Past projects 4
We Like to Move It, Move It!
Funded Dec 3, 2019WOW WOW WOW! We are so thankful for your wonderful generosity! My students were beyond excited when three big boxes arrived for us to open and unpack. Seeing the joy on their faces was simply priceless and I cannot say thank you enough. We had a really fun class meeting where we first guessed what was in each box, then we got to open each one and see all of the materials. They were very excited about the floor table and yoga balls but especially excited about the 26 carpet squares that we can use for our daily yoga/movement breaks.
We are currently using our floor table, yoga balls and carpet squares to help us learn, focus, wiggle, and move in our classroom. It is so important to me as an educator to give my five and six-year-old students the chance to move and wiggle all throughout the day. Each student learns differently and some students need to sit on the floor, some need to bounce on a ball, and some need to kneel at a floor table. With these amazing flexible seating options, we are now able to do all of these things in our classroom!
Thank you all so much for supporting these amazing, little learners. This project has provided them with the necessary tools they need to do their best learning every day. Thank you!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wheeler
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 15 other donors.It's Me, It's Me in the Books I See!
Funded Nov 30, 2018WOW!! I cannot even begin to express my gratitude! My students and I are simply blown away by your generosity and are so appreciative of your support. Learning to read in kindergarten is one of our main academic goals. When my students see themselves in the books they read and listen to, they are even more excited to learn how to read.
When we opened the giant box of books, I heard a collective gasp and "ooh" and "ahh" from all of my students. One of my kindergartners said, "Wow! Mrs. Wheeler he looks like me, yes!" Another student said, "Hey look, this girl has glasses just like me." Another said, "That's what my home looks like!" Seeing my students excitement when they saw so many books that showed characters, families, houses, food, clothing etc., that they could relate to was just breath taking.
After we opened the box, I let my students pick a book and read it on the carpet together. I let them read for 15 minutes (which in kindergarten is a LONG time) and they wanted to keep reading! I am so excited to see their love of reading increased due to these diverse, multi-cultural books. What an amazing gift you've provided to my students!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wheeler
This classroom project was brought to life by CRUNCH and 3 other donors.Listen Up!
Funded Mar 12, 2018Thank you SO much for our new books to use at our listening center! I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate your generosity! Learning to read is such a crucial part of kindergarten yet many of my students are not yet ready to read on their own. Being able to listen to books and have stories read aloud to them, is one of the most helpful ways students learn to read. I have 26 students so I cannot read a book to each of them individually (as much as I'd LOVE to) so using iPads and certain books as tools to read to my students is just amazing.
My students were SO excited when we received our boxes and boxes of new books. They literally started cheering and chanting "Yes, new books!!" We listen to books during our literacy block four days a week and my students were getting tired of listening to the same few books that I had. No we have 50 new books to listen to and we couldn't be happier!
Teaching my kindergartners not only how to read but to build a life-long love of reading is my main goal as their teacher. Seeing the joy on my students' faces when it's time for literacy centers is just priceless. All of my students love our new books but my students who speak more than one language really enjoy listening to our new audio books. Not only do they get to listen to a fun story but they get to hear the English language and vocabulary and build and practice their English skills.
Thank you again so very much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wheeler
This classroom project was brought to life by The First Million Fund and 11 other donors.Moving Minds!
Funded Mar 23, 2016Dear Donors,
Thank you SO very much for funding our wonderful wobble stool project! My kindergartners absolutely love the wobble stools and look forward to using them every day. We are currently using our 12 wobble stools for our 2 small group work tables. We have math centers each morning and literacy centers each afternoon and all of my students rotate through each center each day. There are 4 centers total and both center 1 and center 2 now have wobble stools at them. My kinders love being able to wobble, wiggle, and move while still learning about math, practicing handwriting, writing stories, reading in small groups, and so much more.
When our materials arrived, we were out of the classroom at lunch. The office delivered the 12 stools in big cardboard boxes to our classroom and it was a total surprise when we saw them stacked on the floor! The look on the kids' faces was truly priceless and filled with joy. They were beyond excited that our stools arrived so quickly. Watching them work together in pairs to open each box, put each stool together, and try them out was so fun for me to see. They truly worked as little engineers to read the directions and figure out how to put each stool together.
We continue to use our wobble stools daily and some kids have even asked if they can use them at their regular desks and have started doing so. We'll continue to use them through the end of the year and then they will be packed up and moved to our school's brand new building that we get to move into this August. I cannot wait to use these stools with my kinders next year and other teachers have even mentioned they're going to look into getting some wobble stools for their own rooms after seeing how helpful they are and how much the kids enjoy using them.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I simply cannot say thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wheeler
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and one other donor.