Past projects 7
Working Together Leads To Success
Funded May 8, 2024My students love any type of cooperative games, so when they saw the walking boards they were so excited to try them out. It took them a lot of practice and they had to learn how to communicate with each other to get the boards to move across the playground. It was so much fun to see them learn to work with each other as a team of four to be successful and reach their destination which was to make it to the other side of the yard. Each team was successful and they were so proud when they reached their goal.
Since I only have a couple of sets of this board, I use them as a station so that every rotation a new group will be able to try them out. Once the students have had a chance to learn how to work together, the next challenge is a race with another team to see which team gets to the other side first. All my students love a challenge and competition, but it is always a friendly one.
Thank you so much for your kind donation, I am so grateful to all of you because my students deserve to experience fun games and all of you make it possible. My students also appreciate your kindness and dedication to making our PE classes exciting and fun.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by A Northern California Family and 3 other donors.Students Gliding Into The Future Through Games
Funded Dec 28, 2023My students love these scooters. We played a tag game where 3 students were the taggers and the rest of the class had to get across the yard on scooters before they got tagged. Some students were on scooters, while others waited their turn. They had so much fun, and they were commenting on how much work it was to move these smooth scooters, they need to use their legs. They all got a good leg workout.
The scooters helped my students that are sometimes afraid to participate, actually give it a try, they had fun and it helped with their confidence. They really enjoyed riding the scooters and trying to tag other students.
When they first saw the scooters, they were so excited. The old scooters we have, the wheels are much smaller, and they are pretty worn out, so they don't roll too smoothly. They were thrilled and couldn't wait to try them out. Now that they have tried them out, we will work on using them for mini hockey games and partner work. They can't wait to use them again. Thank you again for your generosity, we appreciate your kindness.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
Music And Rhythm Equals a Happy Place for Children
Funded Nov 24, 2023My students love music and love to dance. Once I received the ribbons and rhythm sticks, they were so excited. They wanted to use the ribbons first, so I put some music on and had them just experiment with them and see how creative they could be. I loved watching them just run or skip with the ribbons and see their smiling faces. I was very happy to see how all my students expressed themselves with the ribbons.
I also feel that all children should know what rhythm is and how to make rhythm with these sticks. Once we took out the rhythm sticks, I put on this special dance that uses rhythm sticks. I taught them how to use the rhythm sticks to the music and they did a good job. It was amazing to see how excited they were to be able to make rhythm and do it correctly. We will continue to work on all different types of rhythm and experiment with the rhythm sticks.
Thank you so much for your generosity, my students and myself are very lucky to have people that care about the future of the younger generation. Thank you for all you do, we all really appreciate you.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
Stepping Stones Lead to Success
Funded Nov 24, 2023My students were so excited when I set up the stepping stones. I was working on a balance unit so these stepping stones were the perfect addition to the balance beam I was using to help my students work on and develop their balance skills.
All my classes from TK to 5th grade were able to use the stepping stones and they were very excited. Some of my older students tried different ways to cross the stones and even skipped stones just for a challenge. I had a few students afraid of them but with some extra encouragement and a little help, they overcame their fear and were able to cross the stepping stones solo. Once the fear was gone, they didn't want class to end.
I also have Special Day Students in some of my classes and the colorful stepping stones and different heights attracted their attention and they were engaged the entire time. It was really nice to see my students having fun but at the same time learning about balance and being able to overcome fear. Thank you for your kind gift, it is really appreciated.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
A Printed Example Is Worth A Thousand Words
Funded Aug 2, 2023Many of you have a printer at home to use for printing important documents or for other items that you may have bought online. For us as teachers, a printer is a lifeline to our special needs students and to our language learners.
When I teach my students a skill in physical education, I love to physically model the skill to my students so they understand how to do the skill, but I also like to use a visual on a cone so that the skill can be read and seen by my students that need a little extra help. This is helping my younger students read the words and the picture is helping them understand the skill better.
What I love about having a color printer is that I can design what I want to use as part of my lesson and then I can print it up on card stock paper. Once I have a printed a copy, I can use the laminator at school to laminate the copy and then I can use this for many years to come. I do this for many of my games and my students love to be able to read the words and do all the activities on their own. It's amazing, thank you again for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Learn to Eat Right to Keep Your Muscles Tight
Funded Sep 20, 2022We have recently started a unit on nutrition. My students from 1st grade to 5th grade are learning about the five food groups and what foods belong to what group. These new resources are making learning fun for my students and they are having fun separating the foods and trying to figure out the proper placement of the foods. Some of my students are very aware of the food groups, but I still have some students that struggle with the concept. These new resources are helping these students.
My students were very excited when they saw the materials and were ready to play and learn. The colorful and laminated foods were perfect because so many students will be using them. They will last a very long time. The bean bags with a picture of the food and the color of the bean bag being the food group color will also help reinforce which foods belong to which food group for my students. And bean bags are something to play with too, so my students loved that.
My next steps will be for my students to learn how to create a proper breakfast, lunch, and dinner using a good variety of foods that are healthy for them. Thank you so much for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.Parachute At Play Keeps The Wiggles Away!!
Funded Feb 20, 2022My students and I want to thank you for the kindness of your gift. This parachute has been used by all my students from TK to 5th grade. It is very popular and all my students ask me when we will be playing again.
I love to bring out the parachute as often as I can. My students eyes lit up when they saw the parachute for the first time. Every class cheered and couldn't wait to play all our games. We discussed team work while we use the parachute and my students understood that to play all the games, everyone had to work together.
Some of the activities we did with the parachute were things like walking on a cloud where students take turns by color walking on top of the parachute while others shake it. The younger ones love this one! Then they got to climb a mountain with the parachute by making a big dome. And the most favorite is to make a big dome and go inside. They also love the popcorn game where balls are bouncing on top of the parachute while they are shaking it. There are so many games to play where my students will be working on cooperating with each other.
We will be exploring more games with this parachute. My students are learning that if they work together, the parachute works and the games are fun to play. Thank you again for all you do to support our students. It is deeply appreciated.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.