Past projects 10
Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader!
Funded Sep 24, 2019Thank you so much for donating and helping to fund our book nook and reading bench!! The kids have loved cuddling up on the comfy cushion and reading their books. It has added some coziness and organization to our reading area in the classroom.
The kids were so excited for the new furniture when they first walked in to the class. They wanted to take turns trying it out and cozying up with their favorite books. It's been so nice having a spot where the kids can sit and easily access materials that they may need such as books and stuffed animals they can read to.
Learning to read is such an important skill for my preschoolers. They may not be able to read the letters or words yet, but they are learning how to handle books appropriately, how to turn the pages carefully, and how to look at the pictures and think about what the book may be about and what is happening in the story.
Thank you again from my students and myself!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
Paper, Paper, Everywhere!
Funded Sep 7, 2018Thank you so much for your very generous donations!! It means so much to me that you would think of my classroom and kids and donate to us! The paper organizers have helped our classroom with organization and also have saved us time with the convenience of seeing the colors and being able to grab exactly the materials we need for projects.
My kids love to do arts and crafts projects and our thematic curriculum has a lot of different opportunities for that! Having the paper organizer and being able to tell my kids to get a certain color helps so much and it also gives them responsibility and teaches them how to organize their materials!
Thank you again so much! It really means a lot to me, my classroom, and, most importantly, my kids!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and 3 other donors.Ticket to Cricut!
Funded May 23, 2018Thank you so much for our brand new Cricut Maker machine! It has been so fun learning how to use Design Space to create something and watch it cut out for us! We even got personalized gifts at the end of the year because of it!
Our teachers have been enjoying using our new Cricut Maker, too, because it helps them prep all the fun projects we make throughout the year! There are 30 of us so it saves our teachers time by cutting out all the materials for our projects.
We can't wait to start the brand new 2018-2019 school year off with our Cricut Maker and be able to decorate the classroom with all of our creations!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
Drawing and Painting and Feeling, Oh My!
Funded Mar 14, 2018My students were SO excited to see our new easel and sensory table!! They love playing at both and have been able to practice some important skills using them.
At the easels, we have painted so many thematic pictures to enhance our bulletin boards, portfolios, and refrigerators at home! These projects allow all of the kids to practice fine motor skills, improve our upper body/core strength, and express themselves creatively. We have painted projects that include storm clouds, flowers, and sunshine!
The sensory tables have been so much fun and we love that there are 4 individual tables. This lets us have something different in each one and we can experience many different textures and skills. Sometimes we have cutting practice in one, water in another, color exploration/science in another, and hand/eye coordination and matching in the last one. These skills are all great for us to work on throughout the year! Right now, we have dirt and bugs in some of the tables and cutting in others. The sensory table is very easy to take care of and we like that each table has its own lid in order to help us define our own personal space.
I know we will continue to enjoy our new easels and sensory table in order to help enhance our thematic curriculum units and improve our skills in many areas!
Thank you so much for funding our project!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
M is for Music!
Funded Oct 21, 2015Thank you so much for our new iPod and docking station! We use this iPod daily to listen to our thematic songs, our routine songs, and fun dance songs! We also use our new iPod to listen to books at the listening center! Our new docking station works so much better than our old one so now we can actually hear the music and books that are playing!
Our new iPod and docking station work so much better than our old one! Our old one used to be so quiet we couldn't hear it and sometimes it wouldn't work at all! Our new iPod is so fast and the docking station lets it play loud enough so that we can all learn our new songs or hear the books!
Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness! We think about you every day when we listen to all of our fun and educational songs and books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
Earth Without Art is Just "eh"!
Funded Nov 12, 2014My students were so excited to see our new drying rack! They love that their projects have a place to dry. We work so hard at the creation station coloring, cutting, gluing, and painting!! Our drying rack is just the right height that it is easily accessible for the students to independently place their projects on. They love that!!
Since receiving our drying rack, we have been able to do so many thematic art projects such as all of the winter holidays, Valentine's Day, winter activities, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day! Before we had our drying rack, we would have enough space for maybe one day's worth of art projects. Now, we can create as many as we want throughout the week! Our classroom looks amazing and the students love seeing all their creations in the room and on the hallway bulletin board for everyone to see!
Art is such a fun and awesome way to encourage student learning and motivation. There are so many skills that students learn from art projects such as fine motor skills, following directions, vocabulary, colors, shapes, counting, sharing, and so much more!
Thank you so much for making our classroom that much more colorful!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
Listening Center for Little Ears!
Funded Aug 22, 2014Thank you all beyond words for our listening center! When I first thought about having a listening center, I did not know my students would enjoy it to the extent that they do! All of the kids were so excited to try it out! The iPod dock helps make it so easy to set up and accessible for more audio books that are available! As we are in the month of November and learning about what it means to be thankful, I am most certainly thankful for your generous donations and thoughtfulness!
We use the listening center as a small-group activity with up to 4 children with one adult facilitating. We have read so many thematic books for the months of October and November and have more to read for the upcoming months! My kids have always loved reading books, especially this year, but the listening center adds a whole new dimension to our reading and learning!
For many students, the small-group atmosphere of the listening center and the individual headphones help guide their listening and comprehension skills. I am amazed each time we use the listening center how well each student sits, listens and focuses on the book! As a literacy based preschool, this listening center has boosted my kids excitement to learn even more!
Thank you all again so much!! You have made 25 3- and 4-year olds (and a preschool teacher!) very happy and grateful!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 4 other donors.If You Give A Class A Carpet...
Funded Nov 1, 2013I cannot thank you enough for contributing to our new carpet and helping get it funded! When our brand new carpet arrived in our classroom, everyone was so excited!! The kids and I loved how big the carpet was and how much room we all had to sit down! The bright colors were very appealing as well and added a lot to the physical appearance of the classroom. The large size is perfect for our circle time area and fits very well!
We use our new carpet during several activities throughout our day! We use it as our "meeting spot" after we clean up or transition. During circle time when we greet all our friends and go over our schedule for the day, we sit on our carpet. We sit on our carpet when we read books (by ourselves and with the teacher!). During music and movement, our carpet gives us plenty of room so we are comfortable and not bumping into each other. Also, when we do our calendar math each day we sit on our carpet.
The first thing we did was to assign each student his or her own letter to sit on. This helps in so many ways! The kids are able to learn about personal space ("bubble space") and always has a place to go during transitions and whole-group activities. There are no arguments over who was sitting in a spot first or who is sitting next to who because each kid has their letter and they LOVE that! Having our carpet also helps the children identify letters. Since each child has a specific letter to sit on, they get to know that letter and we can talk about what that letter says and if any classmates have that letter in their name. Also, it is a lot easier to say "okay, sit down/stand up on your letter!". Being able to give a clear direction helps with language development and comprehension.
We LOVE our new carpet!! We appreciate your kindness and generosity so much. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
iPad To Give All Of Us a Voice!
Funded Dec 29, 2012I want you to know how much your donation is appreciated. We have been using our iPad to help us learn our names, letters, numbers, shapes and colors! We found several educational and fun games to help us with these and other very important readiness skills. The iPad is so motivating and helps us to want to learn even more! Sometimes we're having so much fun we don't even realize we are learning! We use it both one-on-one and in small groups. It's one of our favorite centers!
Another important part of preschool is singing songs and our iPad helps us do that as well! My students love to watch videos of their favorite songs such as "The Wheels on the Bus", "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", and "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". It helps the songs come to life!
Our school's budget right now is basically non-existent so your donation helped out tremendously! We would not be able to enjoy our iPad if it were not for your kindness and generosity! Please know that you have helped impact and enrich the lives of over 20 wonderful 3- and 4-year old preschoolers (and one very happy, grateful teacher!!)”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa
Circle Time Spots!
Funded Nov 29, 2012My students and I are so appreciative of your kindness and generosity. We use our new phonics rug squares every day. The squares help us to keep our bubble space at circle time and have our own spot at the rug. It helps to learn spatial boundaries while also helping us learn our letters! There are lots of great benefits to these phonics carpet squares.
The letters and pictures on the carpet squares are great. They help us learn our letters and letter sounds, which is a very important part of the early childhood curriculum-especially those of us going on to Kindergarten next year! There are fun ways to use the carpet squares as a game, also! We are excited to discover all the possibilities in using them.
We cannot thank you enough for this donation. Having a nice, soft, cushy individual spot to sit on at circle time and all of our rug activities helps to make us more comfortable and attentive! Thank you so much again for thinking of us and caring enough to donate!!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Elexa