Past projects 6
Hands on Materials and Games Make Math Fun
Funded Oct 26, 2021I am very thankful for all of your donations. I shared the story with my students of how I was able to obtain community support to make our learning more hands on and they were surprised and thankful. We started using the base ten blocks immediately. They were ideal to help make a concrete connection to understanding division. By placing the blocks in groups and then separating them my students were able to see how division is repeated subtraction, in a more efficient way. It was a hands on experience for the whole class.
All of my students were very excited to see that we had classroom games. This was a break from the constant arithmetic into strategic thinking with Connect Four, Mancala, Battleship, Jenga, and Uno. I look forward to getting the cards out for them to play multiplication and division games. Eventually we will be using the fraction disks and towers to have concrete connections to fractions and their properties as numbers.
Please feel free to email me and I'll update you with more details of how we are using all of the materials you helped purchase for my students. I am tremendously grateful to have such a supportive community.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova
Building a Librería en EspañOl
Funded Mar 13, 2020Thank you very much for your generosity. Once again you have shown up for my students and provided funding that will support their growth in literacy. These books will engage them in reading and develop their confidence to believe in themselves as learners. They will open opportunities in reading akin to their classmates reading in English and keep them included in conversations. These books will strengthen our class community!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova
Windows & Mirrors: Authors of Color, 5th Grade Book Clubs
Funded Sep 5, 2019Developing the love for reading in 5th graders is one of the main goals I set for my classroom. If I can engage students in enjoying reading and writing about their interpretations, they can grow from readers that do it as chore to readers that love books. Having these books are a tremendous help for students to interpret based on characters that reflect their lived experiences. Authors of Color bring characters to their writing that my students can relate to and grow from.
My students are organized in book clubs and they get to talk about the books they read, debate their ideas, and grow their thinking as they travel along with the characters in their struggles and successes. These books have provided me with a lot more flexibility in creating my book clubs an ensuring everyone has a high interest book. They are reading to enjoy the story and are also making connections to their lives. They are asking questions about how the themes from their books can help them make better decisions.
My 5th graders are delighted by these brand new colorful books. I am very thankful for your support and you believing in the work that I do with my class community.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova
Adventures In Reading:Creepy Crawlies, Extreme Weather, Outer Space!
Funded Aug 29, 2019We are a classroom that loves to learn, reading and writing are foundational in acquiring new information. These new books are highly engaging and provide text complexity and encourage curiosity from 5th graders. From the covers, students preview their books and build interest in reading. Previewing a book is essential before reading, it helps build connections to background knowledge and prime readers for the journey ahead. Once the reading begins students learn to identify the text features like pictures, maps, captions, charts, etc. These components of non-fiction text are in a variety of informational text, articles and in the real world. Students learn to make a connection to themselves and apply reading skills to make sense of their every day literacy.
Reading in my classroom is individuals, partnerships, and groups reading in a spot that helps them stay focused on their text. It sounds like a quiet library with a few whispers and quick note taking on post-its or in reading journals. Eyes are glued to the pages and students gently turn to me when I approach them for a conference on their reading progress.
"This is actually a really interesting book! I want to read it more," "At first I thought it was going to be all about guts and gross, but I'm learning from this body book," were a couple of the comments from my students as they picked up the new books. My boys are surprised at their self interest in the new non fiction books. This is a shift from the graphic novels they cherish. I am delighted that they have begun to shift their interest to topics in science and history. This will help them become more well rounded readers.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova
Chromebooks to Learn From the World!
Funded Dec 20, 2016Thank you very much for funding our Chromebooks to Learn from the World. Currently our classroom is housed in portables outside the school and we have limited access to technology and other resources from the building. These three Chromebooks have made a huge difference in our access to technology. They have been added to three iPads that were also funded by Donors Choose. Now 6th graders have tools to not only engage in extra practice of math and literacy but also research. For reading, they have access to Lexia, software that helps them improve phonics and decoding at their individualized level of reading. I am able to get a weekly report and follow up with the right level of support depending on their progress. This program is most beneficial to my English Language Learners in providing engaging activities that help them practice skills learned during the reading lesson. To extend their learning in math students are able to get on code.org and connect their knowledge of math to programing and writing code for games. They are fully engaged in problem solving! The theme of our learning this year has been "making the learning yours," meaning, continue to ask questions and own the knowledge that is being shared. With the Chromebooks students can continue this research via Discovery Education and NEWSELA. On these websites they watch videos, listen to reports, and read up to date articles and news about current events. Additionally, I have set up google classrooms for my students and I prepare files with articles, videos, and links to opportunities to extend their learning.
The most exciting part of the Chromebooks is that they are easy to work with and have quick Internet access. In addition, they have a keyboard which helps students with typing reports and presentations for group work in science and social studies. This way students can start practicing their typing skills which will be necessary as they continue to middle school next year. When I first unveiled them they were happily surprised and eager to be the first to use them. They were excited to have technology that works. We have three desktop PCs in our class that are about 10 years old and often blue screen and crash. This is very frustrating for all of us. The Chromebooks are reliable technology that provides speedy access to the internet.
The students that have warmed up to the Chromebooks the most are the ones that enjoy doing further research, which are my ELL students. The access to reliable technology keeps them learning and finding more about what they learn and wonder from our daily lessons, or from their life experiences outside the classroom. All students are eager to use the Chromebooks and they treat them with care. We are a community that values each other and our property and take good care of all. Altogether, the Chromebooks have been a welcome addition to our classroom and are providing essential support every day. I hope there will be another opportunity to receive more technology for our classroom that will enhance learning. These Chromebooks are a wonderful window to learn from the world.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova
iPads for Learning 5th Graders!
Funded Mar 9, 2016Dear Donors,
Thank you very much for funding our iPads for Learning. You have helped us get a great start in equipping our classroom with current technology. The iPads are used to compliment the learning 5th graders do in math, reading, social studies, and science. For example, these two iPads can be used in conjunction with another six that I share with two teachers at my school. One of the ways we use them is in math rotations. A group of eight students at a time can work on ST Math, Think Through Math, or Xtra Math to enhance their computational skills and problem solving. These different programs provide a differentiated level of support to students based on what they need to work on the most. This is helping my students learn math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It's challenging them to think critically by solving math puzzles, word problems and algebra problems. For reading, they have access to, Lexia, software that helps them improve phonics and decoding at their individualized level of reading. I am able to get a weekly report and follow up with the right level of support depending on their progress. This program is most beneficial to my English Language Learners in providing them with engaging activities that help them practice what they learned during the reading lesson. Lastly, we have used the iPads in science and social studies research. Students have the opportunity to research further science questions about motion, force, gravity, etc. They are learning more deeply and answering their own questions. They are empowered to research further and own their learning.
The most exciting part of the iPads for my students is that they are new, speedy, and function. When I first unveiled them there was a feeling of surprise and awe. They were excited to have technology that works. We have four laptops in our classroom are 10 years old and often blue screen and crash. This is very frustrating for all of us. The iPads are reliable technology to use for a number of activities. I have had to create a rotation schedule since we have only two for a class of 24. However, this is a great start and I hope gradually we will be able to get more iPads and laptops for our class.
The students that have warmed up to the iPads the most is the ones that learn visually and enjoy seeing the concepts we are learning presented on a screen. In addition to manipulatives (cubes, blocks, puzzles) the iPads serve as platform to show a visual that can be interactive and can help to better understand, math, reading, and show media for social studies and science. The group of these students varies in each subject but it is usually my English Language Learners that appreciate this the most. Altogether, the iPads have been a welcomed addition to our classroom and are providing essential support every day.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cordova