Past projects 8
Chromebooks for Fourth Grade Authors!
Funded May 8, 2024Thank you so much for helping us purchase four new Chromebooks for our classroom. Your impact has been huge! Over the past month our students have been writing their epic New Amsterdam journals. Each student creates a character that would have lived in New Amsterdam and writes a pretty lengthy collection of journal entries from their character's perspective. These journals are types and it is challenging to do this work without a computer for each child. With these additional Chromebooks, most students in the class were able to type easily with working computers. We are so appreciative of this gift.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 7 other donors.Diverse Bilingual Picture Books
Funded Sep 16, 2020This year our students are inundated with current events. They are being exposed to new information at every turn and it is our job to help them process this information and make sense of it all. Through picture books that are focused on real world issues, we are able to discuss these events in a way that makes sense and is relevant to our students' lives.
These book are used in a variety of ways. Many of them have been used for a read aloud or a whole class lessons that teach specific concepts and content to the students. The books also live in our classroom library and students who are at school are able to borrow them and read them independently.
Thank you for helping to bring new diverse and bilingual worlds into our children's lives.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 5 other donors.Safe Learning Tools
Funded Sep 14, 2020This has been a crazy school year. 7 of our students are learning from school, while the rest of the class is learning from home. Those 7 students spend the school day masked and keeping their distance from each other.
Our students at school do a lot of work on the computer throughout the day, in order to stay connected to their fully remote classmates. While spending long periods of time sitting, it is especially helpful for my students to have special seat cushions, the wobbly stools and the chair bands to help get out some movement. The students have been very excited to try out these various resources and they have been taking turns using different learning tools to help them focus and stay safe.
In addition to those special learning tools, it has been useful to have supplies, such as pencil sharpeners, for their personal supply bins. Our daily school routines have certainly changed this year, but having appropriate materials and tools has made this transition more manageable. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
Hot Off The Press! New Books in English and Spanish
Funded Aug 15, 2018Thank you so much for donating to my project. Your donations helped us to purchase a variety of new books for our classroom library. Most days we have independent reading and during this time students can choose a book to read quietly and independently. They find a comfy spot, whether it be the rug near our bookshelves or a bench in the meeting area.
This year my co-teacher and I have worked hard to make our classroom library both inviting and organized. We have created a special labeling system that allows us to display books with their spines showing, as opposed to in baskets. This system allows kids to easily browse all of the books and choose the one that they are most interested to read. We are working hard to include as many new and engaging books in our library so that kids can always find their next favorite book.
Our students have been so excited to read the new books. We have added many lovable books to the library, including classics that have been loved for many years and brand new books and series that have recently gained popularity. Recently, I have noticed students looking for any opportunity to read during the school day, not just during independent reading. Again, thank you so much for helping to keep the love of reading alive in our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
Inspiring Materials for Project Time
Funded Sep 2, 2017Thank you so much for donating to my project! My students are excited to have access to many different materials during project time. So far this year, they have used our project time materials to build toys and time machines. We have used the calligraphy markers to practice writing Chinese characters. Next, students will be working in groups to make projects related to Ancient China. I cannot wait to see what creative projects they will come up with and how they will use the varied materials. Thank you for helping to unleash the creativity of my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
¡Libros en Español!
Funded Oct 6, 2016Thank you so much for donating to this project. Before receiving our new Spanish books, our English library was much more appealing and the students had no desire to read in Spanish. With these books, students are more motivated to explore our Spanish library. I have noticed many different students exploring new series that they had never heard of before.
At the beginning of the year, when we asked the kids to read in Spanish you could hear many audible moans throughout the room. Now, we don't even hear a peep. In our class we have some native Spanish speakers, but we also have many students who are learning Spanish as a second language. These books are the perfect motivation to inspire all of our students to continue practicing their Spanish and working on their biliteracy.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
High Interest Books in English and Spanish!
Funded Apr 18, 2015Thank you so much for donating to my project! My students were so excited to receive our new books! Students have been eagerly rotating through the books, trading and recommending favorites to their friends.
We usually use the books during Independent Reading. This is the period during the day when students choose their reading material and read independently. We are a dual language class, therefore during English time students read in English and during Spanish time students read in Spanish. With these new books, students always have a book they are excited to read during English and Spanish time.
Most of the students in my class are native Spanish speakers. By continuing to increase their Spanish literacy, they are increasing their overall literacy. Thank you so much for helping my students to develop their bi-literacy and their love of reading!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook
New Exciting Spanish Books for My Bilingual Readers
Funded Oct 21, 2013Thank you so much for donating to my project! Our new Spanish books have greatly increased my students' reading engagement. The moment that my co-teacher and I put the new books on the shelf, they became a hit! Students have been rotating through the books, trading and recommending favorites to their friends.
We usually use the books during Independent Reading. This is the period during the day when students choose their reading material and read independently. We are a dual language class, therefore during English time students read in English and during Spanish time students read in Spanish. Before the arrival of our new books, I had the problem that students always wanted to read in English, even during Spanish time. This was because we had much more engaging books in our English library. Now, with our new books, we have the opposite problem! We have so many interesting books in the Spanish library that many students want to read their Spanish books during English time!
Most of the students in my class are native Spanish speakers. By continuing to increase their Spanish literacy, they are increasing their overall literacy. Thank you so much for helping my students to develop their bi-literacy and their love of reading!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Allanbrook