Ms. Olaes' Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 21

• Color: Help Art Colony add Another Element to their Art

  Funded May 6, 2020

  During this year of sheltering in place, my students' school projects and activities have been completed virtually. My students were excited when they first HEARD about the donation of oil pastels and water color pencils. They could finally do something hands-on -- they could envision themselves creating ART!!

  Due to the pandemic, the distribution of the materials was delayed. Eventually, most received hand-delivered plastic envelopes filled with various school supplies including the oil pastels and water color pencils. A few students received their supplies using snail mail. Their reaction: excitement and joy!!

  Students have been sharing artwork that they created on their own during our virtual morning meetings, breaks, and homework club. They have also had the opportunity to learn how to blend oil pastels using virtual online tutorials.

  Our next step is to learn different techniques to use the watercolor pencils effectively.

  Thanks to these art materials, every student in my class feels like an artist!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

  This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 2 other donors.

• Online And Engaged

  Funded Jul 28, 2020

  Thank you for supporting our class with a Teachers Pay Teachers gift card. We were able to purchase materials to help with our language arts writing objectives.

  One of the most difficult writing tasks is to complete the writing process on one text. With the support of the Teachers Pay Teachers materials purchased, the students in my class were able to complete a fictional narrative, starting by collecting ideas, planning using a story map, adding dialogue with sensory details that focused on "show, don't tell" descriptions, adding transition words, and editing for proper punctuation and capitalization using spellcheck.

  The materials also included supporting lessons and graphic organizers for a personal narrative unit, an informative text unit, and an opinion unit. We will be using these materials to support our writing throughout the year.

  Thank you for investing in my students. The materials helped my students tackle a difficult and rigorous assignment. By breaking down each step of the writing process into manageable chunks, my students were able to persevere and see their writing grow and improve. Your investment will help them use a similar process to write informational texts and opinion pieces.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Paper Matters: We Need Sketchbooks for Charcoal and Chalk Pastel

  Funded Mar 27, 2018

  Thank you for providing my students with sketchbooks. The sketchbooks represent more than a place to create their art. They represent the belief in my students as artists. They also represent the hope of my students to use their creative talents in their future lives.

  These sketchbooks have given my students the ability to have sketchbooks at their home as well as in our classroom. Watching them draw in class and want to continue creating at home is a joy and a dilemma. Making sure that they bring back their sketchbooks used to be a challenge. Now, they have one sketchbook at school and one at home. Dilemma solved.

  We have an itinerant Art teacher who comes to our class once a week. It is rewarding to see them learning techniques from a dedicated Art Specialist and applying those techniques in their day-to-day drawings.

  Thank you for supporting their growth as artists. And, thank you for encouraging them to visualize themselves as artists at school and at home.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

  This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.

• Artistic Vision: Starting with a Blank Sheet of Paper

  Funded Mar 6, 2018

  Being able to provide a personal sketchbook to each of the students in my class has given them a sense of pride and ownership of their art work. We received our sketchbooks right before we started a schoolwide art contest for Earth Day. Each student was asked to research the topic of endangered species and their plight. The challenge was to learn about one or more endangered species and create an art piece that reflected their uniqueness and the need to save them.

  It was a joy to see the enthusiasm for the project. Usually, there is reluctance and low participation in these schoolwide competitions. I feel that my class put more effort into their research and drawings because they felt like artists with the right tools to do the job.

  It was amazing to see the details that they included in representing the aye-aye, elephants, narwhals, gray wolves, pandas, sharks and other endangered species. You could see how they applied some of the art techniques that they learned. They also chose to use a variety of media, especially graphite pencils, oil pastels, and charcoal pencils. It was heartwarming to see the pride they had when asked to take a picture with their drawings.

  Thank you for supporting my students and their vision of themselves as artists.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Drawing on the Inner Artist: The "Colony"

  Funded Oct 7, 2017

  Thank you for investing in art supplies for the students in our after-school Artist Colony. When the drawing pencil sets, charcoal sets, and pastels arrived, the students were excited to use "real" art materials.

  The students in the Art Colony had discussions about shading, texture, cool and warm colors, and perspective. With the new materials, they were able to juxtapose the cool and warm colors using pastels. They were also able to see how different graphite pencils could help with shading and creating different textures. And, they are currently experimenting with how to draw 3-D figures.

  The last project they did was to create posters for our Winter Talent Showcase. These posters indicated the changing "scenes" throughout the show. They used the pencils to draw the 3D numbers and pastels and watercolor to add background pictures of Little Red Riding Hood, the hunter, the wolf, the forest, and the path to grandmother's house.

  The two areas where I saw the biggest impact were 1) in the increased interest level in joining the Artist Colony (7 more students joined after we received your donations) and 2) in the elevated level of discussion regarding art techniques and materials.

  I believe that the students participating in the Artist Colony are gifted artists. Your support has given them the opportunity to see themselves as artistic professionals using quality art materials. Thank you for helping them visualize their future and see that their dreams can materialize into reality.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Leveled Library = Kindergarten Engaged in Reading

  Funded Dec 7, 2015

  Dear Rosie,

  Thank you for your generous donation! Because of you, my kindergarten class received books that were level A-D! For each level, we received two to three different book titles. And, for each book title we received 6 copies.

  The students were excited! At first, we read the books in small groups of 6! Our students are encouraged to read books in three ways. First, the do a picture walk and "read" the pictures. Then, they attempt to read the text (the words). Finally, the are asked to retell the story that they have heard! These books had colorful illustrations and patterned sentences that supported the three types of reading!

  In kindergarten, most students want to move up in their reading levels. My students really enjoy knowing when they have read a "higher" level book!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Keeping Up With The Times

  Funded Jul 31, 2015

  Thank you for supporting my Kindergarten class! During our Breakfast in the Classroom time, my students eat and read. They love the days when they receive their own copy of the Times for Kids Magazine! On those days, I am bombarded by one question- "Can we take them home?"

  Beyond generating excitement about reading and encouraging reading at home, access to Times for Kids magazines exposes my students to informative text. They learn about the structure of magazine articles, such as titles, photo captions, and headings. My students also get the opportunity to practice emergent reading skills, such as "reading the pictures," concepts of print, and letter/word recognition skills.

  Thanks again for your donations. Your investment in my class is creating a new generation of students who enjoy reading!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Reading//Writing Workshop Kindergarten Gathering Place

  Funded Sep 15, 2014

  Thank you for providing the funds to purchase two gathering place rugs for our kindergarten classroom. The students were excited when they arrived and they loved the colorful pictures that represented the alphabet letters. The reading areas that are created by these rugs in our library are two of the favorite places for my students to gather and read.

  Currently, the students sit on the rugs during independent reading time, they sit on the rugs when they are reading to or being read to by our upper grade Buddy Readers, and they sit on the rugs when they are part of a small group who have been assigned the library area as one of their stations during the English Language Development and/or the English Language Art component of the day.

  The rugs have truly become gathering places where students engage in independent and partner reading. These rug areas help students to see reading as a fun and relaxing activity NOT a chore to be dreaded. Students want to go to these rugs and read!!

  Thank you for providing the funds to create these positive reading environments!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Kindergarten Independent Reading One Step at a Time

  Funded Sep 15, 2014

  Thank you for providing the funds for our class to receive three sets of leveled readers. In our classroom, we have two upper grade students who have been reading to the students one-on-one and who also listen to my students read to them! The leveled books that were purchased with your funds provided a variety of stories that students understood and which they felt comfortable trying to read on their own.

  In addition to using these readers with our Buddy Readers, my kindergarten students are also able to read these books to each other as an independent station during our English Language Development and English Language Arts portion of the day. There are 5 copies of each reader so pairs of students can have their own copy and read the same book to each other. Because the books are level A, B, or C, they are great for encouraging students to read independently.

  The levels (A, B, C) of the books indicate that they contain high frequency words and sentence patterns that encourage kindergarten students to increase their fluency, to reinforce their ability to recognize high frequency words, and to familiarize themselves with standard English sentence structures.

  Thank you for helping my students have a print rich environment that encourages them to use the reading skills they are learning and to develop as independent readers!!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes

• Engaging Students With Graphic Novels And Time Warp Trio

  Funded May 10, 2012

  Thank you for supporting my project with your donation. Your generous contribution provided additional graphic novels from the Library of Doom series and chapter books from the Time Warp Trio series. As a Resource Teacher, I support several 6th grade English classes as well as my own Learning Center. For the last 5 weeks, I have been carrying these books to the different classes because the students have heard about them from their peers and asked to read them during their silent reading time.

  I am pleased to report that students who usually dread silent reading are the most vocal when requesting the opportunity to read these books. It is a joy to be able to see reluctant readers eagerly select one of these books, sit down, and start reading without additional prompting.

  Thanks again for your support. You have helped many students experience the joy of reading.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Olaes