Past projects 44
We're Going the Distance!
Funded Aug 12, 2020Thank you for your generous donation to help our classroom during this pandemic. These materials were used to create at home learning kits for our students and gave them a way to stay organized at home. Items such as play dough, water colors and linking cubes gave them tangible items to practice fine motor skills as well.
As families came to pick up supplies on our first pick up day, they were impressed and amazed at what we had available. Many had commented that they were afraid that having their student be online meant that they would be doing all the work online as well - and we have tried our best to create a balance between online work and traditional paper/pencil work so that students get to experience both. Our families have been very grateful for this, and it started with these materials!
We have continued into distance learning more than any of us could imagined, but our stock materials from the beginning are still helping us to stay organized and connected through Zoom. Thank you for your generosity and helping our class!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 9 other donors.United in Our Differences!
Funded Jul 7, 2020Thank you so much for your generous gift to help bring diversity to our classroom library. My students come from a variety of backgrounds, and having these books means that they have an opportunity to see themselves in a story. The books have been a huge hit as I've read them on Zoom, and I know the messages have made us a stronger community overall.
During a traditional school year, I have a fully stocked library that students are able to access during the school day. These books have added another *two* bins of books and have really filled out our "Kids Like Us" section. I've been reading as many books as I can on Zoom, and these latest editions have become classroom favorites.
We so appreciate your love and support during this crazy time. I am so thankful for generous donors like you who love our youth as much as I do. Thank you for your generosity and your continued support of all that we do!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 5 other donors.Write On!
Funded Mar 2, 2020Sadly, these books arrived just before we shut down for the school year due to Covid 19, but I have to tell you how great it was to have these books to share with my students on Zoom calls! They enjoyed these stories immensely, and each one of them lent itself to help me teach a writing strategy as well. For example, we learned how to write about how to do something by listening to the story "How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth". What a fun way to learn how to writing!
In my classroom, we do a LOT of reading! Since school closures, a lot of that reading has been assigned online through websites like Epic!, or paper copies that have been sent home. Regardless of not being in the classroom, my students gained an appreciation and love for reading at home that I know will continue far into the future.
Thank you again for your generosity. While I would have preferred to share my books in person with my students, having them to share online was a wonderful benefit as well! Thank you for your continued support of public education through DonorsChoose!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 7 other donors.Books, Books, and... More Books!
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you so much for the amazing books that you helped to add to our classroom library by funding this project. So many of these books are wonderful pieces of literature that will add so much life to lessons in our class. Several of the books will help teach social and emotional skills such as kindness, happiness, identifying how we are smart and how others are smart, and empathy. These are such valuable life long skills to teach in kindergarten and these books have wonderful stories that are so relatable to my students.
This year, we are fortunate enough to be working on a new curriculum where we highlight a variety of careers throughout the school year. Many of the books I chose also support this new curriculum and help give students an opportunity to see the different types of jobs available to them in this world. It is so awesome to see them engaging these these books and starting to question what kind of work they want to do when they are older.
Thank you so much for your amazing donation - we are so grateful for your support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.More for Our Maker Space!
Funded Jul 29, 2019Thank you so much for your generosity and for funding our project to add more to our Makers Space! This is the first year that I've had a Makers Space in my classroom, and the students are going to be so excited to get started exploring and creating!
We have spent the first part of this school year creating a community of learners that are willing to take risks and make mistakes. Once we return from Winter Break, I know the students will be eager to work in our Makers Space. We will use templates and ideas to get us started but students will be able to create freely and try different designs and ideas. For example, one activity will ask students to create a paper air plane, and then test each other on how far they can fly. By exploring and attempting multiple times, they will be able to figure out how to add weight or tailor the wings to create a longer flight.
My students will have access to our Makers Space for a designated time each week, and any free time they may have. This project provided each student with a cubby to put their materials in when time is up so they can get right back to their projects when needed. I am excited to see what they will come up with and can't wait to give them a chance to expand their thinking outside of the box! Thank you again for your wonderful donation! We appreciate all of your support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.Make Some Space for Our Makers Space!
Funded Jul 29, 2019Thank you so much for your generosity! We are so excited to start working in our Maker Space in our classroom and start creating some great projects! The materials provided by this project give us more tools to use, and also help us to save our projects to work on throughout the week. Each of us will get our own drawer to put our projects and materials in so that we can quickly get back to work!
Our students started the school year with the materials in place and we will soon begin creating projects now that we know the procedures and routines in our classroom. Each week, students will be allowed to work in the Maker Space when they finish their work, or during a designated time in the week with a parent volunteer. Students will use videos and instructions to create a variety of projects - paper airplanes and traveling distance, sock puppets to use on a green screen app, or even create their own monsters - to name a few!
When we return in 2020, students will be more independent and able to work in small groups which will allow them more time to create and discover. Thank you so much for your generous donation - I am so grateful for your wonderful support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and 3 other donors.Maker Space 2020!
Funded Jun 15, 2019Thank you so much for your generous donation to help make our Maker Space the best that it can be! We will be using the materials this school year to help students be creative and explore problem solving in new ways!
My students have been thrilled to begin this school year with the tools they need to be successful and independent learners. They are learning to use the materials to organize their supplies which helps them to organize their thinking. By keeping their materials organized, they have been able to get right back to projects quickly.
The maker space in our classroom is an area where students will be able to use available resources to solve problems. We are excited to start work with this space and will continue to add to it as needed throughout the year. I've already noticed a positive transfer to their academic work by allowing the creativity to flow from projects that we have completed. Thank you for helping to make this space in our classroom available for this and many years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and 6 other donors.Let's Create a Maker's Space!
Funded Apr 20, 2019Thank you so much for your generous donation to our classroom Maker Space! We are excited to put it into full action this school year and to use this space to create and explore new ideas. I know that my students will benefit tremendously from having the tools available to think outside of the box and create solutions to a variety of scenarios posed to them throughout the year.
Initially, this space will be a place where students will be given opportunities to work on directed projects. For example, students will create puppets and then use an app to create and video a puppet show. These will be shared with others and then more videos can be created between characters. It will allow them to practice oral language, use their imagination, and build upon a story line.
As the year goes on, however, this space will become less directed and more of a place for students to think outside of the box and solve problems with the materials provided. Having materials such as those provided in this project will allow students easy access to being creative and problem solving in the moment.
We are so incredibly grateful for your generous support of our classroom and all the wonderful activities in it! Thank you for continuing to support student learning through Donorschoose!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.Quit Bugging Me!
Funded Apr 5, 2019Thank you so much for your generosity in funding this project! This project brought a variety of live animals to our classroom and lots of hands on learning for my students!
When we received the caterpillars and ladybugs, my students were super excited to watch them grow and learn how to take care of them. In a previous project, I had received an incubator for bird eggs. We were able to make lots of comparisons between the life cycles of the different animals in our classroom. We were also able to watch a monarch life cycle outside our class. The students were able to draw comparisons between the monarchs and the caterpillars we raised in our classroom - and were very careful to make sure the monarch caterpillars were able to get the food they needed.
Teaching with live animals provides such an amazing experience for my students. They are able to learn so many valuable skills - taking care of another living thing, being aware of the world around them - besides all the academic learning they do! We are so grateful for your generosity and helping to make our science learning come to life!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and 2 other donors.Second Grade Science Rocks!
Funded Mar 1, 2019Thank you so much for your generosity and helping to fund this project for our 2nd grade classes! We are so excited to be able to teach science in a comprehensive way with all of the supplies we need to make our lessons successful. These kits have everything we need to allow the students to learn science in a fun, meaningful way.
When our kits first arrived, our students were super excited. Everything we need is individually packed for the students - no need to waste time gathering supplies or waiting for everyone to get their supplies in order. We will be ready to go for each experiment that the students will do!
We are excited to fully implement the new national science standards next year in our classroom, and these kits are a tremendous head start to this goal! Thank you again for providing our classrooms with the tools needed to make our science education a huge success!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilson