Past projects 139
Writing and Singing From A Distance
Funded Dec 1, 2020Thank you for your generous donations! These writing books are helping my kids to become better writers. My students and I work together online with letter formation. Then, the parents work with them at home. The books explain what I am teaching so that the parents can read and learn, too. We work together to teach letters and make writing easy.
My students are having so much fun dancing and singing with our new CD Boom box! Songs and chants have been a great way for me to teach my students movement, the alphabet, colors, shapes and numbers. They are laughing at some of the songs (like peanut butter and jelly). Songs like that one are helping my kids sequence events, which in turn helps them to write how-to books. My kids are enjoying the music as we learn breathing exercises to learn mindfulness and coping skills. Music, song and dance are great ways to learn!
My kids are using the stylus tools like pens on paper, but stylus on iPad. They love that it feels like writing, instead of using their fingers to write on the iPad. And it definitely makes it more legible and easier for me to see that they are learning.
Thank you for bringing music and laughter into my classroom. Thank you for bringing writing books into our homes. Thank you for supporting my kids!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 8 other donors.Writing Journals for Home
Funded Dec 1, 2020Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for helping me to teach my students to write. These Draw & Write Journals are perfect for teaching students how to write their letters, tall letters, short letters and "lazy" or "hanging" letters. My kids are learning how to start sentences with a capital letter. They are learning to put spaces between their words to make their writing easier to read. And, they are learning to add punctuation to the end of their sentences. Then, my students are learning to "read what they have written." Their pictures match their words.
Having the Sight Word Journals has helped to increase my students' writing vocabulary, as well. They are using sentence starters and word banks to write sentences with meaning. I don't have to copy paper and make "dittoes" for the kids to write sentences which get lost and thrown away. My students are tracing, writing and reading sight words. They can now look back to see how much they are growing over time.
Thank you for making this happen for my kids. My students are learning and improving every day.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and one other donor.Rockin’ With Wobble Chairs
Funded Dec 26, 2020Thank you so much for your kind and generous donations. These wobble chairs are ready for my kids to sit and rock. They are the perfect height. The bottom of the chair has just the right amount of curve to help my students rock and move while concentrating on their work. And the curve is small enough to keep my students from falling over.
These chairs can withstand my weight as an adult, too. That was an added bonus! I can sit comfortably on the chair next to my students to help them as they work, if needed.
My kids are very excited to try these new chairs. I have shared them on Zoom and they want to sit and take them for a spin. I am excited for the kids to have choice seating. Thank you for supporting my kids and my classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 4 other donors.Something for Breakfast
Funded Dec 30, 2020Thank you so much for feeding my students! When I received the cereal, breakfast bars and snacks, I sorted them into bags for each my students. They were so excited to receive their "groceries". They now have food for their tummies and their parents have less to worry about for a little while. My kids wanted to share with their brothers and sisters. They were happy and they were ready to offer their families a bite to eat from their own bag of groceries. What a wonderful feeling for them and for me!
For those that could not meet me at school, I put their groceries in a location where they could pick them up later in the day. When we had class on Monday, my students showed me their bags and their bowls of cereal. The smiles were so wonderful to see. At recess, they ate a quick bite to eat and they were ready to go for the second part of the day. They will be able to do this for many days because of you. We are truly grateful. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
Clean Air to Breathe Safely
Funded Sep 4, 2020Thank you so much for your generosity and your donation to my classroom. I know that once the air purifier arrives, I will be able to utilize it to the fullest!
The MA-40 Air Purifier will help to remove at least 13 different harmful particles in the air that can harm my students and our lungs. It will provide quality long-term air purification to our classroom. It kills germs AND viruses! The H13 HEPA filtration system cleans the air of allergens, dust mites, pollen, dust, mold, bacteria, pesticides, asbestos, lead dust, virus carriers and more. Our classrooms are old. This purifier will help to kill any growing mold and viruses that could cause harm to my kids. Thank you for helping me to keep my kids healthy and our classroom air purified!
My kids will now be safer when they come back into the classroom.
Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 2 other donors.Healthy Kids and Clean Touchables
Funded Sep 4, 2020Thank you for your kindness. Because of your donations, my students received homemade cleansing wipes, Kleenex and hand sanitizer to keep them healthy and safe during this pandemic. They were so happy to receive these items. These may seem like every day items, but to my kids, they are a gift. They were so proud and happy to receive them. One student told me that the Kleenex box is in their own room, for when they sneeze. It was so cute. Another stated that they help their mom clean the table with the wipes. In addition, I was able to reuse containers I had on hand to help the environment.
The plastic boxes hold the homemade play dough that I made for them. This box fits nicely in their backpacks to travel to the learning pods or to grandma's house. Their backpacks stay clean and the play dough remains with them and them alone, and it stays fresh.
The scanner, poster and broom will help to keep our classroom clean and remind kids to wash their hands when we return to the classroom. Thank you for helping to keep my kids healthy.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 4 other donors.Can You Hear Me Now? Headphones For Home
Funded Oct 23, 2020Thank you so much for helping me get technology into the hands, or rather onto the ears, of my students! These headphones have helped to reduce the background noise from other people and some of the background noises in a room. They have also helped me to hear those students who are a little bit quieter than other students. And with wearing face masks in group hubs, hearing students has sometimes been difficult.
While nothing is perfect in this COVID-world, these headphones have helped my students to hear and be heard. My students have been empowered to speak up and speak often.
Thank you for helping me teach and for looking out for my students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Donor and 3 other donors.Hands-On Learning During a Pandemic
Funded Sep 16, 2020Thank you so much for your generosity! My students are so happy when I ask them to take out their play dough for class time. They are making letters and numbers. They are making impressions with dough tools to create shapes.
They can use the play dough any time they want, which helps the learning to continue even after school! My kids love to show me the snowmen and worms and robots that they have made. And I love to see them all!
They use their pincher fingers to squeeze and shape the dough. In doing so, they are strengthening their phalanges and building their muscles for writing.
My kids are so engaged in our online classes because they have manipulatives like this play dough in their hands. It makes learning come alive. I am so grateful to you for helping me to get learning tools into my students' hands. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 7 other donors.A Little Bit of Everything Goes a Long Way
Funded Sep 24, 2020Thank you for making such a huge impact on my students! The journals are helping them learn to write with pictures and letters. The whiteboard erasers are getting a workout with my kids learning their letters and sounds, doing whiteboard phonics and writing numbers... and erasing! Mistakes are quickly corrected with low-stress for the kids!
And speaking of workout, the swing and catch game has given my students a reason to stand and move, and also helps them with their eye-hand coordination. It is so fun to watch them on Zoom as they swing and catch the ball. Their excitement is contagious!
Our totes are labeled and ready for action for when the kids return to class. And the floor markers are helping to remind them to keep 6 feet apart, even when it is just for a short visit to the classroom after zoom class. The paper sorter has helped me organize our writing paper and our reading lists, which are now ready for the next two months. Each of these items has helped to make distance learning a little bit easier and a little bit more fun. Thank you for helping me with a little bit of everything!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 2 other donors.DIY Materials
Funded Sep 4, 2020Thank you for your generosity! My students were so excited to get these fun materials! They can't wait until we start painting and doing directed draw with paint sticks. Our first directed draw will be pumpkins with various shapes in each wedge.
When I matched the people sticks up to their skin, they were surprised to find out that they were not "tan," but rather, they were cinnamon or taupe or wheat colored! They are going to be making themselves from these people sticks, fabric, wiggly eyes and acrylic gems. I am excited to see what they will look like.
Thank you for helping me get these DIY Materials into their hands. My students are so engaged in online learning when they have materials to create and manipulate. Online learning works when kind people like you help to get these materials into kids' hands. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gauci
This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and one other donor.