Past projects 28
Join Our Book Club
Funded May 10, 2022Thank you so very much for your generous donations and for funding our classroom project. My students were so excited to see the boxes of materials when they were delivered. When we opened the boxes and I pulled out new books they cheered. I explained that these books for our book club. One student exclaimed, "I didn't even know we had a book club! Can I be in it?" I explained that we all were going to be in the book club. They cheered again!
Since then, my students have been very involved in reading. They read together. They read by themselves. They read with their families. They report back about what they are reading. We discuss the characters, the plot, social and cultural issues in the books. They analyze, compare, contrast, and answer questions; all while using prior knowledge and depth of knowledge skills and strategies.
They get so excited and have some very lively conversations. They don't even realize they are learning! And that is a wonderful reward for me as a teacher! Thank you for contributing to and supporting public education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
Back to Basics!
Funded Aug 12, 2021Thank you so very much for supporting and funding our class project! My students were so happy when I opened the boxes and pulled out the new supplies. They squealed with glee when I gave them their own new composition books, pencils, erasers, rulers, and glue, among other things. They smiled ear to ear and asked if it was just for them. You would have thought I had wrapped a big fancy gift for them. They were so excited to go through their items. I explained to them that everything was given to them through the generosity of donors who wanted them to be safe by not having to sharing with others, therefore further limiting their chances of exposure to the Covid virus.
They were able to pick colors they wanted and they can carry their supplies around with them in their new pencil pouches, filled with their own personal supplies. They are responsible for their own supplies, so they know when their eraser didn't get put back into their pouch. They are becoming more responsible for their own supplies so they aren't complaining that someone else won't share the crayons, or let them use the pencil sharpener. We also have pens, notepads, and kleenex for our class!
Thank you for helping to keep my students safe, teaching them responsibility, and supporting, not just our classroom but, public education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 8 other donors.A Fresh Start
Funded Aug 13, 2021Thank you so very much for supporting and funding our class project! My students were so happy when I gave them their own pencil pouches filled with items they wouldn't need to share; such as pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, glue sticks, rulers, and crayons, among other things. They smiled ear to ear and asked if it was just for them. You would have thought I had wrapped a big fancy gift for them. They were so excited to go through their items. I explained to them that everything was given to them through the generosity of donors who wanted them to be safe by not having to sharing with others, therefore further limiting their chances of exposure.
They were able to pick a color they wanted and they carry the pouches around with them, filled with their own personal supplies. They are responsible for their own supplies, so they know when their eraser didn't get put back into their pouch. They are becoming more responsible for their own supplies so they aren't complaining that someone else won't share the crayons, or let them use the pencil sharpener.
Thank you for helping to keep my students safe, teaching them responsibility, and supporting, not just our classroom but, public education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 6 other donors.Write Right!
Funded Jun 1, 2021Thank you so very much for funding our class project. My students were excited when I informed them they would be getting new writing journals. They asked about them on a daily basis until the boxes arrived. When I pulled them out of the box, their faces lit up with excitement. Since then, my students have been writing to fun, interesting exciting prompts. They have improved, not only the quantity of their writing, but the quality as well. They have all their writing samples in one place, instead of separate, loose sheets of paper, which end up getting wrinkled or torn from pacing books in their backpacks or folders.
My students enjoy working in their writing journals and learning how to improve their writing through the writing process. They are creating rough drafts ( or sloppy copies, as we refer to it). They are learning how to edit and proofread their writings, before completing a final draft (which I often call a neat sheet). They enjoy sharing their writings with their peers, their family, and with me, the teacher. They love that I give them written feedback in their journals on what I like, what they should fix, or what else they should add to make their writings more interesting.
Thank you again for supporting our classroom, as well as public education. Thank you for providing the funding to purchase the materials and to inspire my students to become better writers. They are having fun while doing so!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
Virtual Book Club
Funded Mar 19, 2021Thank you so very much for generously contributing to our classroom project! My students have loved reading the new books we received. With the challenges Covid has presented to our classroom learning environment, we have switched to a distance learning model. We have zoom meetings where we are able to read out loud, ask questions, discuss the stories, and provide feedback.
Every student has differing preferences in regards to genre. But I have several students who have very much enjoyed the novels we received. One parent sent me a picture of her son reading and let me know that he loved the book so much that he has read it four times. Stories like that warm my heart. Being an avid reader myself, I enjoy hearing that my students love to read as much as I do.
Reading is a great way to improve vocabulary development, increase base knowledge, create empathy, develop critical thinking and comprehension skills, understand character development, understand and identify plot, setting and character analysis.
Thank you for helping my students become better readers!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and one other donor.No More Germs!
Funded Dec 2, 2020Thank you so very much for generously donating to help fund our class project during this difficult time. With the decrease in COVID cases, schools are opening and we are returning to our classrooms. We appreciate having the supplies funded through our class project as we attempt to return safely to a classroom learning environment. The hand sanitizer and masks are used daily, by students and teacher, to prevent germs from being spread. The sanitizing cleaner helps to disinfect and prepare our classroom for a clean, safe learning environment. We all feel safer with these supplies at hand. We have all been nervous during this pandemic and even still with the return to the classroom. But the extra cleaning supplies have made things a little less worrisome. Thank you very much for helping to make this transition easier!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 7 other donors.Learning Begins at Home
Funded Dec 1, 2020My students are facing learning challenges like no other time in recent history. Our fully funded project has allowed my students to "be on the same page as their classmates"... literally, despite the fact that they are distance learning. Distance learning has been a challenge. Zooming, while being able to view everyone, has not gone as smoothly as if could. The newness wore off quickly. I needed ways to involve my students and to allow them to "show" me what they were learning. I found that too many students just sat there not engaged.
When I showed my students our new whiteboards and document camera from our fully funded project, they were very excited. They asked, "Can we write on it?"as I showed them their new laptop whiteboards. They have used their new whiteboards in many different ways. They have written responses to verbal questions. They have written questions they want answered. They have demonstrated math understanding, showing steps to solving math problems. They have drawn illustrations to demonstrate understanding.
We are doing many activities very much like we would be doing in school,... but from home. The only way this was possible was through the funding of our project which supplied our class with laptop whiteboards that were given to use at home.
My students have been much more engaged. They love when I ask them to get out their whiteboards. This project has been great for encouraging engagement and interaction. Thank you again for supporting public education and for funding our class project!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 3 other donors.Books! What a Novel Idea!
Funded Jul 30, 2018My students are facing learning challenges like no other time in recent history. Our fully funded project has allowed my students to "be on the same page as their classmates"... literally despite the fact that they are distance learning. When I showed my students our new books from our fully funded project, they were very excited. They asked, "what is that book about?" with each book I pulled out of the box. They were looking forward to diving into their new books.
They were very excited to see the book about Balto, as I explained to them that we will be doing a unit on the Iditarod and Balto was an influencing factor in the legend of the Iditarod. I have had my students read to each other through Zoom, they have taken turns reading, and they have followed along as I read. I have also assigned them reading to complete at home, and when we come back together via Zoom, they share out their thoughts, what they think may happen, and what they liked or disliked. They have also shared their written responses to questions about the story. We are doing reading activities very much like we would be doing in school,... but from home. The only way this was possible was through the funding of our project which supplied our class with additional sets of books that allowed students to take them home.
The book they all enjoyed most hands down was Sideways Stories from Wayside School. We have shared many laughs reading this book.Thank you again for supporting public education and for funding our class project!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by The Home Shows Coalition and 7 other donors.Let Me "Show" You How
Funded Sep 17, 2020Thank you so very much for funding our classroom project! My students have benefited immensely from the additional technology and tools. We have been able to do more shared lessons, as we were able to do previously "in class". I previously tried using chart paper but depending on lighting, size and color of writing, students had a difficult time viewing instructional lessons and models. With the new technology, students have been able to view the lessons and models more easily. They are excited to see the step by step on their screens as I explain. This makes the learning more effective and makes them feel more involved. They are able to share and show their work. It gives them more of a "classroom" feel while learning despite them being at home while distance learning. My students have more questions because they want to see me writing on their screen and show them documents and other resources. Thank you again for supporting public education, specifically teachers and students, during this difficult distance learning experience.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 4 other donors.Family Game Night is a Science!
Funded Mar 27, 2018Thank you for generously donating to our classroom project. My students were absolutely thrilled to open our delivery of fun family science games. They were on the edges of their seat with huge grins spread across their faces. When I told them that they were going to take the games home to play with their families, they cheered and broke out in applause. After taking the games; Suspense, Makey, Makey, Science Ninjas, and Hit the Habitat Trail home, I had many parents ask where they could purchase the games. Parents reported that their child was excited to share what they had been learning. The students returned to school so excited to learn new science skills and couldn't wait to tell their families all about it. Holding a Family Game Night has been a huge success in our class with both my students and their families. It has sparked interest in both students and parents in sharing what is happening at school. Thank you again for helping me to achieve this wonderful level of success in making families partners in their child's education! Thank you for supporting public education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gamboa
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.