Past projects 9
Please Help Us! We Love To Sit On The Floor!!
Funded Nov 16, 2018Thank you so much for helping this dream come true! My students were so excited when they saw our big, beautiful rug!
This alternative seating made an immediate difference in my classroom. At the beginning of the year, several of my students were being challenged by keeping their bodies quiet at the rug. There were many unintentional bumps with feet, knees and elbows that made sitting on the rug a challenge every day, not to mention uncomfortable. It's hard to make new friends when you are being squished and bumped all the time! Ever since we got our new rug, each student has their own "personal space bubble". It has really helped everyone realize how important this is to a feeling of peace in the classroom. Nobody wants to be bumped and kicked every day!!
As you can see in the pictures that I posted, our new rug is now a focal point in our classroom. Not only is it great for spreading out to do math puzzles, games or reading, but it is a blessing for sitting whole group, too. We use our rug spots as a starting place for turn and talk activities and small group discussions during science. They sit next to their science buddies and it just takes a second for them to turn and discuss their science thoughts when prompted. No more wasting time searching for a buddy to talk to!! This saves a tremendous amount of transition time, letting us spend more time on important learning.
Our rug has also had the unforeseen benefit of encouraging my students to help keep the classroom clean! If someone sees sandy foot prints on our new rug (this happens a lot!), they immediately want to go get the carpet sweeper to get it looking clean again! It has helped them to realize that it is up to them to notice their surroundings and work together to keep our school looking great.
We love our rug so much! Thank you to the donors that made this possible. It will help the learning of my current students now, and for many years to come! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
This classroom project was brought to life by Staples and 5 other donors.Active Seating for Active Minds and Bodies!
Funded Dec 13, 2017Thank you so much for helping this dream come true! This alternative seating made an immediate difference in my classroom. My students were so excited and they couldn't wait to try them out! It's difficult to see in still photographs, but these ergonomic stools are a very comfortable seating choice for young kids. It allows them a way to wiggle and move their bodies, while at the same time they are able to focus on their work and their learning. They love them!
I love watching my students wiggle and wobble, yet never stop what they are working on. Their stamina for seatwork has significantly increased, and there is much less off task behavior from sitting still too long. They are also easy to tuck away under desks when not in use, which helps to create a feeling of having more space in our ever increasingly crowded classroom.
This was my third donors choose for this alternative seating. The first set of stools made such an immediate impact on my students that I wrote 2 more grants so that all of my students would have access to a stool if they wanted one! It was difficult to see the look of disappointment in someones face when they found out that they wouldn't be getting their turn with a stool on that day. Thanks to donors like you, I now have 22 stools! You helped us reach that goal. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
Math Games To Help Us Grow!!
Funded Jun 30, 2017These math games have been an amazing addition to our classroom! My students love playing games so much that I sometimes wonder if they realize that they are learning! Every game that they play together not only helps them practice those much-needed math facts, but it also gives them daily opportunity to work together, solve conflicts in a positive way and learn to be social problem solvers. It's not always easy to work in a group, and my students are having fun while they work on these very important interpersonal skills that will help them tremendously as they grow older. They are also learning the very important skill of helping each other learn math in a kind and thoughtful way. We have been learning how to be peer teachers and not just give our friends the answers when they don't know them. If they are able to help teach their peers how to add and subtract, then I know that they understand it and they also feel very proud about what they have accomplished. Thank you so much for these fun math games. They truly have made a huge difference in the lives of my first graders! They love math time now!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and one other donor.Worms Are Awesome!!
Funded May 28, 2017Our worms have become a wonderful addition to our classroom community! My students have been working hard to take care of our new class pets, keeping them healthy and happy in their new home. After learning about recycling at the beginning of the year, we began talking about all the garbage that humans make every day and what we can do to help our planet, even though we are "only first graders". We noticed that the salad bar in the cafeteria has some veggies left in it at the end of lunch every day. What happens to them? They go in the garbage! Well, now some of those veggies go to feed our worms, staying out of the landfill and becoming wonderful fertilizer that we will be using on our classroom garden! Over the course of just a few months, we have been keeping track of how many bowls of left overs we kept out the landfill and they are seeing very quickly that even first graders can make small contributions that eventually add up to A LOT of difference in our environment. Every long journey begins with just a few small steps, and these students will remember this and keep helping our planet in the years to come. And besides, worms are really fun to learn about!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
Please Help Our Scientific Minds to Grow!!
Funded Nov 11, 2016Thank you so much for helping my students be successful learners! When they walked into the classroom and saw our big, beautiful grow light they couldn't wait to start using it! There are many times during each day where I find students gathered around the light to see how much their plants have grown. They are also asking so many well thought out and important scientific questions that they would not be asking if they weren't so engaged. Every day I get new questions for us to contemplate together! They see themselves as scientists and that is a wonderful first step in building their confidence as science learners. If it was up to them, we would "do science" all day, every day!
My English language learners are also growing very quickly in their science word knowledge. Having the actual real life objects in front of them helps in gaining vocabulary and moving it into their long-term memory.
They are also using their knowledge of how to grow plants to think outside of our classroom, about how we get food and where it comes from. Not to mention, what would happen if the environment stops us from growing food! We also use some of our vegetables that we have grown to feed a pet turtle, which also makes them very proud to be helping other creatures. They love it!
Thanks to donors like you, my students are even more motivated to learn! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
A Listening Center for Little Ears!
Funded Nov 5, 2016Our listening center is a big hit! They are so excited when it is their turn! Students can listen to favorite books while they follow along with their own copy and read along with the recording. I have several children who were raised in other cultures and our new collection of fairy tales and folktales has been wonderful in helping them to build background knowledge during our reading units.
Having books on CD has also given my students who might struggle with reading an opportunity to listen to stories being read fluently. Now they know what fluent reading should sound like and they can practice for themselves by reading along. It also gives them more exposure to literature that might be too difficult for them to read independently. Some of my most reluctant readers are beginning to love books more and more! This is also providing some with the motivation to keep practicing so that they can become better readers, and eventually be able to read these books by themselves.
While we have computer programs that read books aloud to our students, I like the idea of my students holding real books and turning the pages along with the narrator. Your donation made this possible and we are so thankful! These children have rich learning opportunities because of each of you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
Active Writing for Active Minds and Bodies!
Funded Dec 17, 2015Thank you so much for helping my students be successful learners! When they saw those brightly colored clipboards, they were so excited to use them! The clipboards give them the opportunity to choose a comfortable place to work and learn, as well as allowing greater collaboration and interaction with their classmates. We use them throughout our school day. Whenever it is worktime, they can choose to take a clipboard and find somewhere around the room where they will be able to focus on their task. They are no longer tethered to a desk!
The literacy games that you helped us get have been a very motivating way for my students to develop their reading and writing skills. Every time I introduced how to play one of the new games, they were so excited to try them! They also provide a fun way for my English learners to get together and practice speaking and learning new English words from their classmates.
The magnetic sentence builders are very popular. They have helped my students learn what it means to make a complete sentence, something that many of them struggle with. This improved skill has transferred into their ability to write for an audience! Our next step is to use this knowledge to write our own books, publishing them in the wonderful blank books that you have provided. They will be so proud to read these books to their families and friends!
Thanks to donors like you, my students are even more motivated to learn! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 4 other donors.Active Seating For Active Minds And Bodies!
Funded Dec 14, 2015Thank you so much for helping this dream come true! This alternative seating made an immediate difference in my classroom. My students were so excited and they couldn't wait to try them out! It's difficult to see in still photographs, but these ergonomic stools are a very comfortable seating choice for young kids. It allows them a way to wiggle and move their bodies, while at the same time they are able to focus on their work and their learning. They love them!
I love watching my students wiggle and wobble, yet never stop what they are working on. Their stamina for seatwork has significantly increased, and there is much less off task behavior from sitting still too long. They are also easy to tuck away under desks when not in use, which helps to create a feeling of having more space in our ever increasingly crowded classroom.
This was my second donors choose for alternative seating. The first set of stools made such an immediate impact on my students that I wrote this grant for 8 more! It was difficult to see the look of disappointment in someone's face when they found out that they wouldn't be getting their turn with a stool on that day. Thanks to donors like you, I now have 16 stools! My goal is to one day have enough so that any child who would be helped by using one will have the opportunity. You helped us get one step closer to that goal. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 5 other donors.Active Seating for Active Minds and Bodies!
Funded Nov 13, 2015Thank you so much for helping this dream come true! This alternative seating made an immediate difference in my classroom. My students were so excited and they couldn't wait to try them out! As you can see in the pictures that I posted, the red cushion floor seats really motivated my 1st graders to read, read, read! We use them every day during our "read to self" rotation. And whenever I tell them that they need to put them away and stop reading, I almost always hear a groan of disappointment because they never want to quit reading! This is music to a teacher's ears. Even my reluctant readers want to practice more if it means that they get to sit in those amazing red chairs! And the more they practice, the more fluent they become at reading. This solid foundation of reading skills will serve them well as they continue on their learning journey.
The Hokki stools have also helped in many different ways. I love watching my students wiggle and wobble, yet never stop what they are working on. Their stamina for seatwork has really increased, and there is much less off task behavior from sitting still too long. They are also easy to tuck away under desks when not in use, which helps to create a feeling of having more space in our ever increasingly crowded classroom.
Those stools made such an immediate impact on my students that I wrote another Donor's Choose grant for 8 more! It was difficult to see the look of disappointment in someone's face when they found out that they wouldn't be getting their turn with a stool on that day. We love these stools so much! My goal for the future is to have enough stools so that any child who would benefit from using one will be able to have one. And thanks to donors like you, my dream might someday come true!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Choe