Past projects 58
Together At School, Yet Divided To Be Safer
Funded Jul 27, 2020Our desk shields finally arrived on Tuesday, and my students were overjoyed to rip open the boxes! We had indoor recess due to the rain, and over half of my class volunteered to peel off the protective plastic covers and put the shields together. I had another team of second graders helping to attach the shields to each desk. It was a blessing to have them help me set these up!
After emailing pictures of the students using the desk shields, the majority of my classroom parents responded right away. They were grateful to see an extra layer of protection in the classroom for their children during the pandemic. When my students sit at their desks during silent work time, they are allowed to take off their masks, and I have already seen happier children! It's nice for them to have a mask break a few times during the day. Honestly, just seeing their entire faces as they work makes me smile.
I appreciate you for donating to my project! This year is like no other for sure, and it will be one we all remember.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
Press on with Kindness
Funded May 29, 2020My 2nd graders loved designing and making their own kindness t-shirts! We spent the first three weeks of school learning about ways to show kindness and practiced random acts of kindness. Last week, I showed them examples of simple t-shirt designs, and they pointed out what qualities make a shirt stand out. They became graphic designers as they carefully sketched out their ideas.
After they completed their illustrations, they neatly colored the designs. I showed them how I scan in their artwork and printed it to an iron-on inkjet transfer sheet. They cut out their designs on the lines, and I used the heat press to transfer their pictures to the shirts. They were amazed and proud to see the final product!
Today, we all wore our kindness shirts to school as a way to remind others that kindness counts. I stressed the importance of wearing their shirts in the community as well so they can inspire others with their unique messages. I plan to have my students design more creative shirts throughout the year, and we will wear our kindness shirts again on November 13 for World Kindness Day. Thank you again for donating to our special project!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.Reading Is in the Bag: Growing Families Through Literacy
Funded Feb 6, 2020I appreciate you all for making generous donations to our literacy project. In February and March, my second graders were excited to check the mail after lunch each day to see what boxes and/or envelopes arrived. They loved carrying the donations back to the room, opening the boxes and announcing what books or materials were inside to add to our literacy bags.
I spent one weekend designing the book bag labels on my computer and carefully ironing them to each book bag. We have twenty-nine literacy bags in all with a variety of nonfiction and fiction quality books and materials thanks to you! The topics include the following:
1.The Amazing Human Body
2.Geology Rocks!
3.Dynamic Dinosaurs
4.Olympics & Olympians
5.America: Red, White & Blue
6.Creative Expression
7.Incredible Inventors & Inventions
8.Powerful Poetry
9.Fractured Fairy Tales
10.Furry Friends: Cats & Dogs
11.Egypt & Mummies
12.Horses
13.Gingerbread Adventures
14.Washington & Lincoln
15.World of Walt Disney
16.International Traveling Adventures Book
17.Amazing Athletes
18.Awesome Animals
19. U.S. Traveling Adventures
20. Martin Luther King., Jr.
21.Habitats of the World
22.Wacky Weather
23.Math Stories
24. Women in History
25.Money
26.Sensational Sea Creatures
27.Spectacular Space
28.Rocky Top Tennessee
29. Spiders, Snakes, Insects & Parasites
I hope to add more bags full of adventure in the future as my students make requests for other topics that interest them.
After we received the majority of the books, my second graders helped me label each book and organize them into the bags before we were scheduled to leave for spring break. I gave them a list of the topics and books so they could rank the order in which they wanted to check them out the remaining weeks of the school year. Unfortunately, we never returned to school due to the Covid19 pandemic. I was disappointed to know this group of children would not be able to take the book bags home to read and share with their families. I hope to begin this project in the fall with my new group of second graders.
Thank you for contributing to this amazing project! I look forward to hearing feedback from students and seeing them get excited about reading adventures!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 7 other donors.Cubbies and Teacher Collaboration Desk With Chair
Funded Oct 30, 2019I appreciate your generous donation to fund locker cubbies, my teacher work station desk and a comfortable chair. My second grade students were excited to finally have their own cubbies to organize their own space instead of sharing with someone else. It was great to see how excited they were when they walked into the room.
The teacher workstation desk and chair are amazing!!! I was able to neatly organize all of my teacher notebooks, materials and weekly work trays on the desk and shelves and still have room for my lamp, computer, lesson plan book and an area to work with students. Each morning, I call up one to two students to reteach a skill or review an activity from the previous day. The desk provides enough space for me to work comfortably with my students, and the rolling, soft chair provides extra comfort for my back as I work with the students.
Thank you again for donating to this project and allowing me to have the resources to create a positive and organized learning environment. I love that Sonic continues to support public education in the United States and provides much needed funds for teachers to create amazing classrooms!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 2 other donors.Get Charged and Organized!
Funded Oct 14, 2019My second graders were excited to open the boxes and help me set up the new iPad charging station racks and neatly organize our iPads. These racks keep the iPads safe, and it's easy for my students to place them back on the station and plug them in at the end of the day. The one foot charging cables are easy for seven and eight-year old students to plug in, and the cords stay untangled.
My second-graders were excited to learn we received an additional iPad to share. They have used a variety of apps such as Mental Math, Prodigy, Sushi Monster and Math Fight to enhance their learning, challenge their thinking, and meet all of the learning levels in my classroom.
Through using Air Server software, we are able to connect the iPad to our Activboard to play review games, practice showing how to research a topic, and model how to use various apps. One of my favorite assessment apps is called Plickers. I can create tests online and the students hold up answer cards. Using the iPad, I quickly scan their answers. I have immediate feedback on the iPad, and only I can see the answers students selected. I am able to know right away which students need additional instruction on a specific skill. Another app that has helped me improve instruction and motivate my students is called Morfo. I was able to take a picture of book characters from our story with the iPad and use this app to animate the characters. I then recorded voices for the characters to introduce a reading lesson. The kids were amazed that the book characters could talk and even personalize their message to them!
Thank you for supporting public education and making improvements to our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
Restock Our Room Transformations!
Funded Oct 21, 2019I appreciate your generous donation to fund our materials for our transformations. My second grade students were completely engaged in their learning, and I LOVED watching them work together during the Text Feature Surgery activity. I made doctor name tags for each student, and they wore the surgery gowns as they operated on their reading text features. My second graders were excited to take their gowns home to wear and pretend to be doctors.
The glow room materials were a huge hit during our Let's Get Glowing room transformation. They loved that the slime and table cloths glowed as they worked on a math activity. They are looking forward to participating in the All American Cafe transformation in the spring where they will dress as chefs as they wear the aprons and chef hats. They absolutely love these transformations, and I couldn't do these without your donations to purchase the items we need to bring the transformations to life.
Thank you again for donating to this project and allowing me to have the resources to plan creative and meaningful lessons!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In.Construction Junction & Safari Adventures
Funded May 9, 2019Using all of the African Safari decorations, my students and I transformed our classroom, and I created an Escape room activity for them to complete! My second grade students were completely engaged in their learning, and I LOVED watching them work together like little detectives trying to find clues or artifacts around the room to help them solve the mystery. Their mission was to discover lock combinations and find a key to unlock various boxes before the lion captured them, and they only had 45 minutes to do this. The final treasure box to unlock was filled with a special treat and gold coins. Within their small groups, they had to read poems and use math, science and English skills to figure out clues . They used black light flash lights to find invisible letters, a wooden cipher to decode a message and detective mirror glasses to read a clue written backwards on a mirror. I was amazed with the problem solving skills and collaboration these students exhibited during this activity
My students are already looking forward to using all of the construction decorations and hats & the construction vests will also be worn during our Glow Room transformation where we darken the room and only have black lights as a light source. Everything NEON glows! They absolutely love these transformations, and I couldn't do these without your donations to purchase the items we need to bring the transformations to life.
Thank you again for donating to this project and allowing me to have the resources to plan creative and meaningful lessons!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 10 other donors.Chromebook and Beyond!
Funded Jul 17, 2019I am extremely thankful for your donations! My second graders truly enjoy having a Chromebook to use to create projects and work on various educational apps. They like having new headphones to minimize the noise in the classroom and using a built-in microphone when recording their voices for projects.
I love that I can incorporate creative play with engaging lessons through room transformations such as the cafe theme pictured, and my students are able to take home their chef hats to play restaurant. Next month, we will use the neon vests during a construction theme class transformation.
The blue lights create a comfortable ambiance where students want to curl up with a good book and read. I've had many students and teachers to enter our classroom and make the comments of how calm and relaxing our room seems to be with the blue lights.
Because we had tile installed in our classroom a few years ago, the floor tends to be very slippery. I ordered an area rug, and we needed a gripper pad to go underneath. I added the gripper pad, and my students noticed how the area rug now stays in one place without causing anyone to slip or fall.
We love making class and individual books about what we are learning! As you can see in the picture, we have already made some books with our new plastic binders. My students are excited to complete their animal research pages so they can bind them to look professional. Thank you for supporting public education and contributing to this project!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
Replenish Our Past Projects!
Funded May 9, 2019I am extremely thankful for your donations! My second graders truly enjoy the classroom transformations, and it's exciting to know I already have the materials we need for the Text Feature Surgery and Glow Room Review. I love that I can incorporate creative play with engaging lessons, and my students are able to take home their surgery outfits when we finish our medical school and surgery day. The lanyards are used all year to hold their library and cafeteria numbers, and I make special name tags to slide into them during all of our themed transformations (See doctor name tags in the photos).
The neon tape is used to outline different areas all over the classroom, and when blacklights are added, the room becomes magical. The glow slime is the prize they win during the math fact glow-in-the-dark game station during the Glow Room Review Day.
As you can see in a posted picture, the floor lap desks will be another choice for seating and working in our room. I'm impressed with the high quality of these desks, and I look forward to using these for many more years. Thank you for supporting public education and contributing to this project!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 8 other donors.Getting Organized for Reading Adventures
Funded May 13, 2019The new bookshelves and surfboard rug look amazing in our reading area!!! Some of the students helped me organize the books by genre in each of the shelf cubbies, and it is much easier for my second graders to locate and select books now. I also have plenty of room to shelf new books as we add more to our classroom library collection. The vivid colors of the surfboard rug add a splash of fun to our beach-themed reading nook area.
I love the blue and black adjustable and foldable headphones! We are able to use these with the iPads and our Chromebook. Students are able to listen to books and videos without disturbing others during work time. The headphones are easy to wipe down to keep them clean, and they fit perfectly in their individual cubby containers for easy storage and safe keeping. I look forward to writing another Donorschoose project to request a few more so each students will have his/her own set to use.
Thank you for your generous donations to help improve the learning environment for my second graders! I appreciate you for supporting public education for our precious students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Webster
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 7 other donors.