Past projects 26
An Education Celebration To Remember
Funded Mar 31, 2015We owe each of you a very special thank you! Last Friday, our Pre-K classes and families came together to celebrate a year of hard work, learning and growth. And it was an amazing day! I wish that we could show you more than 6 pictures!
At 6:30 am, teachers and parents came together to start "building" the event. Tents were raised, bounce houses blown up, food prepared and chairs and tables set out. By 10:00 am, we were ready to start! Our Education Celebration officially began with the 4th Annual Pre-K Games. Kids took part in the wheelbarrow race, crab walk and 50 yard dash. Then parents hoisted their kids on their backs for a piggyback race. After we finished the games with tug-o-war, families were invited to eat lunch, get their faces painted, play in the water, join a kickball game or just sit down and chat. The weather was amazing and we were able to enjoy this time together as a community for almost 4 hours!
Our 2015 Education Celebration was a day that we will all remember and hold dear for a very long time. We are so thankful for the chance to get to come together to celebrate our kids and families. And we are also so thankful for the opportunity to bring families together to create positive connections and friendships that we are sure will continue when our students transition to Kindergarten in a couple of months.
Thanks to each of your for helping us make this happen!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
The Picture of Communication
Funded Jan 21, 2015We are so grateful for the support that each of you have shown to our classroom and our students! The software purchased through this project helps us make our classroom a supportive, accessible and exciting environment. This project opened so many doors for many of students with communication needs. And it allowed us to create so many visual supports and prompts for our kids this year. From visual schedule cards that help students get a clear idea of what each day will look like to pictures that help our students transition throughout the classroom, visual reminders for how we wash our hands at the sink and prompt cards that allow student to support each other in a positive manner - this software covers all of the bases!
We thank each of you for helping our classroom and our students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Underwater Investigations, a Field Trip
Funded Jan 13, 2015Last week we had the opportunity to take an amazing trip to the Aquarium. The day was full of so much learning, love and laughter! When we loaded the buses before sunrise, one student commented, "This is wonderful!". When we were getting buckled up another student noticed the curtains and said, "Wow! Fancy!" But the charter bus experience was just the beginning!
We watched a 3D IMAX movie about lemurs before heading in to the aquarium. The kids loved getting to see penguins diving in the water, otters rolling around playfully, fish glittering in the sun, and turtles gliding above their heads. Some students were able to touch sting rays, sturgeon and even a snake! We got to feel butterflies land on our arms and listen to beautiful birds singing to each other. Even the escalators were exciting! But the most special part of the day was that our students got to experience and learn about all of these new wonders alongside their parents!
Our trip to the Aquarium created the opportunity for us to learn together as a community. We cannot express our deep appreciation for the support that each of you gave to our Pre-K program and our families. This was such a special day for all of us. And it would not have happened without all of your donations and love! Thank you for making our field trip possible!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and 47 other donors.The Right Start in Pre-K
Funded Jul 15, 2014Thank you all so much for your continuous support of our classroom. The donations you guys have made over the years have really helped us to do some great things in our classroom. This project is no exception.
The materials you purchased for our classroom have set us up to for some really fun projects this year. The kids have really enjoyed learning about printing materials and creating their own books from the pictures they have taken in the classroom. We learned how to spell our names through a special song and each student was able to take a CD recording of this song home to keep practicing even when they weren't at school. And we just created and sent out 12 gingerbread people to schools all over the country. We are very excited to receive mail back from these schools and continue learning about other states, mail, maps and geography.
I can't explain how much these Donors Choose projects have meant for our classroom. Thank you for standing behind us and helping us give our kids the opportunity to learn that learning is fun!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Show Me (Visual) Support!
Funded Dec 20, 2013We are so thankful for the ink and cardstock that we received from this project. With these materials, we have been able to create many visual supports and resources for our students to use each and every day in the classroom. And these materials have helped our young learners to understand their school environment and be more independent in the classroom.
The materials from this project have helped our class in countless ways. We are now able to print visual supports to use for things like our daily schedule, classroom helper cards and calendar. We have created visual supports for our students to use to support each other when we are lining up to leave the classroom. We have been able to create visuals to help us begin to recognize the letters in words from stories that we are reading and begin to spell them ourselves. And our kids really love creating their own books to read to their friends.
Materials like ink and paper are so important to making learning meaningful for students. And having ink to use in our classroom printer means that we can create materials and visuals that are specific to the needs and skills of the students in our classroom. By supporting this project, you have allowed us the ability to meet the needs of our class in a very individualized, meaningful manner. And we thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Budding Writers and Readers
Funded Mar 22, 2014The kids were so excited to begin using the awesome materials you all helped purchase through this project! Being 3, 4 & 5 years old means that learning is most meaningful when you are able to touch the world around you and explore it through experience. These materials have made that more possible for our classroom.
The alphabet sifters were an immediate hit! The colors, sand and images that are revealed when the kids flip them over keeps them engaged and tickled for extended periods of time. And kids who were struggling a few weeks ago to remember beginning sounds in words are now beginning to be able to identify them because these images are so meaningful to them.
When I first introduced the letter sort activity, my students' faces absolutely lit up. They touched, felt and examined each tangible letter with great curiosity. They quickly became independent in sorting each sack of letters by color and began teaching each other how to use the center without any adult support. As a teacher, watching kids become independent and support each others learning is one of the best parts of the school year.
The kids are also really excited about the fun new paper, stamps, pencils and grippers. They love going to the writing center to create their own books. And they are writing more about the books they are reading with these exciting new materials.
We are so grateful and appreciative of your support of this project and our students' learning. Projects like this one mean so much to the development and growth of our little ones. And we thank you all for making it happen!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Refresh and Recharge
Funded Dec 31, 2013Thank you so much for your amazing support of our classroom. The batteries and charger that were purchased for our classroom have really helped up keep things running smoothly. We are now able to keep our wireless headphones charged up so that we can listen to our favorite books on CD. We are able to read some of our favorite stories with our TAG pens. We also love to listen to our favorite learning songs. Now we can take our CD player anywhere we want to learn, sing, dance and move! And the best part is that we aren't throwing away batteries, we're reusing them!
It is with great love and gratitude that I write this letter of thanks. We really appreciate your support of this project, our classroom, our kiddos and our community!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Please Help! The Letters Are Lost!
Funded Sep 11, 2013Your support of this project helped to purchase a shelf and bins to help us store materials used to help our kids learn their letters. And boy do we love it! After introducing the new "ABC Center", the kids immediately started requesting to spend their free-choice time there. They absolutely love to go learn about different words that start with the letters that we've been learning.
The shelf and bins that you purchased for our class have done so many things for our students. First, these materials put learning tools in the hands of our students. Our kiddos learn best when they can interact, touch, and manipulate the things that they're learning about. These bins bring the letters they are studying to life. Second, the shelf and bins have allowed them to become independent and in control of their own learning. The kids know how to work in the ABC Center and they know how to clean it up because every letter (except Y & Z, because they like to share) has its very own home now! Finally, these materials have created new excitement and interest around the early literacy skills! And the kids are excited to be self-motivated learners.
We are so grateful for your support of our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
I Like to Move It, Move It
Funded Aug 19, 2013We are so thankful for the technology and materials that you all helped purchase for our class! Students as young as ours love to move. And having new ways to move around and interact in the classroom is so exciting!
We use these materials every single day. The kids love being able to jump on the trampoline while we're singing our "hello song" or when we're learning about words that start with J. We use the CD player and iPod dock during our music time every morning and the kids really enjoy getting to hear their favorite learning songs throughout the day. And the communication buttons have been really helpful for some of our students who are learning how to take part in conversations with their friends. We even used them to help our snowman talk to his friends!
We really appreciate the support each of you have given to our classroom. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam
Getting a Grip on School
Funded Dec 28, 2012Thank you all so much for your support of our classroom. The fine motor materials and activities that you all helped purchased for our classroom have been such a great help for our students. They love to practice buttoning, zipping, and tying now! We had so much fun with the pretend snow during our winter unit --especially since we didn't get any real snow this year. And the sensory alphabet book has become a huge favorite for our class, as well as the other Pre-K class at our school.
The support that has been shown to our class through this project and the other projects we've had funded make a HUGE difference in the things we can do in our classroom, the ways we teach, and the experiences that we can create for our students. Without your support, I am certain we would not be able to make learning such a hands-on experience for our kiddos. We are so grateful for our amazing donors who have helped us make this happen. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elam