Past projects 4
A Recipe for Becoming a Stronger Reader
Funded Jul 14, 2021This year with our first graders, we wanted to make sure we taught them to be stronger readers by having an emphasis on phonics and phonemic awareness. Your generous gift has made it possible for us to do just that.
We are using these materials every day, and our students are becoming stronger readers. I wish you could have seen their faces the first time we pulled out the screens and colored sand. They were so excited to begin using all of the tools. They have learned that our senses help us to read. Our fingers trace the letters as we imprint the letters and sounds into our brains. We know every sound in a word has letters that stand for that sound. We just need to sound out the words to read and to spell them.
We are already seeing great improvements with our students. You have made an impact on them, and we are so thankful.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Keys
Oh, I Can Read That!
Funded Feb 28, 2019Thank you so much for donating to our project! Our students were beyond excited when they saw the boxes arrive in our classroom. I wish you could have seen their faces!
At the beginning of this year, the first grade teachers were given a phonics program to use, and we were thrilled! As we began to use the materials, we realized that we needed the Letter Boards and Magnetic Letter Tiles for each student to be able to have a hands-on learning experience to enhance their phoneme awareness. Since we now have the boards and letters, the students are able to build words and make connections with the letters and sounds.
The students love to use the boards when they are building words. To do this, we could have the students build the word "tank". I would then tell them to change one sound to make the word "thank". I could also tell them to add the suffix "s" to the word "thank". Their new word would now be "thanks"!
I truly appreciate you and your contribution to the first grade students at our school. These boards and magnetic letters will be used for many years to come, and they will impact the learning of our students. Know that you are making a difference in the lives of many.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Keys
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 21 other donors.Scholastic News-Read All About It!!
Funded Oct 24, 2015I am beyond excited about our Scholastic News Magazine subscription! I have used these magazines in the past, and every time I have them, I am amazed at how relevant and helpful these magazines can be.
It can be difficult to find current non-fiction reading material for elementary students, so Scholastic Magazine solves this problem. The articles are about current events that young children can relate to and are interested in. Just today, we read an article about 3-D printing. We had no idea the printers were reasonably priced and inexpensive to use. We also read about Chewbacca and the upcoming Star Wars movie. How current is that? The students learned that Chewbacca was played by Peter Mayhew, and he is 7 feet, 3 inches tall! They loved it!
This week's issue also included practice with finding the main idea and the author's purpose, which are both skills I am teaching the students. It was great to have a real-life example of those. Every issue incorporates non-fiction text features that I am also teaching them.
I am just so impressed with the quality of the magazine and how relevant it is to my teaching and my students. Thank you so much for affording me this teaching tool. You are the best!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Keys
Hold It!
Funded Jul 7, 2015"Our book bins are here! When can we start using them?" My students were so excited to see the big boxes when they arrived. I immediately ripped the boxes open and wrote students' names on the bins. They could not wait to use them!
These book bins provide my students with their own container to store the books they have chosen to read. Each day my students have an opportunity to get their book bin and find a quiet place to read. What better activity can a student experience?
Providing students with books of their own choosing and an opportunity to read at school increases their reading ability tremendously. I want to instill a love of reading in my students, and this is a major contributor to that goal.
I cannot thank you enough for what you have given us. Please know that you are making a difference in the life of a child.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Keys