Past projects 50
Laptop for Literacy
Funded Jun 13, 2024Thank you for your generous donation toward my project. My students can watch phonics videos in small groups to reinforce the skills I have taught them, and they can research information for a topic they will write about. My student looked up information for her informational paper on the sun and its effect on the solar system. She was able to use the laptop to practice her keyboarding skills. As my students age, they need to be able to type on a keyboard instead of pencil and paper. Having the laptop in the classroom has given me options to help my students that I didn't have before.
I greatly appreciate your support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This classroom project was brought to life by Neukom Family Foundation and one other donor.Cracking the Reading Code!
Funded Jun 8, 2024We are truly grateful for your donations for our project. The Secret Stories cards have been helpful to my students because they can connect the stories to the sounds that the letters make.
When blending letters to make words, seeing them make hand gestures for the short vowels brings me joy because they use the strategies they learned from the Secret Stories.
The personal chart of the Secret Stories is helpful for the students because they use it while writing their stories. They can sound out the word and look for the graphic to find the correct spelling.
Thank you again for your donation towards my project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This Teacher Wants to Learn in the Summer
Funded Jun 14, 2024Over the summer, I attended a virtual training to improve my students' reading skills. It's the second week of school, and I can go from class to class to share my newly acquired skills. I can quickly assess which students need additional support with phonemic awareness and phonics. I will see which students know the letter and the sound it makes with the visual and auditory drill. By understanding the sounds a letter makes, the students can blend or decode a word that is presented to them. The more they practice letter-sound correspondence, the better readers they will be.
As the year progresses, I will be able to practice more of the skills I learned, such as teaching my students about the RED words or irregular words, syllable types, and various spelling patterns that will help them become proficient readers and writers.
Thank you again for your generosity towards my classroom and for growing my knowledge in teaching my students how to become proficient readers.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
Perfect Penmanship Leads to Better Reading Skills
Funded May 28, 2024Since my students were in virtual classes during their foundational penmanship learning, they needed additional support in letter formation.
With the textured alphabet letters, they could use multiple senses to learn the formation of the letters and practice the letter sounds as they wrote. They were also able to use the gel boards to practice letter formation, and they could also use their newly acquired phonemic skills to spell a word.
My students and I are truly thankful for your generosity in supporting my project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
Hands-on for Reading Group Time
Funded May 28, 2024My students and I are truly thankful for your support. My students love the segmenting trays. They practiced their phonemic awareness by segmenting the sounds of the picture they had. Using the magnetic wands and counters, they could use multiple senses to figure out the sounds of the picture.
The games acquired from this project helped my students reinforce and refine their phonemic skills. With this project, I could give them options in the games they played. The games also helped strengthen their newly acquired skills.
Thank you again for supporting this project and my students' reading knowledge.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
Let's Get Artistic!
Funded May 9, 2024Art Day was a success! Thank you for your support and kindness toward my project. My students came into class expecting it to be a regular day, but to their surprise, it was Art Day. The tables were covered so that they wouldn't get painted on the table, and the aprons were on the chairs, ready for them to put on. They got to draw on their canvas and then proceeded to paint it. The novelty of being an artist with an actual apron, canvas, paint set, and easel made them very happy. They could mix the paint colors to create new colors to make their art more colorful.
Again, thank you so much for your support”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.Let's Keep Sharp In the Summer
Funded May 24, 2024My students were so excited to get their summer gift bag filled with goodies from this project. I gave them two different-sized journals so they could keep their writing skills sharp. In the gift bag, I included fancy pens and pencils so they could be more motivated to write about their summer activities in the journal. They will be able to let me know the different activities they do in the summer. I'm beyond grateful for your support of my project.
My students will be able to keep their writing skills sharp, and they will be able to share with their families what they learned in my class. Thank you again for your support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex and one other donor.Back to School Basics
Funded May 12, 2024With this project, I will give my students the essential tools they need to use during our small group time. They can practice their penmanship skills with the dry-erase marker while properly forming the alphabet. They can use the highlighters on the decodable passages to highlight the spelling pattern we are reviewing and the high-frequency words in the passage. We will use the Flaire pens when we have fun on Fridays and draw something for our families. Using the markers, their drawings will stand out and capture the viewers' attention. Thank you for being so supportive of my classroom; we truly appreciate it.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex and one other donor.You Get a Reading Buddy!
Funded May 9, 2024My students were excited to see more puppets in the library to use as reading buddies. I let them select an animal stuffy to put in their reading bags so they could use it when we reviewed our decodable passages. They may have gotten a bit distracted, but it has made it more engaging for them to read to someone.
With your support, my students have embraced reading aloud and becoming fluent readers. Seeing their faces full of joy come from a puppet of their own, makes my heart warm. We truly appreciate your support and kindness to our project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
Let Me Share What I Found
Funded May 3, 2024Thank you again for equipping my students with an iPad, Apple Pencil, and iPad case. My students are working on their astronomy unit, and they can research information to finish their reports on the planet they are researching. The Apple Pencil makes it easy to scroll on the screen and to write on it. They feel like the teacher being able to use the iPad with the Apple Pencil. The iPad case comes with a keyboard, which is nice when you want to type on a keyboard instead of the screen keyboard. Thank you again for your support and kindness towards my classroom. We truly appreciate it!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barraza
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Supporter and 2 other donors.