Past projects 35
Explicit Teaching Materials
Funded Jan 21, 2022I am so grateful to the Utah State Board of Education for funding this project! We love the materials that we have been able to get through this grant. Its wonderful to have a non-fiction text paired with a fiction text to help increase our vocabulary and background knowledge. We mostly use these passages in small group, where I can give students immediate and individual feedback as I listen to them read. The passages also help spark great conversations and learning opportunities. I was also able to purchase a writing program as part of this project. It's great to have explicit writing lessons to pull from as I create learning plans for the week. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
We Love Literacy!
Funded Aug 12, 2021I am so thankful to you for supporting this project. My students are highly enjoying this book and loving the fact that we can all read it together, with each person having their own copy. We just started the book this week, and everyone is hooked already. It has sparked many fun conversations and has boosted everyone's confidence in reading...especially in reading chapter books! I am grateful that this book is part of a series...because many students are already talking about getting other books in the series to read at home. Thank you so much for providing the materials for us to experience this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 12 other donors.Reading to Learn While Learning to Read
Funded Oct 21, 2021My students and I are absolutely loving this series of books! I love that we can build our knowledge on important topics while practicing important reading skills at the same time. We use these books in small groups. This allows me to listen in as the students read and provide corrective feedback as needed. After reading, I ask several comprehension questions and we discuss the story. The students are fascinated by the interesting topics and wealth of knowledge contained in these texts. I am so grateful to all those who made it possible for me to receive these books. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 3 other donors.Books, Books, Books
Funded Oct 21, 2021My second grade students were so excited to help me open and look at these new books! We love reading in my classroom and I am excited to have a variety of books both for my students to read themselves and for me to read to them.
Additionally, I was able to receive some teacher professional development books that I can use to improve my instruction for my students. I can't wait to dig into these books and know that they will be valuable to me.
It means a lot to me to have your support. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and one other donor.We Love Reading!
Funded Sep 10, 2021I am so grateful for your support of our classroom! My students are loving the books that were purchased through this Donor's Choose project! We are so thankful to you! It is wonderful for my students to have high-quality, authentic texts to practice their reading skills. These books are perfect for me to use in small groups. I am able to target the instruction needed in each of my reading groups. Some groups have a focus on decoding, some on fluency, and others a focus on vocabulary and comprehension. It is wonderful to have a wider selection of books to choose from for my instruction. Thank you again for supporting us!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 9 other donors.Love Literacy!
Funded Jun 16, 2021I am just so grateful to you for supporting my classroom! I love teaching reading and am so excited that I can improve my classroom library with your help.
One of the first things I did during the first week of school was introduce my students to our library. One of the books that was purchased with this Donor's Choose project, was the title, "Time Jumpers." I was excited to see that this book was quickly selected by a couple of students to read that first week. This book is part of a series and these boys soon asked me if I had more "Time Jumpers" books. It was fun to see their enthusiasm for reading!
I am so happy that our class library is growing. Thank you again for helping make this possible. I am so thankful to you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
Explicit, Hands-On Teaching Materials
Funded May 28, 2020It means so much to me that you would support me and my classroom! Thank you so much for your generous donations! I was so excited to receive these materials over the summer. I was able to dive in to the professional development books right away. They even helped me as I studied and passed the KPEERI exam to help me improve my reading instruction. I am especially excited about being able to improve my vocabulary instruction this year with the help of these resources.
This year my district will be doing hybrid learning. We will be learning both at school and at home. I am thankful for the math manipulatives I was able to get, and will be able to send some of these home with students as they engage in online learning.
I was switched to 2nd grade this year and am so happy that all these materials will work for this age group! Thank you again for your continued support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Multi Sensory Math
Funded Mar 26, 2020I will be forever thankful for your support of this project! Thank you so much for making this training possible for me. I can easily say that this Multi-Sensory Math class is the very best professional development course in math that I have ever taken! I have learned so much about the best ways to teach different math concepts. I love the focus in the class on the vertical alignment of math throughout the grade levels and how what I teach in kindergarten affects students all the way up to algebra. I also love learning about the importance of concrete materials to demonstrate math concepts.
I have been able to apply the things I've learned with my own son over the summer. It has been a great way to practice the methods and techniques right away. I can't wait for the next year of school to start (just a few more weeks) so that I can implement these things in my classroom. I am also grateful that the instructor included resources for teaching online, as my district will be using a hybrid model in the fall.
Again, thank you so much for believing in me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
Overcoming Dyslexia Part 3
Funded Feb 15, 2020I can't even begin to describe the affect this Orton-Gillingham practicum has had on me and my students! Their reading and writing skills have greatly improved and I am so grateful I have learned how to incorporate these techniques in my classroom. All my students benefit from this explicit and systematic approach.
Besides teaching kindergarten, I also have the opportunity to teach intervention groups for 1st, 3rd, and 4th grades...this approach has an amazing affect on these students, many who may have dyslexia. I have been able to watch both their reading skills and confidence grow.
Our school is closed now, but the learning continues remotely. I am thankful that I can still reach my students and use these methods online.
I am growing as a teacher, and only wish I had learned these things many years ago! Thank you so much for investing in me and making this opportunity possible!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny
Wishing for Whiteboards
Funded Mar 15, 2020I was incredibly excited for this grant to be funded and especially for the materials to arrive! However...it was also a very somber moment because my classroom is currently empty. I wish I could have opened this box in front of a class full of kindergartners! Instead, my students are staying safe at home while we continue with remote learning.
We use whiteboards every day in my classroom...the current ones we have are about the size of a piece of paper. It was a struggle for my students to fit everything we needed to on these boards. The new ones that this grant provided are much larger. They will be perfect for writing sentences, sorting words, and more. I can't wait until we return to the classroom in the fall, so that I can put these to good use! In the meantime, I will be using one of the boards to demonstrate lessons and concepts during my daily videos.
I am very grateful that this grant was funded. Thank you so much for contributing to my classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kemeny