Past projects 16
Active Seating for Active Learners
Funded Apr 7, 2022Thank you for your donation to this project! The flexible seats were put to immediate use - they arrived Tuesday evening and by Wednesday afternoon, almost all of the chairs and dots were being used by the students.
The students were excited to see that our options and resources had grown and they were thankful that we had more to share. While the students have been very polite about sharing the resources that we did have this year, we have not had enough to be used by all. Your donation helped us increase our options. I have noticed that these flexible seats are used by students when they realize they need a different environment to focus on their work, when they have a bit more energy and need a way to channel it, and sometimes the seats are used because the students need a different spot for collaboration. The seats have allowed the students to take a bit more ownership of their education and to become more aware of their own needs and how to regulate those needs.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 5 other donors.Math Together for Everyone
Funded Jan 7, 2022Thank you for your donations to this project! The students were incredibly excited to receive the supplies. We immediately put the math games into our math blended learning rotations and Friday math enrichment rotation.
When we received the packages, the students were both excited and thankful that people form outside of our school were invested in their education. The students asked why people would do that or who the people were and I explained that they were people who understood the importance of investing in education. They were thankful and excited to start using the math manipulatives, so I had to quickly get the supplies printed off and into rotation for our blended learning stations!
We are using the cardstock and math manipulatives daily. We are practicing our multiplication fact families, working on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, and even classifying polygons based upon attributes. We recently used the time rulers to reinforce elapsed time, and when I went to put them away, students asked if they could keep them in their desks to help them throughout the remaining lessons. Those manipulatives were incredibly helpful!
During our spring Open House, we had some of the math enrichment games and manipulatives out so that the students could show their adults what they have been doing during math blended learning. It was a joy to watch the students teach their adults how to add and subtract fractions by using manipulatives, multiply decimals through our enrichment activities, and even multiply fractions. The supplies that you provided have helped the students gain confidence in math and have helped them grow in their willingness to interact with math. I greatly appreciate your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 3 other donors.Collaboration Supplies for Active Learners
Funded Aug 13, 2021Thank you for your generous donations to our Collaboration Supplies for Active Learners project! When the boxes for our project arrived at the start of the school year, the students were excited to see what had arrived. They were grateful to know that there were individuals who cared about their education and who wanted to invest in their learning experience.
The chart paper has allowed the students in our classroom to work together on murals about what they want our classroom environment to look and feel like this academic year. Students have also created items related to math which directly support our understanding of decimals, multiplication and division. In the coming weeks, students will create similar items for literature groups.
The sheet protectors, whiteboard markers, and cardstock have allowed us to work on developing math fluency stations in which students collaboratively work within groups to practice math facts and grade level math. Students work on math games, multiplication skip counting, fluency, and other items. Students have grown both in their math and language skills. Their use of mathematical language, respectful discussions, and critical thinking continue to grow weekly and I contribute a large part of this growth to our use of the collaborative group work that the students are participating in daily.
Once again, thank you for your generous support. Your donation directly impacted the students of our classroom and have helped to make this school year a great learning experience!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 4 other donors.Active Seating for Active learners
Funded Jul 23, 2021Thank you for your generous donations to our Active Seating for Active Learnings project! When the boxes for our active seating arrived at the start of the school year, the students were excited to see what had arrived. They had an idea of what Active seating was because we had talked about what our flexible seats would be and how they would work within our classroom, but they were excited to see the actual items when they came out of the boxes.
The chair bands have helped to support students as they sit at their desks and in small groups. Students often use the bands throughout the day. Sometimes students will swap their chairs out and not use the bands for a day or two and other students will specifically request a chair with a band because they have found the bands help them stay focused on their work.
The disks have become an item that students often request. Just like the chair bands, students have figured out what works for them. Some students now request the "wiggle spots" during the day and will go pick one up when they feel the need and then return the item when it is no longer needed. They have grown to understand that our flexible seats are tools that we use to help us focus when learning and that we share our tools with our classmates so that all students can benefit from these resources.
Once again, thank you for your generous support. Your donation has directly impacted the students of our classroom and has helped to make this school year a great learning experience!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
This classroom project was brought to life by T-Mobile.Hearing You Through the Distance
Funded Aug 5, 2020I wanted to thank you for the generous donation of the earbuds with microphones that my fifth-grade students are using at home during this time of distance learning. When the students first picked the materials up right before our school year began, they were so thankful to have them! Parents and guardians shared with me that they were having a difficult time finding earbuds as many local stores were sold out. As our semester has progressed, I have seen that the earbuds and microphones have helped our students with our daily class meetings, and they have encouraged the students to participate in our daily, online classes. The earbuds help decrease outside distractions and the microphones help to minimize the other noises that we hear when students are speaking.
Many students in our class have multiple students living within the same household and this means many students are in online school at the same time. Students have shared that the earbuds help them focus on our class because they do not hear the noise that comes from their sibling's computers and thus they can concentrate more on the instruction from our own class. They have also shared that they feel comfortable speaking in class because the microphones help cut out random background noises that often get picked up on the regular computer microphone. With fifth grade students, this comfort level is very important.
I shared with the students that outside donors funded the earbuds and they were unsure of what that meant. I took time to explain how someone outside of our own school community read about our class and thought it was important that we have a successful year with our current at home distance learning. Upon hearing about this, the students became incredibly excited and appreciative. They shared that they were thankful that someone would take the time to learn about our classroom and to fund a project. We take time in class each week to talk about empathy, gratitude, and expressing thankfulness, and the students shared that they were thankful that there are people who would help others without even knowing them. While I knew the earbuds would help the students with their distance learning, I had not realized that they would also impact the social-emotional learning. I am very appreciative of this and thank you for your contribution to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
Resources for Home
Funded Aug 2, 2020I wanted to thank you for your generous donations of distance learning resources. The supplies that were donated to our classroom immediately made their way into the hands of my 5th grade students by way of a pick-up day. They were so excited! I shared with every student and family that they were receiving a binder filled with materials to help them through this semester and that the materials within the binder were donated by individuals who were invested in our students' education. At first, the students were unsure of what that meant. They thought it was the school who had given them the supplies but as I explained no, it was individuals from outside our own school community, they became excited to know that other people, people who THEY personally do not know, care about their education and care about them.
The donated materials have helped the students write on student constructed whiteboards (cardstock inside of the sheet protectors), the pencil pouches have helped hold the glue sticks that we use in science and when gluing in notes and materials within our notebooks, and the highlighters have come in very handy when shading in our math models. We use the materials daily and I have been able to have a second material pick up day in order to support the students through the second half of this semester.
As a class, we take time each week to talk about empathy, gratitude, and expressing thankfulness. Within the past month, the students took time to share that they are thankful for the people who donated to our classroom. They reflected on the fact that you spent your money on students, on kids, that you do not even know. They shared that they were thankful that you took the time to learn about our class and to help them have a successful start to the school year. I know that your donation not only helped bring school into my students own homes, but your donation also helped my students grow socially and emotionally. I am very appreciative of this and thank you for your contribution to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Given
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and one other donor.