Past projects 17
German Immersion Literature Learning Storytelling Tools
Funded Aug 22, 2016Dear Donors,
Thank you so much for considering our classroom for your donations. As a starting school it's difficult to provide students with necessary fun repetition. Students are so excited to create in the language and with the right art activities we can play and learn.
These supplies will be contributed to the Summit Academy German Immersion program. Students are excited to learn about fairy tales and create in the language. So much of learning at the second grade level is finding ways to make meaningful repetition into a game. With these puppets students can create a familiar story and act it out in German. Art helps students use more of their brain when they are learning and retain more of what they learn. We will be using these puppets to teach adjectives and vocabulary in German as well as talk about reading and literary skills in a story.
We appreciate all the support in creating a positive learning environment.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and one other donor.German Immersion Classroom Organization Language Learning
Funded May 10, 2016A Place for Everything and Everything in it's Place.
One of the biggest challenges of a dual immersion program is moving from English to German. Supplies get lost and sharing desks is hard for some students. These materials have helped our students eliminate confusion about supplies. Students can grab their tray and transition from one classroom to the other. Our students love having a place for their things and lose their workbooks and math books and supplies less.
Students also love being able to come to organization centers and find math manipulatives when they are working with partners. Everyone knows where things go and they can easily transition from one activity to the next. Some of the bins are full of Maps in German so when we learn about globes and maps we can teach that in German.
We are a beginning program and as a teacher I'm so grateful for the outpouring of support for our students and school. Getting everything organized is a great challenge for teachers and we couldn't do it without the support of our community.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
Empowering Students Through Art German Immersion
Funded May 10, 2016We have a student that loves drawing more than anything. Sometimes in class he doesn't really want to participate unless we are creating our own story in German. So many times just lettings students create something teaches them more. We use Art projects to empower students to move language around and get to know the words. We use art to make stories and students listen to a story, then write down what they remember. The little notebooks have their German learning and alternate endings to stories. Letter punches help solidify letter sounds and are used to create book titles.
The puppets let students act out a story that they created. The entire grade came to see them perform their story in German, even the non German speaking students. Our little artist asked what he could do to earn a notebook. We plan to let the students create their own puzzle and improve their art skills as well as have something to take home to their parents. We still have markers and colored pencils now for the entire class. Setting up a new classroom can be so time consuming and generous donations have make a huge difference for our students. Our new German Immersion program is truly blessed and students have learned so much with art.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 2 other donors.Mindfulness and Yoga German Health Improvement
Funded May 10, 2016I can't describe how thrilled I am that this project was funded. Students learn about their bodies in German. They practice mindfulness. I've seen students that used to have a problem with hitting use the skills we practice to breathe in and out and calm themselves down. When I saw a student that wanted to hit another child take a step back and close their eyes exactly like we had practiced I was thrilled. Giving a student the power to gain control of their feelings and body during elementary school is a tool they will use their entire lives.
We sometimes use Yoga as a reward and students follow directions in German. They are better at commands because they have followed them. They know the vocabulary for their body more because they moved their arms when they heard that direction. Students can learn to stay in their space and respect boundaries.
Thank you so much for helping us with this classroom donors choose. It truly has helped our students and they are so happy.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
German Immersion Second Grade Math STEM DLI Technology Tools
Funded Mar 16, 2016I am so grateful for the donations for this project.
We have a student that always makes noise and tries really hard to stay on task but is now able to accomplish classroom tasks and not disrupt others. We also have some children who haven't learned how to use the dry erase markers yet without breaking them. The crayons really help them have success during calendar time without worrying about breaking a marker. I'm proud of the students for learning time in German and English. We practice as a class and each student shows the time they have on their clock. We also need a lot of variety so the dice and bingo and playing cards allow us to give students necessary repetition and make math seem like a fun game. Students love all the different ways we can go over addition and subtraction activities. As soon as students saw the clocks they were so happy to have their own classroom set and wanted to play a "game" where they all show the times they hear and write the times on their white boards.
Our new class is quickly getting organized with the materials we need to help both special education learners and give them the confidence they need to succeed in learning with accommodations for their needs.
Every time parents help or donate it makes a difference for our varied learners and we are so grateful for our supporters. We plan to start a new project for classroom furniture such as a bookshelf and would love help with that. Our goal is to exceed expectations for language proficiency and teach students to their greatest ability in Mathematics and language.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 7 other donors.German Grammar and Language lLearning DLI
Funded Mar 9, 2016Thank you so much for your donations to the German Immersion second grade. The students were thrilled with the couch and they all wanted to sit on it. We unwrapped it and set up a listening corner.
They helped set out the white boards for everyone to use with the Math review. Students are very engaged for class wide activities with the white boards and we can move around the classroom and quickly determine which students understand key concepts. The individual erasers helped them all participate quickly.
Our English classroom immediately asked to use the subtraction regrouping kits for math centers the same say we received them. Being able to move tokens helps students with the concept of a number. This will be key for learners in both classes.
We are so grateful for your contribution to the German class. The magnet letters were used for making German words and practicing verb endings. Students were thrilled with their individual things and found a place in the classroom.
Our next project focuses on telling time and being able to participate in math around the classroom. After that we plan to start a project for a smart board which would allow us to show something from a computer and have interactive work students can see. Since this is our first year as a second grade we are just starting to set up activities which provide enough repetition for students. With these boards and letters students think they are playing a game as they learn key subtraction, addition and advanced math concepts. We are lucky to have such support from the community.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen
German Mathematics STEM Materials
Funded Dec 31, 2015Your donations to our classroom have made a huge impact for all the students in their ability to learn Mathematics. When we have instruction students have to learn the difference between ones and tens places which can be difficult for young students. The large letter set has helped students be able to see the numbers. They are able to take a number away and show that one of the tens goes to the ones place with an actual number. Being able to physically move the numbers really helped them figure out what to do. Some of them had trouble and would forget that you had to take one from the tens spot if you need to borrow. They are able to come to the board and show the entire class their work with these numbers.
Students are also really doing well during tests with the small houses. If they ever need a way to make sure they aren't distracted they can use a little privacy partition to help them not be distracted.
We have used the small cash register to help students learn how to add and subtract using money and we have been using it for chapter 8 of second grade math which teaches students how to use money. One of the proficiency goals for language learning this year is to learn how to make a purchase and go shopping, as well as planning a recipe. Students were able to use the register for a store starting this week and they will continue to use it to perfect their language skills.
The donors who helped support this project have made a huge different in students ability to retain mathematics knowledge and understand place value, as well as their ability to quietly work and increase their language proficiency. We are so grateful for supporters of German language learning and our students.
Frau Madsen”
With gratitude,
Ms. Madsen