Past projects 185
Spring into Spring with Butterflies
Funded Apr 16, 2018Thank you for your generous gift of butterfly habitats and Painted Lady butterfly larvae to our Pre-K classroom.
Raising these butterfly larvae will allow my Pre-K students to observe these animals as they transform from larvae to the chrysalis, and emerge as BUTTERFLIES! How exciting is that?
My students will learn the importance of butterflies to plant pollination and we will talk about how this is critical to a healthy environment. This will be perfect for our unit of study on young animals and how they grow.
The excitement will be palpable in the room as we raise our butterflies. We are so looking forward to Spring and to raising our butterflies. These butterfly larvae will help my students review our Spring unit on young animals and how they grow, and will get my students excited about Science.
Thank you so much for being a partner in our kids' growth and success.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Grade 3 is Going Wild for Wolves!
Funded Oct 3, 2017You have done it again!! You have sent another Third Grade group of ours students to complete their study of wolves with a spectacular visit to SEE the Ambassador Wolves.
Thanks so your thoughtful generosity our entire Third Grade had the opportunity to observe the wolves and notice the behaviors and interactions among the members of the Ambassador Wolf Pack at the Wolf Center. Typically my Bronx students have very few opportunities to get out of the city for field trips. But you made the Wolf Trip happen.
The kids were so excited they were so proud of themselves and how much they have learned. You help plant the seeds of their excitement about learning about wolves. They love learning about the wolves and the teachers love teaching about them. This means our kids have practiced research and writing skills * with commitment and focus * that they will carry with them into their futures.
You not only made it possible for our kids to HOWL with the wolves - and there was LOTS of howling - you have ignited their love of learning and you have helped make their learning come to life.
Thank you for being such an awesome partner in our students' lifelong love of learning.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Spring into Spring with Butterflies!
Funded Apr 2, 2017Thank you so much for your awesome gift of butterflies to our classroom. Your generosity has put 10 butterfly larvae into each of our grades - K through 5. This has caused QUITE the stir of excitement around learning about life cycles, life stages and the important work that butterflies do to pollinate plants.
Every year I post a project for butterfly larvae so that ALL of my students. This year your gift has made it possible for our student Grades 2 - 5, to experience the thrill of watching these animals transform from larva to butterflies.
All of my students from every age group were thrilled this Spring to watch the butterflies as they grow fat, enter their pupa stage and emerge as butterflies. Your butterflies have reinforced key Science concepts of the life cycles of animals by thrilling my students every day when they come to check on them. In addition, all of our students are learning the complex vocabulary for each stage in the life of the butterfly: egg, larva, pupa, adult butterfly. They have also accessed concepts of the butterflies EMERGING and POLLINATING. Pretty heady stuff, and crucial for students' engagement in Science, and to get ready for the Grade 4 Science test.
Your gift is ensuring that my kids can experience first hand the life cycle of the butterfly. Thank you for becoming a partner in my students' success by providing them butterfly larva and an experience that they will never forget.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Problem Solved with Chromebooks
Funded Mar 28, 2017Thank you so much for your kind and generous gift of four Chromebooks to our Bronx Technology Lab.
With your Chromebooks, I can work with my students who struggle to focus, and I can provide them small group work and with the support they need. Your Chromebooks are supporting my students who need extra support. With your Chromebooks are making it possible for my students to work on projects in Google Classroom and all of my students' work lives in Google apps. Your four Chromebooks are always at the ready so my struggling students can easily work on projects in a small group with the teacher.
Most of my students do well working independently on a computer. However, I do have some students who need direction and support to stay on focus. These Chromebooks will make it possible for students who need extra help to sit on the carpet or on a pillow or to work with a partner or in a group of two or three - and now FOUR! And these Chromebooks provide us the flexibility to have students work where they are comfortable - on the carpet, sitting on a stool or at a single desk. This is very empowering. It means we have the resources to meet kids' needs so they can get right to work - and that practice makes improvement.
We thank you for your awesome gift of these Chromebooks. They are rocking our world!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 5 other donors.Reading RAZ Kids! Reading for All
Funded Feb 12, 2017Thank you for helping our students to become passionate readers! But some of our students are reading below grade level.
Thanks to you, our students will have access to the highly engaging RAZ Kids web based reading program and vocabulary practice will help our students become excited about reading and fly up the levels.
My struggling readers will use the online reading passages and books on this website to read, read, read. In the process they will become stronger readers, build their stamina, their listening fluency and comprehension. I like to tell my students that practice makes improvement. RAZ Kids will offer our students MANY opportunities for improvement and for success in reading - and will help them chart their progress!
RAZ-Kids will provide our kids with more opportunities to read and will help me identify the work they need to next to continue building on their success.
The longest journey begins will but a single step. You have put us on the path.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Cables, Headphones and Power Make the Lab Hum
Funded Dec 31, 2016Thank you so much for your glorious donation of the "small" stuff to keep our computers and projectors up and running.
You gift of headphones with microphones, power strips and VGA cables is making a huge difference to our students. It is important to not sweat the small stuff. But we still need the small stuff - it makes a HUGE impact!
Your gifts of headphones, power strips and VGA cables are making it possible for my students to listen to their online reading and math practice, the power strips to keep our Lab powered up and VGA cables to keep the projector images clear and calibrated.
With this "small stuff" our students can come into the Lab and get right to work. We will not have to spend our valuable time fiddling with the cables or cords - EVERYTHING will WORK!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Chromebooks to the Rescue!
Funded Dec 20, 2016Thank you so much for your kind and generous gift of three Chromebooks to our Bronx Technology Lab.
With your Chromebooks, I can work with my students who struggle to focus, and I can provide them small group work and with the support they need. Your Chromebooks are supporting my students who need extra support. With your Chromebooks are making it possible for my students to work on projects in Google Classroom and all of my students' work lives in Google apps. Your three Chromebooks are always at the ready so my struggling students can easily work on projects in a small group with the teacher.
Most of my students do well working independently on a computer. However, I do have some students who need direction and support to stay on focus. These Chromebooks are making it possible for students who need extra help to sit on the carpet or on a pillow or to work with a partner or in a group of three. And these Chromebooks provide us the flexibility to have students work where they are comfortable - on the carpet, sitting on a stool or at a single desk. This is very empowering. It means we have the resources to meet kids' needs so they can get right to work - and that practice makes improvement.
We thank you for your awesome gift of three Chromebooks. They are rocking our world!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Five More Bright Fingers Keyboards
Funded Nov 28, 2016Thank you so much for your gift of five more Bright Fingers keyboards to our Technology Lab. With your gift, we now have a half lab set of keyboards. This means ALL of my Technology students can practice their keyboarding in quick and seamless rotations.
Bright Fingers offers kids gradually challenging typing practice that they really want to work on - because of the colors!
Every day when the class comes in, my students start to practice on Bright Fingers.
With Bright Fingers, my students are learning proper finger placement and they are using the "right" fingers to strike the keys. This practice, which can seem so small, is having a huge impact on my kids' focus and on their learning - and again - my kids LOVE the colors and the sounds. For my struggling students and for my students with special education needs, this multi-sensory keyboarding practice engages students at every level.
Your gift is sure to lift the level of my kids' engagement and their learning. We thank you so much for your generous - and very powerful - gift of Bright Fingers keyboards.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
Going to the Wolves!
Funded Oct 14, 2016Thank you for your awesome generosity. Your gift towards our trip to the Wolf Conservation Center has given my Grade 3 students a day they will ALWAYS remember.
This trip provided real and concrete experience witnessing the wolves' behaviors. The students could identify the alpha wolf - because she was holding her tail high. This trip made real all the research we had conducted, and all of the reading and writing about wolves that the students had done.
Our work to learn about wolves was deep, challenging and complex. You gave them the experience of seeing real wolves - their colors and sizes, their interactions with one another in a setting that my students have very little access to. As we gathered to get back on the buses, the students shared their favorite parts of the trip: howling with the wolves, watching the wolves eat the eggs we had brought for them. (Yes, wolves in the wild will eat the eggs of ground nesting birds!)
This trip changes lives. With a trip like this, kids become engaged in a much more meaningful way. You gave my kids that gift today. You made this day possible.
Thank you for your commitment to my kids' growth, to their progress and to their success.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 9 other donors.Awesome Typing with Bright Fingers Keyboards!
Funded Jun 3, 2016Dear Kind Donors,
Thank you so much for putting these fabulous BrightFingers keyboards in to our computer lab. We have been practicing on two of these keyboards and the students are thrilled with them. When your gift of eight more arrive we can get more of our kids started.
With your help my kids will have tons of colorful, fun typing practice that will engage their fingers AND their brains - practice that will make typing a complete experience. This practice helps them grow in their typing skill and helps them focus as well. As my students gain command of their typing skills, they will become stronger web navigators and researchers. And they will turn their research into powerful reading and writing.
This will make a huge difference in their interest and engagement in their learning - because they have a strong foundation in typing - thanks to you.
Thank you for standing in our corner 110%, and for becoming a strong ally in our learning. I can't wait for you to see pictures of the students practicing with their new BrightFingers keyboard.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Shaughnessy