Past projects 7
Fixin’ to Explore Volume with Omnifix Cubes!
Funded Jan 22, 2022Thank you so much for generously funding my project "Fixin' to Explore Volume with Omnifix Cubes!" These 6-sided, snap-together cubes, will allow my students to explore volume and surface area in a concrete way. While the Omnifix cubes arrived too late for this year's students, they will be very beneficial to my future classes, as our very first unit of the year is volume. Volume is a brand new concept for fifth graders. In previous grades students explore 2-dimensional area and perimeter, which lays the groundwork for volume. Whenever we teach new skills in math, it is best to start out with concrete objects, such as the Omnifix cubes, before progressing to pictorial representations, and finally abstract thinking, such as using algorithms. I am excited for my students to be able to use this new manipulative in math at the start of next year.
I am so grateful for your generosity and support of my class.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
Safe Eyes for Super Scientists!
Funded Aug 27, 2021Thank you so much for funding my project "Safe Eyes for Super Scientists"! Your donations funded enough safety goggles, in a variety of sizes and colors, to protect all of my students' eyes during science investigations involving chemicals such as vinegar and calcium chloride. One of our favorite investigations was from our Changes in Matter unit, where students tested different mystery substances to see if there was evidence of a chemical change.
When I first showed the safety goggles to my students, they oohed and aahed over them. They got to choose the color they wanted and the size that fit their face the best. And when they all put them on, they all laughed to see their friends' faces with the goggles on. One student comment that they felt like we were going snorkeling!
We are currently learning about ecosystems, and hope to break out the safety goggles again soon! Thank you again for your generosity and support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
Socially Distant Storage Solutions
Funded Sep 17, 2020Thank you so much for generously funding my project of "socially-distanced storage solutions". Due to COVID-19, my students needed to remain more than 6 feet a part in our classroom. This meant that much of my usual classrom furnishings, including bookshelves, had to be put in storage in order to safely accommodate all of my students in my limited space. Having the chair back-packs allowed students to store their textbooks, in their seat backs while using their desk to store their other materials.
The Turn-In-Your-Work organizer, enabled me to have students turn in their work safely
and to be properly handled in order to avoid inadvertantly spreading the virus.
I can't thank you enough for making my job easier and the lives of my students safer during this unprecedent year.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 12 other donors.Learning Through Music!
Funded Oct 8, 2020Thank you so much for your generous donations that helped to fund a digital subscription to Flocabulary for my students, who were remote learners this year. Creating engaging, often asynchronous, lessons that could capture my students' attention and excite them about the concepts we were learning was made easier with Flocabulary.
Flocabulary is an online library of educational videos and learning activities that are presented through rap and hip-hop songs. My students loved listening to the songs and watching the videos that helped to reinforce a variety of topics we covered across all subject areas this year. Video topics ranged from character, point of view, and theme in reading to multiplication, fractions, and decimals in math, as well as photosynthesis, the water cycle, and states of matter in science.
Flocabulary was an invaluable asset in my lessons this year. I can't thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
Students' Spelling Soars with Spelling City
Funded Sep 16, 2020Thank you for funding a grade-level subscription to VocabularySpellingCity. Your generous donation helped provide online spelling instruction and practice for approximately 140 fifth grade students in my school. During this school year, my students have been fully remote, so having a digital platform for my students to learn and practice spelling was crucial.
My students really enjoyed the spelling games. They had fun while learning their weekly spelling words. A few of my students especially enjoyed the Speedy Speller game, and would challenge each other to see who could spell their words the fastest! Who knew learning spelling could be so much fun?
Thank you again for helping make remote learning possible for my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 6 other donors.Remote Reading Rocks With StoryWorks!
Funded Aug 25, 2020I am a fifth grade teacher in Massachusetts. My students' parents opted to have their children learn in a fully remote setting, even though the school district has a hybrid model. Being able to use StoryWorks Magazine with my students in this remote environment has been a life saver. The StoryWorks selections are high interest, educational, and well-written. My students especially enjoy the behind-the-scenes videos, which build background knowledge, and the video slideshows, which help cement the word meanings by including pictures along with the written definitions. As a teacher, I find the upgrades that Scholastic has made this year, with remote teaching and learning in mind, to be extremely helpful. They have created Google slidedecks that makes it easy to assign the stories and activities to my students. StoryWorks also allows for differentiated instruction with audio recordings of the texts as well as different text readability levels. We have used the reading selections to teach character development, as well as text structure, and text features. Once again, thank you so much for genrously funding a digital subscription to StoryWorks Classroom Magazine for my students for this school year.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel
Math Games
Funded Dec 26, 2018Thank you so much for your generosity and support of my students' learning. My students were so thankful to receive new math games to play during guided math as well as indoor recess. I honestly don't think they realize all the math skills they are honing while they're having so much fun!
What does math look like in my classroom? After I teach a whole-class mini lesson, my students work independently, in small groups, or with me. They have a menu of activities they must complete by the end of the week, and they can decide the order in which they complete them. Math games are always on the menu. We've established and practiced rules for what game play looks and sounds like (quiet, respectful language, responsible care of materials) in the classroom. If you walked into my room, you would likely see some of my students sitting on the rug playing a math game in a partnership or group of four. You'd hear students engaged in math discourse as they strategize their next move. You'd be amazed at the respectful and encouraging conversations taking place that are centered around math.
One of the favorite new games is 4-Way Countdown. It's like the old-fashioned game Shut the Box, but is played with four players. Students roll dice using a popper, and they have to use any math operation to close all their numbers 1-10. The first person to close all 10 numbers wins. This is great for number sense. I have one group of boys who always ask to play this game. My girls tend to gravitate towards Mastermind and Mancala. These two games are very popular, and they really help students with strategic thinking.
My students and I are very grateful for the donations we've received. I can't thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Faigel