Past projects 11
Diving into Real-World Nonfiction
Funded May 13, 2024Thank you so much for your kindness! Your generosity will make an enormous difference in the lives of my students. Getting students to fall in love with reading can be a challenge in this digital age and access to these high-interest magazines will go a long way to engage them with nonfiction learning. We appreciate you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
Gamify Our Reading Comprehension
Funded Jan 11, 2023Thank you so much for your generosity. The supplies arrived just in time for test prep and my students were so excited to be the first ones to get their hands on the new, fun games! I used the games as a center station during test prep rotations in reading. The students loved this center and would often ask to play the games during recess.
My class had wonderful scores on the end of year tests and I have no doubt that these resources played a huge role in helping to build their comprehension while grabbing their interest. I have since begun a new school year and my current students could not believe that we play games during reading class. Thank you again for the impact you have had on my classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
High-Interest Reading to Fast Track Growth
Funded Aug 22, 2023Thank you so much for your contribution and support, the impact has already been monumental! So far, I've used the resources with instruction on main idea and theme. These are both hard skills for students to grasp and these new, glossary passages and resources have kept them engaged!
I start every day with small group reading. Planning these groups can be tricky and finding texts that will interest my students are even harder. Your kindness has made my planning time a breeze and grabbed my student's attention. My teammates have even borrowed some of the resources to use with their students and they have enjoyed them as well. Thank you again for your thoughtfulness!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
This classroom project was brought to life by The SONIC Foundation and 6 other donors.Recovering Reading with Amazing Texts!
Funded Dec 28, 2021Thank you so much for your generosity! The items you so kindly donated to our classroom helped my students prepare for the end of year reading test. The scores are in, and my students rocked the test! I know the resources you provided for small group instruction with inferencing, text features, and a character traits improved student comprehension with these skills and helped them apply their knowledge on the test.
Leading up to the test we were able to use the glossy small group passages for practice and games during our remediation time. The students were so excited to use the resources and really worked their hardest.
We appreciate you kindness and support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
No Books? No Problem!
Funded Sep 17, 2020Thank you so much for your generosity! Through your generous donations, I have been able to get texts in my student's hands. Each month when the new issue comes in, I set up a table out in front of my school and pass out the issue to students as their parents drive by. I also shared the online log in information with my kiddos and they love all of the options available to them. Many of them will opt to log in and read during free choice time.
Since there is fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and paired texts included, I have been able to fit texts from the magazine into my lessons each week. The lessons are so much more meaningful when the students have the texts in front of them vs. just looking at my screen.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 2 other donors.Diverse Classroom Library Books in 3rd Grade
Funded Mar 2, 2020This project made a huge difference with my kids. They were SO excited when three boxes of brand new, diverse books arrived in our classroom! We reviewed how to properly care for new books and then the students paired up and spent the afternoon buddy reading the texts. They asked to do it every afternoon!
Unfortunately, only one week after receiving the books, we were sent home for the year due to Covid-19. However, these books still were able to get plenty of use. I took the books home with me and did weekly read alouds on Zoom for my students. They enjoyed the stories and the time spent as our classroom community.
Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. Your gift made it able for my students to see themselves in literature, and gave us a way to connect during the pandemic. You are appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and one other donor.Flexible Learning Goals!
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you SO much! I wish you could have seen my students' faces when they came to orientation to meet me and they got a look at our classroom. They were immediately drawn to the flexible seating balls and couldn't believe they would be able to learn on them throughout the year.
In the classroom, the balls are always the first seating choice to go and I have observed more fidgety students being able to focus better while learning on the balls. The impact you have made on my classroom will definitely be lasting.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Boys Who Dare to Be Different
Funded Jan 8, 2019Thank you so much for your generosity! The impact of these books and the group format in which we utilize them has been phenomenal. Each 2 page spread of these books introduces a new person with a brief biography and describes the impact they've had. The choices of who to include in this book are diverse and my students have learned that even people who have come from beginnings like theirs have gone on to impact the world.
Every Wednesday, the boys attend a 45 minute "Guys with Ties" group with our male principal. They read a page of the book, discuss the famous person and their impact, and then do a correlating activity. Every Wednesday, the boys run up to me first thing in the morning to make sure they will still be having group at the end of the day. In between sessions, they will often spend their free reading time learning about the different men highlighted in the book.
Our principal also uses the group time to address some issues we have in the building. For example, fighting on the basketball court during recess started becoming a recurring issue. In group, the boys read about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussed the power of handling issues peacefully. The boys then partnered up for a rock, paper, scissors competition. After winning/losing, the boys had to look each other in the eye, shake hands, and say, "Good game". It was a very simple exercise, but it had a tremendous impact on how recess issues were handled.
Thanks again, for your generosity, you have really made a difference in the lives of my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
I Am Enough!
Funded Dec 5, 2018Reading is treated as the most important thing in our classroom. Our reading time is precious and preserved even in times when the schedule changes day to day. Students have learned to look for themselves in the books they choose and are given time to reflect with their peers about lessons they've learned through what they've read.
The "I Am Enough" book club has really taken off! The girls love meeting with myself and our Assistant Principal every week to read the book and discuss issues that are important to them. Some of the lessons the students have enjoyed most involve painting "love" cookies with edible paint, writing letters to themselves, and creating "magic pencils" with their hopes and dreams for how they can impact the world. One of the students who absolutely loves coming to group each week is Bella. When asked why the group means so much to her, Bella said, "I am learning to be happy about my differences. They also taught me that I should stop worrying so much about how I look."
The group has really given the girls an opportunity to feel special and embrace what makes them unique. We have already started planning for how to enhance the group next year!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS
Hands-On Math
Funded Nov 22, 2015Words can not express how grateful we are for your contribution to our learning. My students use the resources you funded everyday during our math block. I have seen so many "aha" moments of math concepts "clicking" by using the manipulatives to represent what is happening abstractly. One of my students who was not able to add hundreds successfully, used the place value blocks everyday to visualize the process and aid in her computation. Now, she is able to add independently, without the manipulatives!
When my students first saw the manipulatives, they could not believe people would donate their hard-earned money for us, a group they had never met. I kept the package a surprise and when we finally opened it together, the excitement was overwhelming! For the first couple weeks, they would ask to stay in and use the manipulatives during recess because they were so excited to have new things, sent just for them, in our classroom. As we begin gearing up for end of year state testing, we will not abandon your generous gift. We will continue to use the manipulatives consistently to provide concrete examples of math concepts.
You rock!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. WIGGINS