the night's homework. Then, they always read to self at desks or in flexible seating until the morning meeting. Now, my students who would prefer to practice math skills or to extend their math knowledge, can choose a set of tiles and books from the second or third grade level curriculum that have colorful activities that self-check math practice.
The only problem our class has had with Versatiles thus far has been that twenty kids find it hard to share 8 of anything. They take turns and often pair up but everyone has had fun while learning with this wonderful tool. We've even chosen to make the next donorschoose campaign about adding tiles and literacy choices to our collection.
Thank you for this wonderful kit and for making my room a more involved and enjoyable learning environment.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi
This classroom project was brought to life by hand2mind and 2 other donors.Using the Magic of Great Books to Make Science Sensational
Funded Nov 5, 2019Just this month, my students have begun working primarily with the nonfiction genre. In order to do this well, a vast number of enticing books at their level are required. Previously, I was able to get a decent number of books, some old and some new, some exciting and some not as much, but enough so that everyone could read on various topics and practice nonfiction decoding skills. With your donation, I am not only able to provide my students with books that are at the perfect level for them, but I am also able to give them books that are colorful, exciting and, best of all for the teacher in me, books that also address the topics we are exploring in the classroom.
This year, as we began our nonfiction unit, my students were able to read about the animals and habitat they were discussing in science class. We are currently writing reports on animals and their adaptations to the forest and studying how animals use the forest by focusing on keystone species like the beaver through the beautiful books you provided to us.
The kids reading levels are soaring beyond anything I anticipated in the fall, in part because they are reading not only for assigned times, but also for pleasure. They enjoy finding facts and "digging deeper" into the texts and they appreciate the connections they are able to make across the work we do in different domains. They are learning to synthesize at the second grade level and it's wonderful to witness.
Best of all, the books are at different levels. This allows for kids at every ability to find exciting texts to use to practice our nonfiction reader skills of looking for features like headings and captions, and building meaning through the structures the author chose. They are slowing down and finding information all over these beautiful books and I can't thank you enough for the joy you have brought to them and the successes you have made possible.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Repasi