Past projects 26
Diverse Students Need Diverse Books!
Funded Jan 8, 2021I am so thankful for your generous support of this project. This whole school year has been so challenging for students. They have been deprived of so many childhood experiences. However, thanks to your generosity, I was able to create an amazing experience for my students. When the boxes arrived and I told my students that it was for them, the excitement was overwhelming. We took all of the books out and looked at each one. They wanted me to read all of the books right away! We have enough books now to read a new one every day for the rest of the school year.
One of my favorite parts of this project was the amount of diversity reflected in the books. This really helps our classroom library represent my students. My students loved seeing characters that look like them in these books. Seeing yourself in the pages of a book really does wonders for a child's self-esteem and I am incredibly thankful to the donors for helping me give that experience to my students.
We also received some books about upcoming events in our class like the 100th day of school and the end of the school year. These books will be read to students to prepare for these exciting events and to help students understand the traditions associated with them. It is so exciting for my students to see characters in books celebrating holidays the same way that we do.
Having new books in our classroom library makes students so much more excited about reading. The pandemic has really changed how we do our classroom library time, but I still try to give my students a chance to read and look at books independently each week. Choosing from the same old books each week isn't much fun, so this infusion of new books is just what we needed to get excited about reading again.
Again, I am so thankful to the donors for making this project possible and supporting our classroom. This has been an amazing experience for my students, and it has truly made a difference.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by Amazon Business and 3 other donors.Crafting and Computing
Funded May 3, 2019We have been using our new materials everyday! We use the wireless mice and the headphones every single day. Many of my students don't have computers at home so it can be intimidating for them. With the wireless mice and headphones though, they feel more comfortable since they don't have to struggle with all the wires. They are able to use the computers each day and they use a program that helps them learn letters and sounds. It also helps them be more independent because they don't have to call me over to help them when they get tangled. The wireless items have really been great for my students.
My project also included a small photo printer. We use that to print out photos taken of the kids during fun classroom activities. They are displayed in the classroom and the students love to go look at them. It helps them build memories and a sense of community.
Also included in the project was small materials for crafting like beads and pom-poms. I think these might be their favorite out of all the materials. We use them for practicing fine motor skills. They work together to sort the beads by color and it is really great practice for those tiny hand muscles.
These materials are really going to help my students build many different skills. I am so grateful to the donors for supporting this project. Thank you again for your support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 3 other donors.Bringing Books Into Playtime
Funded May 11, 2018With these new books, I have been able to incorporate so many new skills into our classroom. I have been using the cookbooks to introduce healthy foods to my students and we have begun to discuss making some of the recipes as a class. The books are kept in our dramatic play center which looks like a mini kitchen and it is so amazing to see these kids sitting and looking at cookbooks and talking about what they would like to cook. I have also been using the books about buildings to build engineering skills. We have a block center in our classroom and the kids have been using the books as guides to create all kinds of structures with the blocks.
I think the art books are going to be the best thing to help me teach creativity skills to my students. It is still early in the school year, but I have gotten so many ideas for projects that we are going to make. Children at this age learn so many valuable skills through making and creating so I am super excited to start teaching my students about art.
In our classroom we also have free reading time at least once a week. I let them choose any book from our shelves and the books featuring kids of all different colors have been so popular! The girls especially love seeing girls with curly hair and brown skin like theirs being celebrated. I can't wait to add more books like these to our collection. I am incredibly grateful for all the support this project received.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 7 other donors.Getting Off to a Great Start!
Funded Apr 28, 2018This was an incredibly helpful project for my classroom. It isn't one that is very exciting for the kids because it was mostly cleaning supplies but they are super excited to have a clean classroom. When the parents entered my room on the first day of school, they noticed how clean everything was and they felt much better about leaving their children at school for the first time. They also loved all the decorations I had made using the Astrobrights paper.
At the beginning of the year kids always get sick. So to cut down on germs I have been using the Lysol Wipes on everything in our classroom. I think it is helping because I haven't noticed as much coughing and sneezing as usual. It also helps that we have a huge jug of soap to wash our hands with because our school often runs out of soap.
The most exciting part of the project (our cooler!) will be used soon when we go on our first field trip. The kids are going to love being able to take their snacks and lunches with us wherever we go! I am so grateful to all the donors for supporting this project. These may seem like small or unimportant items, but they really do make a huge difference in the lives of my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and one other donor.Building Our Block Center
Funded Mar 27, 2018The look on my student's faces when they saw me bring a new shelf full of blocks was priceless! There were gasps, cheers and so much excitement! They could not believe that they were going to get to use these new materials. We talked about how to use them and take care of them and ever since, they have been having a blast. They have built so many interesting structures and I am so impressed with their creativity. You would never know that they have not ever had access to toys like these. They are going to be learning so many valuable skills with these blocks.
Our next classroom project will be to get new books for each of our classroom play areas. So in the block area of our classroom, we should have books showing different kinds of buildings and types of architecture. In our dramatic play area we should have cookbooks and books showing different kinds of families. In our math and science area we need all kinds of books especially books about nature. In our art area we need books that show different kinds of art. These types of books in our classroom will help enrich their playtime and help reinforce concepts we are currently learning.
Thank you for supporting this project. It will really make a difference for my students this year and in the years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.Help Make Our Classroom Amazing!
Funded Dec 31, 2017This project has made such a tremendous impact on my classroom. I have been able to use these materials and create so many wonderful things for my students. I have been able to print out classroom labels and newsletters on the colorful Astrobrights paper. I have used the Contact paper to put those labels all around our classroom so my students can see where things go. I could go on for days describing the multitude of ways these new materials have been used to enhance our classroom environment.
When the kids saw how many boxes were arriving, they were stunned! At first they didn't really understand what all the things were like laminating sheets, but when I told them about all the things we could make from these materials they started to understand.
Our next project will be for our block center. The shelves are very old and hard to move around. The blocks are pretty old too and the set is missing many of the crucial pieces and I think my kids would love to have a brand new set. They learn so many math, science and engineering skills through block play and those skills will be crucial to their futures.
I am incredibly grateful to all the donors for their support of this very important project. Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 3 other donors.Getting Back to Normal After Irma
Funded Nov 13, 2017Hurricane Irma was a huge deal for my students. We were out of school and without power for two weeks and many of their homes were damaged. Our playground was a wreck with trees and debris everywhere. This project helped my classroom get back on track. It gave my students something to look forward to on the playground.
After all that they had been through, they really deserved to have something fun happen. They were ecstatic to see the new equipment. They use the stepping stones and the balance beam now every day. They also love the basketball hoop. I have seen some serious basketball skills and I am so glad they have this opportunity. It is great because our playground doesn't have anything like these things for them to play with.
I am so grateful to the donors for supporting this project. It gave my students something to be excited about when they really needed it. We are finally back to normal here in South Florida. Thank you so much for supporting our classroom. My students and I are endlessly appreciative.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 2 other donors.Let's Play in Pre-K!
Funded Apr 4, 2017These new playground materials have dramatically increased the enjoyment my students get from their outdoor time. Our playground is old and the structure just isn't a fun place to play. Now, they have so much fun when we go to the playground. They have balls so they can play all kinds of games. They also love to walk around on the stilts. It really doesn't take much to make them happy.
The best part is actually the equipment cart so that we now have a place to keep all of these new materials and a way to transport them outside. My students love when it is their turn to push the cart and distribute the equipment to their classmates. I love that the cart keeps all our playground equipment organized and secure.
I am so grateful for the support for this project. It has increased the amount of exercise my students get and it has helped to make school a fun place for them. Childhood should be fun and I want my students to have a positive experience in school. Further improvements for our class will probably include more teaching materials and things to make our classroom a brighter, more colorful place.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
Pre-K Plays Pretend
Funded Apr 4, 2017My students were absolutely thrilled when I showed them the new materials. The dramatic play center instantly became the most popular choice for center time. We already had baby dolls but now we have clothes and bottles for them too so my students can take care of the babies. They love putting the babies in the crib to sleep or feeding them in the high chair. It is so much fun for them!
The dress up storage also had a huge impact on our classroom. We were able to get rid of the old, musty smelling drawers we were previously keeping our dress up materials in. Now the clothes hang up and my students can put everything away independently. It makes it so much easier for them to see what they want to put on. I also love that it has storage space for some of the other dramatic play materials we have.
This project has greatly improved our classroom. I am so grateful for the support we have received. Our next project will be geared towards learning materials like letter magnets and dry erase boards. After that I might like to make improvements to our blocks and building center. I am always trying to improve my classroom because my students deserve a positive school experience.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez
We Need to Read
Funded Jan 12, 2017My students were so thrilled when the new books arrived. They arrived just as we were starting our Being Healthy theme, so we were able to use some of the new books right away. My students loved that we had brand new books to look at because they have never had that before.
We talked about how we would take care of the books and make sure that they last a long time. Then I put the relevant books on the shelf in our library center and I was shocked to see how many of my students actually wanted to go sit and read books. Usually only a couple of students choose to go to the library center during center time, but now they all want to go every day. Now, when we change themes I am able to put out a wide selection of books for all of our themes.
We received books about being healthy, books about families, books about different holidays, and books about different cultures. The holiday books have been great to pull out and help me explain to the kids about how we celebrate different holidays. It is great to have these new resources to help me share this information with my students. I am extremely grateful for the support my classroom has received through Donorschoose. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Alvarez