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Mrs. Messina's Classroom

  • Ardenwald Elementary School
  • Milwaukie, OR
  • More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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Past projects 25

  • Games That Make a Splash!

    Funded May 7, 2024

    A million plus infinity thank-yous for choosing to support my project to bring Splash! games to my students. Having a high-interest activity that spans literacy skills from letter naming to sight words is such a gift! And add in (pun intended) the Splash! games that will help with addition and subtraction fluency and we're off to a terrific start in first grade!

    Teaching is a profession that is notoriously underfunded. Thank you for helping me to bridge the gap and to bring much-needed supplies into my classroom!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.

  • You Can Count on Me: Math Manipulatives

    Funded Nov 29, 2023

    Thank you for providing my scholars with awesome math manipulatives. The fact family triangles are great visuals to help scholars learn the relationship between addition and subtraction (which is one of the most complicated standards for first graders!) And the linking cubes are great visuals, too! Scholars who are struggling with addition and subtraction are using the cubes with great success.

    I'm always blown away by the generosity of the Donors Choose community. Thanks again for choosing to support my project.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.

  • Have Whiteboard, Will Travel

    Funded Sep 26, 2023

    Just ask my students how much I love, love, love my portable magnetic whiteboard! Secret Students are revealed on the board, tens frames are filled in, and math problems are solved. We analyze high frequency words, look for spelling patterns, and sometimes play Grow Flower. Having access to such a useful tool has made teaching easier and learning a lot more entertaining. Thank you for your generosity! I'll be using this whiteboard for years to come, and I'll think of the Donors Choose community that made it possible.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

  • Let's Learn to Read the Orton Gillingham Way!

    Funded May 9, 2023

    I am excited to use the materials that I received from this project during our literacy times. The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a multisensory and structured way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to students. The supplies that I was able to purchase through the funding of this project will be used to help my students have success using the OG approach. The supplies arrived at the end of the year, and my second graders gave them a test run. This year, I'm excited to start the year off with my first graders having these tools in hand! Thank you for your generosity and for being a member of the Donors Choose community.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

    This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 5 other donors.

  • Aspiring Authors Abound!

    Funded Nov 29, 2022

    My aspiring-turned-published authors were over-the-moon when they finished their books! We published books about the Portland Trailblazers, axolotls, baby sisters, Pac-man, Sonic the Hedgehog, turtles, and more! My authors shared their stories with their fellow authors and decided on awards for every book! They were thrilled to design their book covers, choose their duct tape binding, and use the stickers to bestow awards. Your generous donations helped my second graders bring their ideas to life. Thank you!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

    This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 5 other donors.

  • Art Supplies for Creative Minds

    Funded May 3, 2022

    One of the biggest obstacles to incorporating art into our second grade curriculum is a lack of supplies. Thanks to your generosity, this isn't an obstacle in our classroom. We've used our Donors Choose supplies to make spooky houses and colorful chameleons. We've got upcoming projects including a torn paper winter wonderland and our second set of self-portraits for the year. It's such an incredible feeling to be able to plan and carry out amazing art projects throughout the year. Thank you for your generosity and for being a part of the Donors Choose community.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

    This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 3 other donors.

  • Keep Calm and Do Math

    Funded Mar 26, 2022

    When some adults hear the word "math," they experience a sense of anxiety. The same can be said for children. Teaching my students the how and why of math can be challenging, and the materials that you provided when you contributed to my project help to make math more accessible for all of my students. Place values and regrouping (carrying and borrowing in old-school vernacular) are making sense to more and more of my students because I have the supplies for them to explore the hows and whys of math. Thank you for being a part of the Donors Choose community!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

  • Reading Can Be Puzzling

    Funded Mar 24, 2022

    There was a classroom full of excited second graders who were more than happy to help unbox and solve the puzzles that you so generously funded for this project. They were a perfect way to help my students jump back into literacy after a summer of fun. My students use the puzzles during their independent literacy work time, and they are definitely a high-interest and high-impact activity. Thanks again for being a part of the Donors Choose community. Classrooms across the nation are better because of you!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

  • Wiggle It, Just a Little Bit!

    Funded Oct 21, 2021

    My first graders were thrilled when they saw our class set of wiggle cushions! After a mini-lesson on how to use and care for the cushions, I passed them out and WOW! What a difference! There's a lot less of students rocking chair legs off the floor and falling over (and yes, this was a real thing!) and a lot more of students wiggling just a little bit, staying safely in their seats.

    Your thoughtfulness and generosity is much appreciated! Thanks for being a part of the Donors Choose community and choosing to support my project!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

  • Pockets + Boxes = Organized Chaos in 1st Grade

    Funded Aug 25, 2021

    Chaos has definitely been managed in our first grade classroom! The seat pockets were exactly what we needed! Crayons, folders, handwriting books--all have a place to call home. Our table tops are less cluttered and students have ample workspace (and fewer distractions!) Students are learning great organizational skills, too, by keeping the contents of their seat pockets neat and orderly.

    Thank you for choosing to be a part of the Donors Choose community and thank you for supporting my class. Together we'll do great things!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Messina

This is where having iPads in my classroom comes into play. Many of my students do not come from homes where nighttime rituals include bedtime stories. This lack of exposure to fluent reading hampers literacy growth in more ways than you'd imagine. Would you believe that... A student who reads 20 minutes/day will hear 1,800,000 words per year WHEREAS a student who reads 5 minutes/day will hear only 282,000 words? Without exposure to vocabulary, decoding and reading fluency becomes a more daunting task. Students spend most (if not all) of their energy attempting to "sound out words" and subsequently aren't able to dive deeper into their reading. Identifying characters and their traits, analyzing cause and effect, locating main ideas and supporting details--these are skills that are best practiced when you hear a fluent reading of a text. I am extremely proud of my classroom library. My students have access to tubs of books grouped by reading levels, by interest, by author, and by genre. But I would also like my students to have access to iPads that are loaded with reading apps! When I had iPads in my classroom last year, I found that after listening to a story on an iPad, students would ask for help locating the story (or a similar story) in my classroom library! Students would talk about their reading, making book recommendations to each other. Some students became "experts" on topics like frogs or volcanoes. And all of this happened in 1st grade! Having continued access to iPads in the classroom will encourage my now 2nd-graders to continue on their reading journeys. Thank you!

About my class

This is where having iPads in my classroom comes into play. Many of my students do not come from homes where nighttime rituals include bedtime stories. This lack of exposure to fluent reading hampers literacy growth in more ways than you'd imagine. Would you believe that... A student who reads 20 minutes/day will hear 1,800,000 words per year WHEREAS a student who reads 5 minutes/day will hear only 282,000 words? Without exposure to vocabulary, decoding and reading fluency becomes a more daunting task. Students spend most (if not all) of their energy attempting to "sound out words" and subsequently aren't able to dive deeper into their reading. Identifying characters and their traits, analyzing cause and effect, locating main ideas and supporting details--these are skills that are best practiced when you hear a fluent reading of a text. I am extremely proud of my classroom library. My students have access to tubs of books grouped by reading levels, by interest, by author, and by genre. But I would also like my students to have access to iPads that are loaded with reading apps! When I had iPads in my classroom last year, I found that after listening to a story on an iPad, students would ask for help locating the story (or a similar story) in my classroom library! Students would talk about their reading, making book recommendations to each other. Some students became "experts" on topics like frogs or volcanoes. And all of this happened in 1st grade! Having continued access to iPads in the classroom will encourage my now 2nd-graders to continue on their reading journeys. Thank you!

About my class

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