Past projects 28
Building Words One Letter at a Time
Funded Dec 31, 2016I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere gratitude for your generosity. Thanks to you, my students are able to use all of these hands on materials to help them learn how to build new words and so much more. I cannot tell you how happy my students were when they saw all of the new materials. Some of their favorite activities involve using the letter tiles to build new words we are learning each week. In addition, my students cannot get enough of the mini dry erase boards. We practice building words, answer reading comprehension questions, and writing sentences on a daily basis. The charts are posted in the classroom and give us a place to write our thoughts, answer the essential question of the week, and plan our writing. The magnetic letters give students another great way to practice word building which is an important skill for first graders. Both the magnetic letters and word tiles are color coded with vowels in red and consonants in blue. This brings another important concept in focus as students are building their words. After several weeks of using these materials, I have noticed more engaged learners during our word work and morning work time. Thanks again for helping these little minds grow!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
Listen in to Learning
Funded Sep 8, 2016Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. Your help has ensured all students using the iPads and computers in my classroom have access to headphones. Before receiving these headphones, students were not able to concentrate on their learning. Very few students had their own headphones to bring in for classroom use. Now, the students can be working on their specialized computer programs and reading projects at the same time without being distracted by each other. I use an individualized approach to reading instruction where students are working on different work stations at the same time. The students struggled to hear and focus on their station tasks before receiving these headphones. This project allows us to use all iPads and computers at the same time. Without your help, it would have taken most of the school year for me to purchase these headphones one at a time. My students and I thank you again for your continued support of our academic success!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
Retelling through Technology
Funded Mar 29, 2016Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. With your help, my first graders have access to another piece of technology. With this technology, my students will be working on an essential reading skill-retelling. We focus on retelling the beginning, middle, and ending of a story using key details. Students will take pictures of their own drawings or illustrations from the text and make a video using their voices to retell what happened. Once the videos are done, the students will be able to share their hard work on the big screen in our classroom. This will further strengthen their reading skills and give them another way to show what they know. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 2 other donors.An Apple for the Teacher and Students
Funded Feb 23, 2016Thank you so much for your generosity and support. Thanks to each and every one of you, we received our brand new MacBook Pro. From the very first day, this has made a tremendous impact to each of my students. They were in awe of the sight of it. Once I connected it our Promethean board, the magic really started. Students were able to come up and respond by typing on the laptop while seeing their own words on the large screen. The first students were able to demonstrate for the rest of the kids how to use the shift key to start the sentence with a capital letter. One of my students typed his biography of Dr. Seuss on our brand new MacBook to be posted on our bulletin board. Now, more students are excited to publish their writing by typing on the MacBook. This is only the beginning. I cannot wait to see how we will integrate this great piece of technology in the coming months. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
Building Readers through Literacy Stations
Funded Mar 29, 2016Thank you so much for your generous support. With these resources, my students will get to improve their budding reading skills by using hands on materials, nonfiction reading sources, and more. Students will work on the skills that best meets their individual needs. When you walk into my room during station time, students are spread out around the room so engaged in their own activities they won't even notice that you are there. These materials will be integrated into that time. The timers will be used for students practicing fluency, the highlight strips for independent readers who need help tracking, magnetic letters to build words, close reading clips to mark text evidence by another group, and more. My students will be able to use these materials for the next several years. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and 3 other donors.iPads for Reading Success
Funded Mar 9, 2016The faces of each student when they saw our new iPad was such a joy to see. The students have been using our two iPads for reading e-books on MyOn and taking reading comprehension questions on books from the classroom and our school library. Once they realized we had an additional iPad to share, we were all so excited. Although we are grateful for any technology, a brand new iPad gives each student more time to be able to use it. Now, more students can use one of the three iPads to strengthen their reading skills. In addition, we can use the camera on the iPad to use the amazing Plickers website and app for all students to participate using multiple choice cards. Each card is assigned to a specific student. At the click of the camera, I can see which students understand a concept and which need more assistance. On top of all of this, my students are taking pictures of the stories they are reading and writing and creating mini movies that retell the stories. Students that struggle with writing can know tell their story in their own words. This has allowed students to flourish and shine.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
Teaching With Technology
Funded Jan 24, 2014Words cannot express how grateful I am that you chose to donate to my students. My students are such a wonderful and deserving group. They were so excited to find out we were receiving another iPad mini and projector. Although the station buddies graciously shared our first iPad mini funded through Donorschoose, an additional iPad mini has given each student more individual time on the iPads. They have strengthened their reading and writing skills even more because of this time. My students all know exactly when they have iPad station and look forward to it every week. Every single student has become so responsible when handling the iPad minis that not once has it dropped. That is just one example of how much they treasure these technology tools.
In addition, the students have enjoyed watching the interactive components of our reading series using the projector. It has made this time so much more productive since all students can easily see the bigger screen. This has been particularly helpful for the students with vision issues.
In conclusion, your generosity has impacted the learning of these terrific first graders in a way that will continue for years to come. My future students will benefit from these resources. However, this group of children understand how these technology tools came into this classroom because of your generous donations. On behalf of myself, my current students, and my future students, thank you for your support!!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
Help These First Grade Readers Soar to New Digital Heights!
Funded Sep 30, 2013Thank you so much for your generosity! It means so much to me and all of my students. My students are so grateful to have the iPad mini and headphones to use during our reading class. They all know exactly what day they have iPad station each week. That is their favorite station. The students love listening to Dr. Seuss books being read to them. As they have become even better readers, the students have begun reading the stories by themselves.
My students and I are using the iPad mini in many different ways. Each student gets a chance at least once a week to use the iPad during our stations time. Students who need extra help get to use the iPad mini as well. Additionally, students who finish their work early get to use it. I use it in whole group and small group reading to reinforce sight word practice, fluency, and comprehension. We also use it as a vial timer to keep as on task. There are still many other ways I plan on using this in my classroom. As soon as we have our wireless Internet up and running, we will also use it to take AR tests and use the online reading and writing modules from our new reading series. Furthermore, we will also use it to began publishing student writing.
This project has boosted student achievement in reading. My students have increased reading levels and sight word recognition. Many students also grow in fluency by reading many more words correct per minute.
Thank you again for your generosity. We truly appreciate it!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Coles
This classroom project was brought to life by South Florida Kia Retailers and 7 other donors.