Past projects 12
Tie Dye- STEAM Brings Us Together!
Funded Mar 21, 2023Thank you so much for supporting our 4th and 5th graders in creating lasting memories! Students had so much fun engaging in this Earth Day, team building and art based project!
On Earth Day the students engaged in three activities: garden caretaking, tie-dying shirts and creating an Earth Day bag. The shirt creating was their favorite! Each student got a shirt and with the help of adult volunteers tie-dyed it in a way that best represented them! The adult volunteers talked with students about how the dyes were created and mixed. Then students learned about how to create different patterns with the dye.
Many students wear these shirts often and are proud to show them off! Thank you for supporting this unifying project for our 4th and 5th graders.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
Braiding Sweetgrass: Understanding the Environment Through a Different Lens
Funded May 6, 2023Imagine you are back in 4th and 5th grade, what was it like during reading for you? Were you taught through short stories and worksheets? That's how most reading instruction in upper elementary takes place.
In our classroom we teach through novel studies that are tied to what we are learning in social studies or science. The students get excited about our integrated texts! When reading, "Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults" students will connect students to learning about local ecosystems and informational writing units. The novel particularly connects itself to supporting students learning real world science outdoors! By reading parts of this text students will access science from an Indigenous lens which has contrast with our typical westward science view.
Thank you for making integrated, diverse and engaging reading accessible to my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 3 other donors.Highlighting Indigenous Youth Experiences through a Novel Study
Funded Aug 31, 2023Imagine you are back in 4th and 5th grade, what was it like during reading for you? Were you taught through short stories and worksheets? That's how most reading instruction in upper elementary takes place.
In our classroom we teach through novel studies that are tied to what we are learning in social studies or science. The students get excited about our integrated texts! When reading, "I Can Make This Promise" students connected to our explorers/13 colonies units, Indigenous Heritage Month and narrative writing units. The novel particularly connected itself to the experience of Indigenous youth experience in Washington. Several students in my classroom are BIPOC and they appreciated seeing representation of childhood through someone that looked like them. The lexile on this text was beginning 5th grade which allowed most students in my classroom to feel confident reading aloud which is a huge achievement!
Thank you for making integrated, diverse and engaging reading accessible to my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by The SONIC Foundation and 7 other donors.Diverse Perspectives of the Oregon Trail
Funded Jan 11, 2023Imagine you are back in 4th and 5th grade, what was it like during reading for you? Were you taught through short stories and worksheets? That's how most reading instruction in upper elementary takes place.
In our classroom we teach through novel studies that are tied to what we are learning in social studies or science. The students get excited about our integrated texts! When reading, "Sarah Journeys West: An Oregon Trail Survival Story" students connected to our Westward Expansion and informational writing units. The novel particularly connected itself to the experience of African Americans on the Oregon Trail...which is often not a lens that is taught to students. Several students in my classroom are Black and they appreciated seeing representation of this historical time period through someone that looked like them. The lexile on this text was beginning 4th grade which allowed most students in my classroom to feel confident reading aloud which is a huge achievement!
Thank you for making integrated, diverse and engaging reading accessible to my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
City of Ember: a Science Novel Study
Funded Aug 9, 2022The 4th and 5th grade students(about 50 kids) in our alternative program really sank into "City of Ember:" the story is about a town that is slowly loosing power and the kids that find a way out! Lena and Doon are two young people who are destine to work, live and die in Ember but they wat more....they want to find a way to save their community and explore the world! The book is the first in a series and I recommend it for anyone who loves to read YA literature! Students loved reading this dystopian text while learning science about energy, how circuits work and renewable sources. While reading "City of Ember" students learned skills such as identifying theme, character development, utilizing dialogue and how to engage a reader in their own writing. Thank you for providing an anchor text that can be used every other year in our program!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 8 other donors.Headphones Give Us Access to 21st Century Learning!
Funded Jan 18, 2022Thank you so much for the gift of access to technology! Students are grateful to have reliable and consistent use of headphones to support learning in all subjects and their Genius Hour passion projects.
The learners especially appreciate the access to headphones to support our Daily 5 time. Daily 5 is a time where students get to choose one of the following options: work on writing, listen to reading, read to self, read to someone or MyPath. For listen to reading, students use the headphones to listen to a variety of texts online while answering comprehension questions. For MyPath, student can choose to do learning videos and answer questions supporting reading and math learning.
We appreciate your support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 3 other donors.Supplies To Power Our Genius Hour Projects!
Funded Dec 2, 2021Thank you so much for funding our project "Supplies to Power Our Genius Hour Projects!" Students have been hard at works creating zines, learning how to watercolor, building rockets, exploring art with clay and building stop motion stories! A highlight from using these new resources was when the materials arrived! Students were thrilled to see all the packages and could not wait to open them up!
When we started opening the packages we thought we should first clean up our Genius Hour closet! We had supplies that we had scavenged from several locations at school or had donated to us. We took the time to remove all of the current supplies and organize them into categories. Then we organized the materials, old and new, into our closet space. I hope you enjoy the picture of our closet....it has been a few weeks since we stopped to check on our organizational methods but the kids have been too busy creating during their Genius Hour time!
Here are some of the next steps happening in our classroom after Spring Break:
-Edits to the first five chapters of a student's book
-Painting several sculptures that have been created
-Adding final touches on a student's zine
-Continued work on a watercolor series about our school
-Relaunch of a rocket with an improved design
-A clothing drive to benefit families in need at our school”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.Alternative Seating to Help Us Learn!
Funded Sep 21, 2021When I told the class about my plan to set up a DonorsChoose and asked them what types of seating they wanted to utilize. The students told me they wanted access to lap-desks for floor work, wiggle pads to bounce on while they learn and wiggle stools to strengthen their cores and move while they worked. The project total was high and I was honest with my students that we may not get funded but we still persisted. We talked to families, friends and coworkers; we checked on the project total weekly. When we finally got our project funded we were elated!
My students were so thrilled to receive these alternative seating options! When the boxes arrived we opened and assembled all the seating options. Then we went over how to use each type of seating and the behavior expectations around using the options. Being new to my school district and anticipating the movement needs of learners during the Covid-19 pandemic, I am so thankful for these donations that allow students to engage their whole body in learning!
Students are especially drawn to the wiggle stools. I was able to ask our parent organization to help us purchase a few more stools; it would be a dream to eventually have a wiggle stool for every child in class that wanted to use a stool! The wiggle pads have been popular because they are less obvious and allow for shifting in a regular chair. The lap desks we received are used daily by students as they do group work, play math games or use their Chromebooks while seated on the floor.
Again, thank you for your generosity and support of learners during such turbulent times.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
Making History Come Alive!
Funded Aug 22, 2018My students were so thrilled to receive these books! When the boxes arrived we opened and previewed all the books as a class. Then we had a book tasting where each student got to go around and explore, read a bit and engage with each new book. The kids were fascinated by the informational graphic novels; they were a huge hit with my reluctant readers!
Using these texts I have been able to hook my students into informational reading, writing summaries and discovering the main idea of a text. Throughout the year I will be using these books to support project based learning opportunities about the Revolutionary War and the 13 Colonies. Hopefully these books will help student learn historical facts in a new and more engaging way than a textbook. The wide variety of texts have added great depth to my library that was heavily fiction and informational science books; I now feel like I provide the students a better balance of text opportunities.
In my classroom we begin everyday with a "soft start." A soft start is where students get their daily supplies ready, catch up on homework or read a book of their choice. My students have been devouring books and talking about their book choices like never before. I have never had a group so excited to read and I attribute that to having a diverse library.
Thank you so much for supporting my students and other future students that will make use of my classroom library.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.Using LEGO WeDO to Solve Real World Problems
Funded Nov 22, 2017My students are thrilled with their new LEGO WeDo! My students wanted access to a LEGO WeDo in order to work through some of their Genius Hour projects in the areas of robotics, climate change and technology. The LEGO WeDo allows students to build and code a robot to complete specific tasks. For example, two students are working with the WeDo kit to solve a climate change scenario involving volcanoes and earth movements. The students have researched about volcanoes, started building their robot and will begin coding it next week.
Another pair of students is using the technology to increase their robotics and coding knowledge. I love that my students have access to a WeDo in class because not all of them could find transportation to engage in our after school robotics club or have access to the technology class at our school. Without DonorsChoose and donors like you, my students would have limited access to robotics and STEM scenarios using LEGO WeDo programs. The WeDo increases the students' ability to engage their STEM habits of mind including collaborative learning, precision, work ethic and global awareness. Thank you again from myself, my current students and my future students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Osborne