Mrs. DeGroot's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 39

• hand2mind Math Fluency Kit

  Funded Sep 10, 2020

  Everyday I start my math time with a quick warm up activity from the hand2mind fluency kit. It only takes a few minutes, but it has been a very powerful learning opportunity for all of us. In this program, the students not only solve a math problem, but also they explain how they solved the problem. It gives them opportunity to understand their math thinking better and also teach and learn from each other. For me it's a quick assessment time to see where my students are. Talking through the students' mathematical thinking helps them learn math facts at the deeper level. Thank you for supporting my project and students' learning!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by hand2mind and 2 other donors.

• Keep Social Distance in the Classroom

  Funded Aug 11, 2020

  Thank you for supporting my project. My students can safely keep distance in the classroom because of the seat pockets and magnetic hooks that were purchased. The students keep their head phones and iPad in their seat pocket during the day so that they have an easy access to them. They hang their backpacks on the magnetic hooks that are attached to their desks to avoid them touching each other's backpacks. It has been challenging to keep everything separated in a tiny classroom, but these materials have made it possible. Thank you for your contributions to my project and helping me keep my students safe.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.

• Teachers Help Teachers!

  Funded Jul 27, 2020

  Thank you for supporting my project for a Teachers Pay Teachers gift certificate. The Teachers Pay Teachers site is filled with resources that were created by other teachers. It is a great time saver to be able to purchase quality teaching materials. My students especially love the learning game called Boom Cards. I was able to purchase many sets of game cards for my students to practice their math and spelling skills. It's such a great feeling when my students WANT to practice and learn more. Thank you for supporting my project and my students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

• Hands-on Math Manipulative for Mathematicians!

  Funded Sep 16, 2020

  It's my goal to help my students develop good number sense so that they will learn addition and subtraction facts easier. It's been a treat for me to see my students use the hands-on materials such as rekenrek and Cuisenaire rods during math time. Young learners need to see concrete representations of numbers before they can manipulate numbers. With these tools they can "touch" numbers and make a better sense of numbers. Of course my students think it's a lot more fun to work on math problems when they can use these tools in the process. Thank you for supporting my project and my students' learning!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 2 other donors.

• Guided Reading Digital Books

  Funded Aug 26, 2020

  "Can I read my books?" What a music to my ears! My students LOVE their digital book collections! They enjoy reading books that are at their level and talk about what they learn from the books. Digital readers make reading more interactive by providing word work and comprehension lessons to go along with the books. My students love to work on their iPad, so it motivates them to read more and more. Last week alone my students read 50 books independently! They are proud to click on a heart mark when they finish reading. Thank you so much for supporting my project and young little readers!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

• Scholastic News Magazines for Curious Minds

  Funded Jul 19, 2020

  My students love Scholastic News time! They are so excited to get a new issue every week. Scholastic News cover many interesting topics in science and social studies to support our curriculum. Online resource provides interesting videos and extra activities to go with each issue. My students want to take them home so that they can read it with their family. I love that they want to extend their learning at home. Thank you for your support for my project and making learning more exciting for my students and families!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

• Keep Social Distance and Keep Learning

  Funded Jul 20, 2020

  My students love "Tool Binder" time! We keep a lot of things in our tool binders; daily calendar activities, poems and songs, math games, math tools and reading resources. The students like looking through their binder. They are excited when they find out what they will learn next. This year my students are not able to share any materials in the classroom, so the 3 ring-binders have been a huge help in keeping the learning materials organized and safe. My students are learning to be responsible for their materials in their desk and container so that when it's time to learn they can easily find their materials. Thank you for supporting this project!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 3 other donors.

• Learn to Read Through Guided Reading

  Funded Mar 2, 2020

  My students were excited to receive guided reading books! These leveled books have fun characters such as Rosie and Blella (dogs) and Oscar the Cat. The students have fun reading stories and also love looking at the pictures of animal characters. To teach first graders how to read, we need leveled books such as the ones I received through this project. It makes my heart happy when my students get excited when they see the books and want to read! Thank you for supporting my project and making it possible for me to provide quality reading instructions to my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 4 other donors.

• Oh the Place We Meet and Learn!

  Funded May 28, 2020

  We were very excited to receive the carpet last week! My students walked into the classroom in the morning and just said "wow! Where did you get this carpet, Mrs. DeGroot?" They all started talking about their favorite colored buttons! It made me feel so happy to see my students excited about our new meeting place. Unfortunately we cannot all be together on the rug as of right now, but we still gather for small group instructions. Since we have to be socially distanced in the classroom, the buttons have been very useful to keep the students separated. I can't wait for the day we can all be together on the rug one day. Thank you so much for your support on this project.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 2 other donors.

• Wonderful Word Work

  Funded Aug 11, 2020

  My students are very excited to have their own set of alphabet magnetic letters! They love practicing their sight words and spelling words with them. With the COVID-19 guidelines, the students cannot share the materials in the classroom. This project made it possible for my students to still have opportunities to practice spelling in more fun and hands-on way. As you can see in the photos they get busy reading and building words. They are so proud when they learn how to spell new words. Thank you for your support in education. We love our new word work center!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. DeGroot

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.