Past projects 16
Books to Help Us Fall in Love with Reading
Funded Oct 21, 2021Thank you so much for donating to our classroom! The books that we have added to our library have quickly become student favorites. :)
In the pictures you can see some of them peeking out of students' seat sacks. This is where we store books to read when we're finished early with an activity. These books have even inspired my students to continue their reading by finding more books in the series on their own! One student was so excited to find the rest of her favorite series at our Scholastic Book Fair.
Other books have been saved for Read Aloud time, and we are enjoying those a lot too! The kids have been loving the adventures that they have been reading about and keep relating back to the books that we've read.
Thank you for your generosity and helping facilitate the love of reading with these new, favorite books.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and one other donor.Royalty That Looks Like Me: Multicultural Cinderella Stories
Funded May 5, 2021Thank you so much for donating to our classroom and making our Reading Unit one to remember! Our Cinderella stories around the world unit was more successful than it has ever been, thanks to your contribution.
We got so many new books in our classroom, that each day a different student was able to pick the one they wanted read aloud to the class. We focused on where in the world the story was coming from, learned a little about that country, and compared/contrasted that country's version to the others we've read so far, looking for common themes and elements and answered what must be included for it to be considered a Cinderella story.
These hard-working second graders wrapped it up by choosing their two favorite stories to write about, and did a deep analysis on their similarities and differences. Wow! They had so many wonderful ideas and this type of writing helped prepare them for 3rd grade!
Thank you again for contributing to our classroom and keeping our students first. I'm so thankful that your learner was in my classroom and I got to spend the year with them. :)”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 8 other donors.FillEveryShelf: Dyslexia and The Science of Reading
Funded Mar 16, 2021Thank you so much for supporting me as I work to become a better teacher for your student. I have loved digging into these books about Dyslexia and I just finished my first one! I have loved sitting with a cozy blanket, my rainbow highlighters, and sticky note tabs marking up the pages with all my new learning.
Since receiving these books I have already been able to start making changes to my classroom instruction. With my new knowledge of Structured Literacy, I'm able to incorporate more systematic, explicit lessons that benefit students with or without Dyslexia. Phonology, Morphology Sound-Symbol, Syllable Instruction, Syntax, and Semantics are some of the elements that I have been learning about and adding to our lessons. Even in just a few short weeks, I'm seeing more "light bulb" moments for students who have struggled with reading all year long. Their word recognition is becoming more fluent and accurate, their decoding is becoming stronger, and the phonemes we've been practicing are finally showing up as graphemes in their spelling!
As you can tell, I'm so excited about my learning and I can't wait to dig into my next book. Thank you for helping me help me make Discovery kids better readers.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.Believe in Your Shelf: Books for Today's Readers
Funded Mar 2, 2020Thank you for believing in our shelf and filling our classroom library with inclusive books! My students have loved reading them and flew through many of them cover to cover as soon as they arrived.
One of the most popular books that we got was Strictly No Elephants. We had such a great discussion about this book and talked about ways that we can be an includer. The kids brainstormed things such as letting anyone play with you at recess, not having to sit by a specific person at lunch every day, or letting their siblings join them with a game they're playing.
Thank you for supporting my students! You're helping them become better readers every day.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 3 other donors.Wireless Mice, Books, & Art Supplies
Funded Jan 24, 2020Thank you so much for contributing to our classroom and supporting our learners. We love the new supplies we got for our classroom! They have helped improve our organization, creativity, and academic success.
The most popular and celebrated items that we got were the wireless mice and pocket chart to store them in. Each student got to pick the color mouse they liked, we got all the parts labeled for them to easily identify theirs, and they are in charge of putting them in their own personal pocket when they're not using the mouse. No more tangled mice pile on the back table! A benefit that I didn't consider was that more students are now using a mouse so our speed with completing tasks with technology has now increased as well and we're more efficient with our computer time.
We were able to read many of the books that were sent as well. We particularly enjoyed the "A Little Spot of..." series that focused on social/emotional learning. We got some new tips and tricks to help calm us down when we were feeling angry, anxious, sad, etc.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to use our art supplies before our school closed. The kids clapped and cheered when they saw the jumbo pack of pastels and now I wish I had made the time to get those into their hands before we abruptly left our building. Whenever we do get back to school they will be appreciated and loved and students will make beautiful creations about their adventures while they were away from school.
When I wrote this project, I had no idea that we would push pause on our school year like this. The time away from my students has been very hard, and I want nothing more than to see their cute faces, give them big hugs, read them more stories, play more games together, and continue the growth path that we were on. Reflecting on this school year, I am so thankful that I did take the time to write this project even if all the materials didn't have time to be utilized because it did make the time we had together more special. I'm even more thankful for the people who contributed to this project because without them we wouldn't have had some of the happy memories we made as a class because of the items in this project.
Thank you for supporting teachers and students. Know that even though schools are closed, teachers are still thinking about their students from afar and can't wait until the day we get to open our classroom doors again.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Arts Supporter and 7 other donors.Getting Kids Excited to Come to School
Funded Oct 4, 2019Thank you so much for donating to our classroom! These reading and math activities have been so much fun to use!
Our reading and math hot dots have been perfect for center time. Students grab a booklet with questions about reading or math (depending on our center time). The students are able to work independently in the books to read and answer questions. They use the hot dot pen to push down on a dot, and if the answer is correct the pen will light up green. If they got it wrong it will be red and the student will try a different strategy, or reread the passage and try again.
Math facts have become so much more fun and kids are excited for independent center work.
Thank you so much for your contribution, your donation has made a big difference to my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.I See Me in our Classroom Library
Funded Sep 23, 2019Thank you SO MUCH for donating diverse books to our classroom! They have made such a difference for my students and I have loved the discussions that they have sparked. We have been introducing a book (or two!) a day during read aloud, a time where we gather on the carpet and the kids listen to a story.
These books have gotten the kids so excited because they are seeing characters that look like them or have similar characteristics that they have. Our book "I'm Mixed" has gotten so many kids talking and connecting the story to their own family life.
After we read the story aloud I add it to our classroom library for any student to borrow and re-read, and those books are always the first to go off the shelf. Kids who don't mirror the characters in the book are still drawn to these books because they're able to learn more about their classmates.
Thank you for your generosity! You have helped my students see themselves in books and made them excited to read.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
End of Year Essentials
Funded May 22, 2019Thank you so much for donating to our classroom project, End of Year Essentials. Because of your generosity we were able to end our year strong!
In our classroom we have a projector and smart board to display digital activities from my computer on. Unfortunately directly in front of the board is a bank of lights that make it really hard to see whatever is projected. The light filters made it possible to see both our papers and the projected work at the same time! It was a wonderful addition to our learning space!
The storage has helped to keep our classroom clean and organized. We have used them to store our phonics games. The phonics games also used the laminating pouches and dry erase markers, so now they are heavy-duty and able to use again and again.
We appreciate your generosity and are thankful for people like you who believe in the great things happening in public school classrooms every day.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and one other donor.Filter out the Fluorescents to Keep us Calm
Funded Jul 26, 2019Our new classroom light filters are so wonderful! I love the subtle but necessary change they have provided for our classroom.
Before our light filters it was difficult to see anything being shown on our projector screen AND our assignment at the same time. The filters dim our lights just enough that we can keep our learning going without turning on and off the lights!
I've noticed that our classroom has a more relaxed feel and we have had calmer mornings. When students transition from outside and come in to start their day at school they are getting focused more quickly and working quietly. In previous years when we arrive, morning is usually a busy time, bustling between attendance, lunch count, morning work, turning things in, etc. I love the mellow vibe that our classroom has had this year.
Thank you so much for supporting ALL students in my classroom, and making it a comfortable place for kids who are and aren't neurotypical. I've heard from the paraprofessionals working with my students that have autism that they are stemming less than they have in previous years. I know that the light filters aren't the sole cause of this, but I like to think that this change that I made with them in mind has helped decrease their stress.
Keep checking in with our classroom to see what we're working toward next!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 6 other donors.Feeling CHARGED for Technology!
Funded May 7, 2019Our technology charging cart has been an AMAZING addition to our classroom and I am so thankful for it every day.
Before our technology cart, computers sat on the back table in a tangled heap of cords trying to get charged. I attempted an affordable solution and purchased a $30 plastic drawer cart and put one netbook in each drawer. Well, we learned quickly that it wasn't up for the job and once one drawer broke, all the drawers below it crashed to the floor and we were back to square one.
At the end of the 2018-2019 school year we got our new charge cart for the last month of school, and we already were starting to see an improvement in our classroom. The cords were out of the way and the netbooks were no longer being left on the floor or tables.
At the beginning of this school year, I have color coded the technology cart so each netbook, charge cord, and storage spot all have the same color and number, so students are able to successfully manage and charge their own devices. We are a month into school and our system is still up and running. I have finally defeated the out of control, tangled cords! All thanks to you and your generosity.
Thank you for helping keep our classroom clean, providing students with a system they can be successful with, and taking one more thing off my to-do list. I've been able to spend more time preparing for learning and less time untangling cords, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 9 other donors.