Past projects 201
Financial Literacy in 2014
Funded Mar 19, 2014Thank you so much for your extremely generous donation to my classroom! Our new classroom iPad has arrived and the students have been using it every day. They love to go to the technology center that I have set up for them to get their turn with the iPad.
They look forward to their time working with the apps we now have available, courtesy of the iPad you have provided for them. They work with apps such as Marble Math Jr., Money Drop and Counting With the Hungry Caterpillar to hone the beginning math skills that lead to financial literacy. They are learning number names, counting, adding and subtracting, all while playing games and having fun!
I have posted photos of some of my students working with the iPads we have received, and you can tell by looking at their faces that they are totally engrossed in what they are doing. They love their new iPad and we have you to thank for that.
Thank you for all the support you have shown to my classroom through your support of DonorsChoose. You are awesome!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
STEM Learning In The Kindergarten Classroom
Funded Mar 9, 2014I am writing to thank you once again for your generosity towards my classroom. Your donations have provided an iPad that my students have been using to develop science and math skills.
The iPad arrived quickly and in good working order. We soon put it to use in the classroom. We created a technology center where the children are working independently on apps such as MathBug, Marble Math Jr., and Max and Ruby Science. The children are learning science concepts and developing math skills such as counting, number operations, and patterning while they are playing fun games and enjoying themselves. As you can see by the photos I posted, the children love working with the iPad and ask to use it every day!
Technology such as iPads is so very expensive and it is difficult for schools to provide with dwindling budgets. It means so much to teachers and students to have donors such as you and an organization like DonorsChoose to help get this type of resource into our classroom. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
Quill To The Rescue
Funded Dec 18, 2013Dear Quill and Donors,
Thank you for giving my class the opportunity to develop self esteem, get motivated, and be creative! Through your donations, we have received incentives such as certificates, stickers and even a wonderful treasure chest full of prizes that we can earn for doing our best in school. We have also received glitter glue and paper that we are using for art work, and card stock that we are using to make flash cards to help us learn our sight words.
My students are very young, and to get them interested in working hard and learning, I like to use positive things that motivated them, such as these small items. It is amazing how hard they will try just to receive a little sticker or certificate. They get such a confidence boost when they receive their incentive, they know that they have done a good job! Things like this mean the world to them.
I will always remember your generosity towards my students. Thank you so very, very much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 2 other donors.Sing Along Songs That Teach - Part 2
Funded Feb 18, 2014Hello again! I wish to thank you for contributing to our classroom and helping to provide resources from the HeidiSongs collection of materials! The materials have arrived and we have been using them in class, and I must say the children absolutely LOVE them.
It is a great deal of fun to watch them singing along with Heidi every day, learning sight words, letters, numbers and other grade level concepts. Using tests and writing samples, I have determined that using Heidi's songs, storybooks, worksheets and games for just 2 months has already resulted in an overall improvement in their writing of at least one level in the majority of the class! Just imagine how much improvement will happen as we continue to use the materials the remainder of the year, and with future classes in the years to come.
Your investment in my students is greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you again for your amazing generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
Speaking Of Speakaboos Part 2
Funded Feb 10, 2014Dear Wonderful Donors,
Thank you so very, very much for contributing to my classroom! Your donations have provided the fabulous Speakaboos online stories and digital content to my students. My children adore the Speakaboos series, and having a yearlong subscription benefits this year's class, as well as next year's students.
My children request to hear a Speakaboos story every day. We have a story time each day, and I can display Speakaboos on our Smartboard so that everyone can see at the same time. In addition, Speakaboos comes with an app so that individual students can read stories when they use our iPad.
Speakaboos stories cross many genres. My students can read fairy tales, adventure stories, animal tales, music videos and much more.
Once again, thank you for your donations. My students have been blessed this year with kind and generous donors such as you. You are awesome!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by AKJ Books and 8 other donors.Financial Literacy Begins In Kindergarten! Part Two
Funded Dec 2, 2013Thank you so much for contributing to our classroom! Your donations have provided an iPad that my students are using daily. They love working with the iPad, whether they are listening to a digital story, playing fun language arts and math games, or working with apps that teach science, music, art, health or social studies concepts.
I have many, many apps that are created for young learners. It is amazing how popular and motivational this device is with children!
iPads are very expensive, and I could never afford to provide this kind of technology on my own, so your generosity has been key in bringing these devices to my classroom. iPads are made very well, and will last for years and years. I have taught the children how to take good care of our iPads, so that they will be there for next year's class, and the class after that, and so on.
It is only with the kindness of donors such as yourselves that we can provide modern technology to these children. Thank you again, for your thoughtfulness!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
Makerbot 3D Printing
Funded Nov 15, 2013I am writing to thank you and to tell you what a wonderful addition the MakerBot 3D printer has been to our classroom. The MakerBot technology is fabulous, and we would never have been able to learn about and experience this amazing machine without your help.
What a generous and kind gesture it was on the part of MakerBot, to announce their goal of putting a 3D printer in every school in America! When I heard the announcement about this opportunity, I went straight to my computer and researched 3D printing and what it was all about, and I got right to work writing my DonorsChoose proposal. I knew this was an opportunity that I could not pass up. I was so thrilled to have been one of the first teachers to get a printer funded.
Once I found out that the 3D printer would be coming to my school, I started educating my kindergarteners on the machine and the wonderful things it would be able to do. They learned new vocabulary words, such as filament and extruder. Using our Smart board, we visited Thingaverse to see browse some of the creations others had made.
Since Valentines Day was upon us, the students all wanted a "secret heart box" to give to their families, so we made them in multiple colors. Before the year is up, my goal is for the students to turn their own creations into 3D objects using the MakerBot software.
Once again, thank you for the kindness and generosity you have shown to my students and I. It is truly a blessing to have donors such as yourselves that give so selflessly to make school the wonderful place it should be.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by MakerBot and 3 other donors.TK All The Way!
Funded Oct 11, 2013I am writing to express my sincere appreciation for the items that you donated to my classroom. My transitional kindergarteners are hands-on learners, and your donations have provided many wonderful items that my students can touch and manipulate for quality learning experiences.
I use Handwriting Without Tears with my children, and your contributions brought us the consumable supplies that we need to complete this wonderful program. Items such as workbooks, pencils and crayons need to be replenished each year. In addition to these items, we received letter cards, music CDs and lesson books that were new to the program.
The ink that came as part of this grant is being used to replenish our printers so that the student's Kidpix drawings and beginning writings will be able to be printed and brought home to share with their parents. The Magic Touch Boards are providing drawing and printing practice in fun, motivational ways. The children are really enjoying the plastic builders. While they are playing with these builders, they are strengthening fine motor skills and building understanding of how items come together to build structures.
Once again, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It is so wonderful that you chose to support my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by First 5 LA and 2 other donors.Math And Science On An iPad Part 2
Funded Oct 2, 2013Hello dear donors! I am writing to express my great appreciation for the generosity you showed to my classroom. Your contributions have provided an iPad that my students are using daily. The are getting to be real "pros" at turning the iPad on, finding the "app of the day" and navigating their way through these apps. They know how to poke, slide and pinch the iPad to make it work for them.
One of their favorite apps is called "Wet-Dry Tap", which lets them practice numeral and letter printing. They also are enjoying Montessori Numberland, which teaches numerals to 10 in a developmentally appropriate way, and many other math and science programs. They also are enjoying early reader books, that they listen and read along with.
I can connect the iPad to the class Smartboard and project the image so that we can listen to stories or work apps together as a whole group. Other times, the iPads are at a center where students can work individually on apps that they have seen demonstrated at the Smartboard.
iPads and other technology are very expensive items, and without your generosity I would never be able to provide these items to my students. There are so many ways that iPads can be used to help educate today's children.
Thank you once again for your kindness!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by First 5 LA and 14 other donors.A Big Universe For Little Learners
Funded May 8, 2013Thank you again for your generous donations to our classroom! Big Universe is a wonderful online resource that we have been using daily. The students love it and love reading and listening to all the wonderful stories it has to offer.
I love the way that I can log on to Big Universe and enter a keyword into the search engine. Big Universe makes it easy to find online content that my students can use to learn about a wide variety of content areas, all related to their learning standards and chosen for their appropriateness to their age and grade level. They are entertained and motivated to read more!
We have already read many of the books on Big Universe, but haven't even come close to getting through them all because there is so much! We watch the animations and stories together on our Smart board, and individually on our computer and iPads. We have enough material, thanks to Big Universe, to last the entire year!
Thank you again for your generosity and kindness. We are very grateful for all you have done to help bring this wonderful resource to our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lacour
This classroom project was brought to life by AKJ Books and 4 other donors.