Mrs. Borrelli's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 6

• Family Paint Night with Cookies & Canvas

  Funded Nov 29, 2017

  Thank you so much for your donation of art supplies. The materials were put to use during our first Family Night: Cookies and Canvas. Parents and students were guided through an art project using canvas boards and acrylic paint. It was guided in a Paint Nite style with the lead artist (a parent at the school) demonstrating each step. It was great to see the creativity and variety of work completed that evening. Parents and children enjoyed the cookies and the artwork they created.

  As parents and their children walked into the art lab for the Cookies and Canvas event, there were smiles and gasps of excitement. This was the first time we've been able to host an event of this nature and most of the children had never painted with acrylics before. In fact, most of the parents hadn't either!

  The materials will also be used during an upcoming class art project with my classroom of fourth graders. They are going to be ecstatic when they walk in the art lab and see the easels set up for our art lesson! More Cookies and Canvas events are in the works, since all participants enjoyed themselves that evening and are asking for a repeat.

  Thank you again for making these parent nights possible for us!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli

  This classroom project was brought to life by Carnegie Corporation and 11 other donors.

• Let's Read, Then Watch the Movie!

  Funded Oct 25, 2017

  Thank you so much for your generous donation towards our Book to Movie project. The kids are so excited about the project. While the start of the project was delayed, the students never forgot and continually asked when they would be able to use the materials. Once the materials were organized, labeled, and project expectations explained, the parent permission slips went out. And many came back the very next day!

  So far, we have enjoyed the introduction to the project. As a class, we read the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. After discussing the book, we wrote a summary of it as a class with the students giving the words and the teacher being the scribe. Then, the fun part! The class watched the movie, and after many laughs, we were able to compare and contrast the two versions. We also read part of a non-fiction book from the collection and watched part of the accompanying video-by the end of the day a student checked out that book and movie.

  There are a number of students that have taken books home to read with their family. Most of them are alternating between reading on their own and reading with their parents. They have been very excited about the bag of popcorn and getting to watch a movie of the book they just finished reading. A few of the students have also completed their response to the two versions. Some of the students have been motivated to try this same project with different books/movies they have at home. I love that it is motivating students and parents to read together and that there is excitement in reading!

  Thank you again for providing this learning opportunity to my class!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 8 other donors.

• Let's Make Reading Fun!

  Funded Oct 21, 2016

  Thank you so much for your generosity! My students just LOVE the bean bag chairs. Each day the two students of the day get excited when it's reading workshop time because they know they will get to sit in our special bean bag chairs. I just love watching them get cozy in the chair while they read a book.

  The books we acquired for our library have been SO helpful to my students. Many of my students were struggling to find books at their independent reading level. Now, there are many books they can choose from during their reading time. It is nice for them to have a 'real' book and not photocopied stories or paper booklets that are provided with our reading program. They enjoy reading these mini books by themselves or with their partner.

  The mini books have targeted sounds and sight words and it has been wonderful to see them excited to read their book after a mini lesson on sound patterns. It's even better when they finish the book, look at me, and say I read that whole book Mrs. Borrelli! :) After repeated readings, they master their book and they move on to the next in the series. It's those moments when you see their excitement for reading that my heart smiles and I love my job.

  Thank you again for your donations. They are well loved.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli

• Growing Strong Minds for Successful Futures

  Funded Oct 9, 2015

  Thank you so much for the set of Growing Strong Readers books. The students have loved listening to the stories, reading them and using them for learning.

  Over the last few months the class has used these books in many ways. One of the ways the books were used was in a learn, discuss, and share activity on the structure and function of the brain. The students worked in groups to learn about the brain, created a poster and then each group presented their information to the class. The information shared reinforced information presented in a video of the brain and the amazing things the brain can do. The photos included show the students working on their posters.

  During our biographies unit, many of the books were used as read alouds. Students listened to stories of influential people and then discussed how they became the person we look up to today. We listed traits the individuals possessed that allowed them to become successful. Students then used their reader response journals to record their wonderings and thoughts regarding the people they read about.

  Because of the books you helped to provide, my class has heard inspiring stories. The students have learned the power of the word, yet. What they have not YET mastered, they CAN with practice and perseverance. Just like the mentors we read about.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli

• Using Series to Spark a Love of Reading

  Funded Jun 30, 2014

  Thank you so much for your donation towards the books in my classroom. The series of books are great. It is wonderful how excited the students get when you finish the first book in a series because they immediately want you to read the next one to them. They were very excited about the books that were chosen, I mean, how to you go wrong with Goosebumps? There was a mad dash for those books and lots of oohs and aahs for the others too.

  The books are used in a variety of ways. They are read to the class as read alouds, usually the first in the series. They are also read independently in the classroom and checked out to be read at home, since many of my students do not have books in their homes to read.

  Excitement. That is how you boost learning and teaching. There has to be excitement on both parts and these books hit that mark. Thank you so much for providing our classroom with this opportunity.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli

• Turning Readers into Writers

  Funded Jan 8, 2013

  Thank you so much for your generous donation to my class project. The students were so excited when their first magazine arrived in the mail!

  Since receiving the Time for Kids magazine my students have not only enjoyed reading them, but they have also learned from them. They have acquired interesting vocabulary that we added to our personal vocabulary logs. The class has also learned about the features of non-fiction text such as: titles, headings, captions, and the use of photos in articles. Discussions about the way articles are organized (compare contrast versus order of importance) have directly affected their most recent writing assignments. I'm seeing my students challenge themselves to write with a variety of styles.

  Thank you for this opportunity to make writing interesting and understandable for my class.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Borrelli