Past projects 7
A Beautiful Classroom
Funded Dec 8, 2024Thank you so much for helping us get a new classroom shelving unit and sturdy bins to store materials. Our old bins were cheap and constantly causing a danger of pinched fingers. Our new bins allow the students to see which materials are available in order to facilitate their learning to make an active choice.
Our new shelf is beautiful! Since it has three shelves we are able to fit more materials on the shelving unit in order to provide the students with more choices. Our new shelf is also sturdy so we are no longer worried about a child pushing it over or a shelf breaking!
Thank you again for helping us create a more functional, beautiful classroom that better facilitates student independence.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
Let the Light Shine
Funded May 7, 2024Last spring, we were so excited to get our new light table materials! Many of them were immediately engaging for my young students.
My young students with Autism are often highly motivated by light and colors. One thing they are working on is expanding their ability to attend to a task, which requires highly motivating materials. We used the materials as language learning opportunities as well, naming the colors, shapes, letters, and other concepts.
The children especially loved the crystal cubes for building and were able to demonstrate the cognitive concept of copying block designs. They sorted them by color, created rainbows, counted them, and demonstrated various math concepts. They were also great to use to demonstrate the concept of color mixing.
While these materials were intended to be used on the light table, we also used them in our water table as a sensory experience. The children loved fishing for the translucent letters and other materials in the water table.
Thanks to your generosity! The children are excited to learn. Their vocabulary increased. Their attention increased. Their excitement about school and interaction with peers increased. Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my classroom and the special students I teach!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 7 other donors.ABCs and 1, 2, 3s
Funded Dec 1, 2022As I predicted, the ABCs and 1,2,3s materials were highly motivating for the children.
Many of my students have hyperlexia and advanced literacy skills. While they know the letters and numbers and know how to read, my students need materials to support their functional use of these skills. The children have loved sequencing the alphabet using the magnetic letters and magnetic boards. We've also used these letters to support students in learning to segment words into individual sounds in order to spell and read short words. For students with less advanced literacy skills, these materials support them in learning to spell their names and identify the letters.
The children are using the new number puzzles to learn to recognize the numbers and sequence them. They are also learning to count the objects and increase their language skills by putting number + object together as they count. The train puzzles are a huge hit and continue to be used on a daily basis.
While learning to recognize numbers and letters is of course crucial to being prepared for kindergarten, learning to see the big picture and other cognitive skills are also just as important. The children are motivated to use the picture puzzles and learning to see parts of a whole (an important math concept). They are also learning about size order and big/small as they play with the stacking cups and rings. We also use the stacking cups in our water table to explore the science of water and containers. Which containers hold water for longer? Why do the containers with holes not hold water?
Thanks to your generosity! The children are excited to learn. Their vocabulary increased. Their attention increased. Their excitement about school and interaction with peers increased. Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my classroom and the special students I teach!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
It Began With a Song
Funded Sep 29, 2022As I predicted, the thematic unit on Apples was a hit and even though we have moved on to new units of study, the apple toys continue to be highly motivating for the children.
When I brought out the new apple toys the children were immediately engaged. It was a good thing that I had a variety of apples because every child wanted to participate. At our sensory table we had lots of opportunities to use our new apple toys to practice math. We sorted apples by color and size. We also introduced the vocabulary "float". The children were very interested in the spoons and tongs. Learning to use the tongs was a challenge, but they all felt proud by their accomplishments and the tongs helped improve their fine motor skills. The slotted spoons provided opportunities for problem solving: "Why can't the spoons scoop up water but they can scoop apples?"
The fraction apples were a great way to introduce the new concepts and vocabulary "whole, half and quarter". The children worked with these apples to problem solve how to take them apart and put them back together. They discovered that they could combine halves and quarters, but not thirds and quarters. They also used them in pretend play.
The apple number puzzles also helped them work on problem solving and matching skills. The children learned to match the outer color as well as the inner color and orient the apples so that the two pieces fit together.
Thanks to your generosity, what began with a song turned into a months long engagement. The children were excited to learn. Their vocabulary increased. Their attention increased. Their excitement about school and interaction with peers increased. Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my classroom and the special students I teach!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
This classroom project was brought to life by Valhalla Foundation and one other donor.We Need a Clean and Child-Friendly PreK
Funded Oct 16, 2021It has been a busy year in my PreK classroom. Despite the challenges surrounding us, we have found lots of joy and the children have learned so much, thanks in large part to your donation.
The children have loved using the spray bottles, especially to help take care of our classroom snails. Many of my students have fine motor delays and limited strength in their hands. Spray bottles have been a fun, engaging way for them to exercise their hands. We've also used a few of the spray bottles to our adult cleaning supplies to insure that our students stay healthy.
The step stools have allowed my students to be more independent when washing their hands. Without the stools the children were unable to reach the faucet to turn the water on. Learning to complete daily self-help skills independently is a crucial component of PreK and good hand hygiene has helped our students stay healthy.
Thank you again for supporting my classroom and the special students I teach!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
Support PreK students with Special Needs
Funded Oct 6, 2021It has been a busy year in my PreK classroom. Despite the challenges surrounding us, we have found lots of joy and the children have learned so much, thanks in large part to your donation.
The magnatiles we received have been a huge hit in our classroom. The younger children, who are just beginning to grasp the idea of building, stack them and feel immense satisfaction and pride. Since the magnatiles stick together the children can be more successful stacking them than they can with other types of blocks. The older children are learning to identify shapes and learning how to build complex designs. We also use them to identify colors and learn about color mixing at our light table.
Already we've gone through 100 laminating pouches! These were used to laminate materials that the children use throughout the day. Our classroom is labeled so the children know where to put things. We have visual cards to support the children in understanding the routines which are necessary because most of our students have significant language delays. The visual helps them transition more smoothly without throwing tantrums. I also use the laminating pouches for making interactive song visuals. These visuals help the students learn new vocabulary and learn to count. The visuals are interactive so the Velcro comes in handy as well. The children love learning these new songs and they have gained many new vocabulary words as well as learned to count.
We use our activity trays for so many things, but especially art projects and looking at our classroom snails. Many of my student are hyperactive and impulsive and growing up in the city has kept them away from digging in the dirt and learning to care for the words small creatures. The snails require the children to wait patiently, touch gently, and move slowly like the snails. They also provide ample opportunities for counting and building language skills. But in order to look at them we needed trays to keep them contained.
Thank you again for supporting my classroom and the special students I teach!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana
Kindergarten Science Sensory Table
Funded Oct 16, 2011As predicted the sensory table was an immediate favorite in our classroom. During free choice time it is almost always the first area to fill up and students are constantly asking their friends to switch with them so that they can have a turn. So far we have used it to explore soil, spray bottles, leaves, dried beans, and sand. The children have engaged in dramatic play using farm animals and used shovels and funnels to investigate the properties of sand. The soil related to our studies on planting and growing. Using spray bottles helps students develop the small muscles in their hands which are used for writing and drawing. The leaves related to our study of trees and seasonal change. During one of our weekly field trips we collected leaves and filled the sensory table. After exploring the leaves for a while we used them to talk about the five senses and made five senses collages. The tiny broken pieces of leaves that were left went back into the sensory table along with dried beans, toy farm animals, and small containers. Rich dramatic play around feeding the animals arose, as did lots of conversation on how to share the small amount of leaves that were left.
While playing at the table we can see the students learning crucial social skills such as how to share materials, ask for what they need, and share physical space. There is lots of negotiating that occurs as well as much laughter and imaginative play. For many students this has become their favorite place in the classroom and they choose to go to the sensory table every day during choice time. There is constant negotiation around taking turns to play at the sensory table and sharing the materials as well as working together to clean up what spills on the floor. Lessons on how to use a broom and dust pan arose naturally as our rule "Be Clean" is constantly being challenged at the sensory table. Students are gradually learning how to use the materials in a way that minimizes spills, however the broom must still be kept close at hand.
I cannot express enough my gratitude for your support in this project. The arrival of our sensory table has truly changed our classroom. It has added a place where our extremely tactile learners can feel calm, provided a space where students can get their hands dirty, and contributes to the students' social, physical, and cognitive development. Since our school is still very young, all of our budget must go to basic supplies such as books, pencils, tables and chairs. Without your help we would not have this crucial space in which the children learn with their hands and their senses. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mirana