Past projects 16
If You Can Dream It, There's an App for It!
Funded Apr 17, 2014My students and I are so grateful for the technology you have brought into our classroom! We are using the iPad everyday, and in every way possible. I have downloaded apps for Literacy, Math, and Science. We use mostly free apps, so we are able to try an app out and if it is not a good fit we just remove it. If it is a great app I upgrade to the pay version. This lets us find the right apps for us. I am able to find apps that reinforce specific skills in every area, and at each grade level. I have also found great science apps that will help bring science to life.
We recently received caterpillars in the mail and we are learning the process that they go through from caterpillar to butterfly. I found an app about this life cycle. We connected the iPad to our overhead projector and as a class watched the app. It provided insight into exactly what was going on in those cocoons that we have been watching, and what we can expect to see when they hatch. Later the students played with the app on their own.
The iPad has opened the door to Digital Literacy for us. We can listen to stories from several apps and I have found a great app called Story Creator. The students are using this app to write and illustrate their own stories on the iPad. They love it, and ask everyday if it is their turn to write on the iPad. One First Grade student has written a 33 page story! Another favorite is Marble Math. Students are given a math problem and they move a marble with their fingers to solve it. It gets progressively harder and harder, and they love the challenges it provides.
The kids who had never used any technology before starting school in the fall are now on an equal footing with the rest of the kids in the class. They were lost the first time they got a turn, and now they are little experts. They know how to move from screen to screen, how to get into and out of apps, and they are developing academic skills at the same time. Many times I would partner them up with a friend who had tablet experience and that student taught the other how it all works. Now they are independent and so excited that they can use this fun technology. Half the time they do not even realize they are learning. They just see it as fun.
Our schools move to a STEM program requires technology as a part of it's program. Your donation has provided an essential piece of that program. This sweet class now has daily access, and they love it!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
iPads for Kinder/Firsts
Funded Mar 13, 2013I have waited to write this "Thank You!" as I wanted to be able to honestly say what your donation has done in our classroom. I wanted to be able to tell you exactly what your generosity has done to build the skill levels of my class.
The students love it! Getting to use the IPAD is a highlight of their day. For a few of them this is the first time they have use touch screen technology. They do not have it at home, so they are getting exposure to the changing technology that they need in this digital age.
It is another tool that has allowed me to challenge every student at their specific level. I have been able to get free or low cost apps that fit every skill I have needed plus some fun science apps, like NASA and National Geographic that the students love. I have found Literacy apps that provide remediation and apps that challenge those who do not need remediation. Math apps that reinforce patterns, addition, and subtraction. I put ST Math on it and the students use it for their ST Math time. Because these activities are so engaging the students love to use them and I have seen growth. I have a student who could not count backwards, but after they played the balloon popping app a few times they got it. They are having fun on the IPAD and do not realize they are learning!
Siri has found the answers to some questions for us such as what does a hot air balloon look like. We also learned that sometimes it is easier to type in your question. When asked to find information about lantern sharks Siri found the San Jose Sharks.
I purchased the needed wires to connect the IPAD to the overhead projector and as a class we play Mystery Math, where we figure out the missing addends. We count backwards and forwards by popping the balloons in numerical order, or for fun we go to Disneyland and watch the fireworks over the castle.
For me the IPAD has provided an easier way for me to share our classroom pictures and information with our families. I use the IPAD to take pictures of what is going on and then can immediately upload them to our class page for families to see.
I cannot express enough how Grateful and Thankful I am for your amazing gift to my class. It has truly been used and loved by the students, it has reinforced and helped students master needed skills in all areas. It will continue to be a valuable and exciting part of my classroom curriculum in the years to come.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
Phonics in First
Funded Sep 21, 2012Thank you all for your generous donations to our class!
Kindergrtners and First Graders do not hide their feelings about activities well. If they like or don't like something I hear about it immediately. When I put out the phonics activities that your donations helped provide for our room, they run to them. :) They love that they can stamp a picture then fill in the letters to complete the word, they proudly show me these papers they have filled with words they figured out the missing letters too.
They will cover an entire table with blend and digraph puzzle words that they put together by sounding out words and blending the sounds. They giggle when they use the magnetic blends to create nonsense words. They are learning these basic skills and loving it. These are critical First Grade skills that they need to grow their reading abilities. I am already seeing results. I wish I could show their happy faces when they use these activities so you could see their sense of pride in themselves for what they can do. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
This classroom project was brought to life by Kia Motors America and 4 other donors.Phonics Fun For Kinder's!
Funded May 12, 2012Thank you so very much for your donations to this project. My students love these phonics poppers. They ask to play with them. You have made learning fun!
When you funded this project it was for a class of Kindergartners at the end of last year. This year I am teaching a Kindergarten/First combo class, and these materials are perfect for my First Graders now. They are building and reinforcing the beginning, middle and ending sounds in words that are the foundation of being a good reader and writer. My Kinder's, are using these poppers. These phonics sets are reinforcing and developing their letter/sound skills, and the understanding that words are a series of letters, as well as developing their understanding of beginning, middle, and end sounds. All while they think they are playing a game!
Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
Counting Kinders
Funded Feb 3, 2012You have made such a difference in our class! The students love the new math materials. The minute they arrived they insisted that I open them all up so they could use them all. They spent the next 45 minutes happily learning math, and only quit because they had P.E.
The counting boxes and linkers have made an immediate impact on their one to one counting skills. Everyone in the class is now able to one to one count objects up to 30 since we received these. The boxes are designed for counting up to 10, but the students like the counters in them so much they just keep going! I am not foolish enough to stop them from following the directions in this instance. They love to attach the linkers to the elephants and then see how long the chain is after they after added the correct number.
The students have actually surprised me with how much they like the giant tracing numbers. Some insist on starting at one and working their way to 20. Their handwriting and their ability to write the numbers has increased.
Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
A Kindergarteners Reading Nook
Funded Oct 11, 2011Every day I get out the Nook that you have provided to my class, and the students faces light up! They love to use it! Thank you so much for making this possible!
So far our favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. This e-book allows the students to interact with the story. They can tap the pictures to see and hear the word, it has fun sound effects, and it is bringing a familiar book into a new light as they are now reading it themselves. They are focused, involved, and learning! I have already purchased a new book, Splat the Cat, for this next week.
Some of our students have also been playing ABC games that I have purchased through the app store. This has given us another tool to use for reinforcing our letter identification and sound skills.
A hidden bonus to the Nook; one of my students recently broke their arm, the Nook only needs one hand! It typically takes two hands for a Kindergartner to hold a book.
Thank you again for your thoughtfulness, your generosity, and your donation. You have made a huge impact on not only this years sweet group of Kindergartners, but on future Kindergarten classes as well. :) ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Amble
This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 22 other donors.