Past projects 6
Giving Middle Schoolers of Lahaina Options
Funded Nov 20, 2023The Bose Speakers makes working in our class very enjoyable and using music has worked as a great time keeper! By playing classical chill on Amazon music using the Bose speaker, my students and I find our learning environment relaxing and productive. Students know by the end of so many songs, their work time is finished. We use the smaller Bose Speaker when we go outside to work and this helps by having students work in a circle around the speaker to hear and work whole class.
The spiral notebooks help to organize students' work and the sharpies help students outline; therefore, they produce quality work. The binders are useful to organize my lessons by unit.
The slinkys are a great hit and are highly sought after by my students! The slinkys are used when students are in small groups where they share one at a time with a partner. This helps students kinesthetically move while sharing their thoughts.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong
Getting Google With It!
Funded Sep 25, 2018My students are using the bean bag chairs, folding chairs, and yoga mat to sit comfortably while they work on their class assignments on the computer. It has been a HUGE motivation to stay focused in our class and has greatly improved student engagement! Students seem relaxed a
When my students first saw the materials, they were so excited to use them. I was able to keep all my desk and chairs and make room for the flexible seating too. There are enough seating for almost half my class to sit in a flexible way. We use them everyday, even during state testing! After I go over the class agenda, I give students a math problem to solve for them to figure out which 2 groups are doing the flexible seating for the day.
With students taking more ownership and becoming self-directed learners, they are getting to chose for themselves how they want to demonstrate their knowledge at the end of a unit: test or project. This is the next step where I want my students to go: be self-directed, ask for help with whomever you feel comfortable with, and work hard.
Thank you all again so much for your generous donation. From the bottom of my heart, I extend a warm aloha!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 6 other donors.Science Success!
Funded Feb 11, 2016My students have created hands-on projects with the supplies you have made available to us. Students explored their understanding by creating projects that demonstrated their higher level thinking. Thank you for your support in helping me achieve this goal!
My sixth grade science students chose to create either a board game, comic strip, or power point presentation on our unit on "Force and Motion." They used the construction paper, glue, color pencils, and pencil sharpeners to create their hands-on project. In teams of two, they made their board game questions with answers to help them review for their test. It was a fun and engaging way for them to review, create, and work in teams to make their projects, which they then shared and challenged their classmates prior to taking the test. My eighth graders used the glitter Chenille stem to create their own electromagnetic stem model to have in their interactive notebooks. They enjoyed manipulating the stem rather than simply drawing it! My health students used the food scale to measure out how much salt and sugar were in the typical foods middle school students might indulge. They brought in their wrappers, containers, and foods and I brought the sugar and salt. They were surprised to see how much of these ingredients were in their foods. It opened up multiple questions and comments, which lead our whole class discussion on how to eat right and take care of our bodies. I felt they were impacted to see and hold a cup full of sugar than if we simply talked about it.
Having these supplies provided opportunities for my students to express their understanding in a way they chose. Giving my students the option either creating a board game, comic strip or power point presentation was a great challenge for them. Because my students had access to materials such as these, they took pride and ownership of their learning. It was a great experience for them and for me to see I can trust students can take on any challenge your present to them, as long as they have the support they need. Thank you again for your support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong
Science Readiness!
Funded Oct 28, 2015All of my students have greatly benefited from your generous donation! The projects my students were involved with allowed them to demonstrate their understanding in a creatively fun way by the materials made possible by you all. I am thankful for donors such as yourself to provide my students with the opportunities to show their critical thinking in engaging ways. For example, each of my sixth grade students created at atom model with the card stock paper and markers to show their understanding of the atomic model. Their restaurant menu project allowed my students to use the printer, card stock and construction paper and worked in groups to produce a product that demonstrated their understanding of how chemical reactions work in the field of cooking! It was exciting to see them recognize how they witness chemical reactions in their everyday life.
My students were shocked and thrilled when I told them all the supplies they would bee receiving! My students use the card stock and construction paper in their interactive notebooks and shared with the entire faculty during our weekly meetings. My students described how their notebook helped them to stay organize and be responsible for their own learning. Since then, many teacher have asked for my support to show them how to integrate an interactive notebook that engages students to move forward as self-directed learners.
As far as for next steps, I will support other teachers on the interactive notebook and I myself am encouraged as a teacher to have my students explore and learn using projects that allow them to relate the curriculum to their lives. I feel it is important for them to see the connection so they are empowered and motivated to ask challenging questions and become life long learners in a world that needs these kinds of thinkers.
Again, I want to say thank you for all the support you have provided in making these materials available in our classroom. I started out with very little supplies and I asked for help and received it. I couldn't be more thankful this holiday season and I hope you all can see from the pictures provided how they are put into great. Thank you for supporting and caring!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong
STEM Support for Hawaiian Students
Funded Oct 2, 2014Thank you so much for your support! My students were able to create a foldable on the layers of the Earth with the construction paper. They also used the card stock to help build an Earth to scale model, which they currently have displayed in our school library for the entire school to see!
My students were engaged learners by completing these projects and presenting them too. The Power Point laser presenter helped me move around the classroom and help students as we completed our Cornell notes in order to prepare for our projects.
My school thanks you also for the support! Mahalo and we will continue to use the materials to build models and perform presentations that help students in their understanding of Earth Science.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong
Hawaiian Sci-Fi Crab Lab!
Funded Nov 7, 2012This project has allowed students to create a scientific investigation using hermit crabs found in our local ocean tide pools!! How cool is that!? Students made behaviors observations on the hermit crabs using the air pumps provided by your generous donation. Then they based questions on their observations and designed their own scientific investigation based on their possible explanations for their questions. After testing their hypothesis, students collected their data and graphed their results to share out loud with the class.
Students were engaged the entire time! This was a great lab to end the year with because it ties nicely with next year, where they will begin with scientific investigation.
Thank you again for you support in helping bring the ocean into our classroom. Field trips are near impossible, but we managed to bring science alive with your support. Again, a great big mahalo from all my students and me!!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wilfong