Mrs. Farr's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 62

• TIME to Gather the Facts

  Funded Mar 29, 2017

  I wish you could have been in our classroom when we received our delivery. My students' faces lit up with excitement and they were cheering as the boxes were being opened. As I explained the purpose of each material, they were getting more and more excited. They asked me if we would set up our special reading area right away. So we stopped in the middle of what were working on and quickly created a new reading spot. Then of course, we had to test it out!

  Students paired up with partners and found magazine that sparked their interest. They gathered on the rug and began reading! Some students created little sticky notes about what they were learning and others were sharing with their partners. After students had the opportunity to gather facts, we came back together and shared what we learned. Some students even shared some misconceptions that they had prior to reading their magazine. We then had that important talk about why it is so important to research facts and make sure we know all the facts before we share. They loved this quick impromptu reading lesson in the middle of the day! Throughout the rest of the year, this area was a very popular choice. Students chose to come and read to gather their facts. I would often hear students tell me that they were gathering all of their facts before they would write about it in their writing journal!

  Thank you for providing the materials and resources needed to make this project happen!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

  This classroom project was brought to life by News Corp and 23 other donors.

• 5K is Dashing into the Coding World

  Funded Feb 16, 2017

  WOW! My students not only completed tasks and coding competitions in the classroom but they had a blast as their were working! This Wonder Set allowed more students to utilize the robots and expanded our coding center in our classroom. My students were constantly asking if they could use the robots and would quickly finish their work to make extra time during the school day.

  To complete our competitions and tasks, students were separated into small groups so they could work together to create plans and then test their robots. We had friendly competitions in the classrooms and they did a great job sharing what they learned with their classmates. Because of this funding and the knowledge that my students gained, our class (STEM team) was asked to provide demonstrations at an after school STEM Fair hosted by a middle school in our district. This STEM fair had STEM teams from other elementary, middle and high school students and many large corporations. This was a phenomenal opportunity for my students as they were given the opportunity to show and teach others how to code.

  My students would never have had the opportunity to compete in robotics competitions in our classroom or be asked to demonstrate their learning at a local STEM Fair without your support. Because of you, several girls in my classroom want to pursue a career in STEM field. Because of you, kindergarten students are becoming experts at coding. Because of you, students were excited to come to school every day and learn. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

• One, Two, Three: Count With Me

  Funded Sep 29, 2016

  WOW! I cannot describe my appreciation enough for these materials. Teaching kindergarten without having access to hands on materials is extremely tough for students to be able grasp the concept of our math standards. My students were over the moon excited to open boxes and discover that such generous people were donating so many different type of counters to our classroom!

  In just a short time with these materials, my students have been able to count different sets of objects, sort them by different attributes and use them when creating graphs. Now, we have begun to use these counters to practice adding and subtracting! These counters have been used and shared with every kindergarten class in my school. Our students are becoming math masters this year and it is all because of you!

  I will never be able to express my gratitude to you for supporting my students and this project. You have not only made a difference with my students this year but all kindergarten students that will come through Shoally Creek Elementary. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

  This classroom project was brought to life by Duke Energy and 3 other donors.

• Feed These Bookworms!

  Funded Aug 19, 2016

  Our classroom library has never been more engaging! My students are so fortunate to have access to so many thematic and series books. Every day, my students have the opportunity to read independently in the classroom library. Then every week, they get to go "shopping" for their special books to keep in their own book box for the week. I cannot remember a time that they were more excited for time in the classroom library. They have begun to find their favorite authors and series books that they cannot wait to get back and read again!

  These books have given my students the opportunity to practice their independent reading skills. I have been amazed with their ability to start decoding words they did not know and using the pictures within the books to help them. These books are the perfect books for my students. The text and content is age appropriate and the pictures are so engaging!

  Going to the classroom library is now a favorite for my students. They have helped each other find new books that their friends might like by suggesting books that they have enjoyed reading. I have just loved to see my students love for reading continue to grow. All of this is because of you and your generous donations! We cannot thank you enough!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

• Support our STEM and Watch Us Grow!

  Funded Jun 4, 2016

  Wow! I am so excited to share with you the impact that you have already made in my classroom this year! The day the boxes arrived you would have thought it was Christmas Day! Every child had the opportunity to help open a box and discover all of the goodies inside. As soon, as we opened the box with all of the storage containers those were immediately placed on the shelves to begin to utilize as a storage place for our STEM center.

  Each week, my students have had the opportunity to explore and test a variety of different STEM projects. When I asked my students which ones were their favorite, they answered that they have loved them all so far! We narrowed our top choices down to a couple to show in pictures for you. They have loved using the magnet kit to discover what objects are attracted to magnets and then test to see how many fish they can catch!! The have also loved the motion kit. In this kit then have used different cars to see how to make it go faster and slower. Their favorite part of this kit was using a launcher and plastic insects to see how far they could launch an insect. As they have been using these kits they then also illustrate and write about the discoveries in their STEM journal. They not only have had so much fun but have learned so much through exploring and testing on their own!

  The best is that the year is not complete and we still have many more kits to complete. Every week, my students are always asking what new kit will they get to use. Thank you for providing this AWESOME learning experience for my students. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

  This classroom project was brought to life by Lakeshore and 37 other donors.

• Tools Needed for Kindergarten Readers

  Funded Jul 17, 2016

  We are just loving our brand new pointers! These pointers have helped us improve our fluency by reading fun poems, identifying important words or features and following along during calendar time and so much more. There are so many different color options and the length of the pointer can be changed based on the activity of the day that we never run out of ways to use our pointers every day.

  My students LOVE being able to use these pointers independently during our reading and math stations and even choose to use these during our play stations. I often catch them reading the poem of the week with such excitement and joy. It makes this teacher's heart so happy to watch them get excited about reading!

  Thank you for your kind donation to my classroom this year. You have made the difference in each of my students' education this year. Thank you SO much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

  This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and 9 other donors.

• No Matter the Weather, We will Build Leak Proof Homes!

  Funded Feb 10, 2016

  This weather project was SO much fun and had so many fun hands on activities that it was probably one of my most favorite teaching units this year. My students were so engaged throughout this entire project. We read nonfiction weather texts, created snow, tornadoes and rain in our classroom and learned so much. You could not have asked for more engaging activities! They took what they learned to create an informational weather book and then created a fun, information weather report using the ipad. They learned SO much and had SO much fun!

  The favorite part for most of my students was creating snow and building houses. They could not believe we could make snow in the classroom especially in April! It was like magic and their eyes just lit up! Building houses that would not leak were so much fun too. It was a great STEM activity that required a lot of problem solving, critical thinking skills and collaboration. Even after this unit, I found many of students working in the block area to create more complex homes that would be leak proof.

  Thank you for believing in my students and this project. We received so many awesome resources to utilize to learn about weather and I am excited to continue to use these materials for many years to come. On behalf of my sweet kindergarten students, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

• "Dye"ing to be a Team

  Funded Apr 23, 2016

  Wow, what a fun experience for my students! Thank you for making Field Day that much more exciting. As a class we chose our colors for our shirts: blue and green! Every student got to go outside and place the dye on their very own shirt to make a pattern. They had so much fun with this and still really didn't believe me that their shirts would turn blue and green. We allowed the shirts to dry, then I washed them at home and took them back to school for the big reveal. There were lots of OOOs and AHHHHHHs and a big round of applause!

  Field Day arrived and we looked AWESOME out on the field. Every child had the same shirt and I heard many comments throughout the day that we needed to work together because we are a team. That just made my teacher heart SO happy! They had lots of fun eating sno-cones, riding bikes, running races, playing volleyball and SO much more. Please be sure to check out their happy faces below in some fun pictures that I was able to capture.

  Thank you for providing a fun and memorable experience for my students. I know they will always remember Field Day because of their awesome tie dyed shirts. On behalf my sweet kindergarten students, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

• First Grade and New School...Here We Come!

  Funded Apr 7, 2016

  This project was so special and so sweet that words cannot fully express how special this project was to me and my students. Creating their class pillowcase was one of their last projects they completed in their kindergarten classroom. They had so much fun choosing a color for their hand print and pressing their hand on each friends' pillowcase. These pillowcases made the sweetest memory for my students to keep. There is something special about your kindergarten year and having something to remember it makes it extra special. I am so thankful my students will always be able to remember each other because of these pillowcases.

  At our Kindergarten Awards Day, similar to graduation day, I was able to share with the parents the full goal of this project and why each child was able to create a pillowcase. I then shared a little secret that I had kept from all my students and it was SO hard! I carefully pulled out their brand new book that you helped each of my students receive. In each book, I wrote a short note to my students to tell them how special they are to me. Thank you for helping me give them this special gift.

  This project was so special to my heart because it was my last year at this school and many of my students last year as well. About half of my class will leave with me to go to the new school and that is hard especially after you have made sweet friends. I cannot fully express my gratitude to you and helping me get this project funded quickly. I hope you can tell by the smiles on my students' faces (pictures below) how much they loved this project too. On behalf of my almost first graders, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

• Coding: The New Kindergarten Center

  Funded Mar 14, 2016

  WOW, just WOW! If you would have told me when I started teaching kindergarten that I would be using robots in my classroom, I would never have believed you. Now, I cannot imagine nor want to imagine my classroom without these robots. The Ozobots, Bee-Bots and Dash & Dot are so much fun and my students were so engaged every time we used these robots.

  When this project funded, I began showing my students different videos of these robots to get them excited about coding in our classroom. Anytime a box was delivered to our classroom they were asking if it was their robots. The day our materials arrived was probably one of the best days. We quickly got the robots out and charged them and began using them that afternoon. My students rotated around the classroom to learn some basics about each robot. From that point on my students were hooked and were asking to use these robots daily!

  In just the short time that we had these robots this school year, I could not believe their growth and how much they learned with these robots. They learned how to code robots to change colors, dance, move in the direction coded and so much more. My kindergarten students used the robots to code them through obstacles courses they created read sight words and solve math problems. I could not believe and still cannot believe how much fun we had. The last day of school my students were most sad to leave the robots behind and they are hoping their 1st grade classroom has these robots too!

  Creating a coding center in my classroom changed my classroom learning environment and I will never want to change back. I am excited to start a robotics club next year with those robots and allow my students to learn with the robots all year long. Thank you for making this learning environment possible! On behalf of my sweet kindergarten friends, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Farr

  This classroom project was brought to life by News Corp and 13 other donors.