Past projects 20
Excitement with Literacy Skills
Funded Oct 26, 2015Your willingness to support my classroom project to bring excitement to learning literacy skills has been a blessing to both my students and myself. On the day the games arrived, I allowed them to watch as I opened the large box that had been delivered to our classroom. I video taped their reaction to share with our community on our school's Facebook page. Their eyes grew wide and their hearts jumped for joy as they all said, "Wow!"
After opening up our giant box of games, we got busy using the games in a variety of ways. First, we use them weekly in our small group reading groups. Each Thursday our groups share in a "game day" due to your support. They love the Pop and Match sound games the most.
Next, we are able to use them in a United Way funded program called Read to Succeed. Each week, our class has 3 volunteers who spend 1 hour each with several small groups of students. Along with reading a book together, they play one of these new games that focuses on a needed skill for those students.
And lastly, I now have a closet full of skilled based games that I can easily pull for working with small groups or my entire class. This has been a blessing to me. It saves me planning and prep time each week.
Thank you again for your gift of support. You are truly a blessing to us.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
RAZ'd Up for Recording Fun!
Funded Apr 7, 2014Our Title I grant provided the software RAZ Kids, but could not provide the necessary headphones to allow recording of each student reading. Your support provided the missing piece needed to assess my students' reading levels with this software. Thank you!
This year's class was able to sample the use of the headphones late in our school year due to the timing of the funding. My class next year will not only sample, but start off the year using these headphones to help assess the reading level for the complete school year. I also hope to "hear" an increase in their reading fluency.
This is an exciting tool to be able to use in my kindergarten classroom. Thank you for supporting my classroom use of RAZ Kids to its full potential.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
3D Printing Comes to Kindergarten
Funded Nov 16, 2013Thank you is not enough to say for the support you have given not only my kindergarten class but also to our high ability class. My class joined Mr. Scott'ÂÂs High Ability Class to learn all about 3D printing.
This gave our 4th and 5th grade students a chance at "teaching" another child. My kindergarten students learned from their buddy in Mr. Scott's class about the 3D printing technology and how to write about their experiences.
Your support also opened their minds to a possible future in the STEM fields. Parents of several students commented to Mr. Scott and myself how the MakerBot 3D Printer was truly a highlight and inspiration for their studentâÂÂs learning this year.
Thank you again for reaching out through your giving to touch students and empower them to learn in a new way.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by MakerBot and 7 other donors.Rainy Day Play
Funded Mar 2, 2014Two large boxes filled with new play sets to encourage creative play arrived in our classroom today! Those boxes brought a breath of fresh air into my students' lives as I decided to end our day with some "indoor recess" time.
The set that was the easiest for them to grasp was the Creature Builder. The students quickly put arms and legs to create their "creature". Another big hit was the Crystal Climbers. Crystal towers rose quickly in the back of the classroom! The Draw and Erase Magic Boards had students experimenting with the different tools to design their drawings.
At first, the girls used the Build and Learn Construction set to make simple lollipops. After pointing out how one of the boys was designing something completely different, the girls started to experiment more with the set. One girl even made a top.
The students working with the 3-D Magnet set quickly discovered that magnets attract on one side and repel on the other side. Once shown how to build upwards with the magnets each student made a simple house.
Don't Let the Bugs Fall will teach how to take turns, follow directions as well as game strategies. Of course, the boys enjoyed building a tower with the pieces they removed from the original tower too!
The medium tuff totes fit perfectly into our indoor recess storage cart. The lids are easy to open and close, perfect for easy clean up.
Without your donation and support, my students would not have as many creative options for their indoor recess. Thank you again for believing in this project and supporting my kindergarten students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
My Retelling Movie
Funded Oct 18, 2013It is amazing to see the impact just one iPad Mini can have in a kindergarten classroom. It has been a wonderful tool to add to our retelling center.
Students practice their retelling with their partners first. They have to make sure they have their supplies ready. Next, the partners take turns recording each other. They can quickly view the movie and enjoy hearing themselves retell a favorite story. I love how my "soft spoken" students interact with this type of retelling activity. I am able to see this type of student being successful at retelling with more details than what I have seen in the past with just a one on one teacher assessment.
Not only is it a hit with our retelling center, the iPad Mini is a perfect reward choice to help students reach a positive behavior goal. A couple of my students needed an extra incentive to achieve a positive behavior goal. Before the iPad Mini arrived, the reward choices were puzzles, read one of the teacher's special books to a friend, or free draw in their journal. Once the iPad Mini was added to the choices, I saw the two students obtain their behavior goals quickly.
Thank you for reaching out and supporting my classroom on this project. I believe that technology like an iPad Mini can be an amazing tool that can open the door to bright futures. Thank you for sharing in this belief.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 18 other donors.Leveling Up
Funded Aug 29, 2013Thank you for supporting my Leveling Up project to help my kindergarten students independently find good fit books. As soon as our cart arrived, I filled it with our leveled readers. Before I could even introduce the books, several students discovered that the cart had books that they could read. Our new cart was an instant hit!
The height of the book bins is perfect for my students to easily see each book. This makes selecting a book and returning it a simple task for them. The cart fits nicely into the area where a previous shelf was located. I was pleasantly surprised by how much more room I now have to expand our leveled reading library. The new reading cart has twice as much space for books than our previous shelf unit.
Your gift of this reading cart has impacted my students' interest in books. Their reading levels are starting to climb. Thank you for supporting my students in becoming better readers through a gift of organization.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
This classroom project was brought to life by Kia Motors America and 46 other donors.Criss-Cross, Where's My Spot?
Funded Oct 5, 2013It was just like Christmas morning in my classroom when our principal and school secretary carried our new carpet into our classroom! There were shouts of glee and smiles on all our faces.
After posing for a class picture, I grabbed my scissors to carefully cut away the plastic wrapped around our new carpet. I had asked the students to go to their desks to wait for me to unroll it. However, their excitement kept them out of their seats as they lined the front of the classroom to watch the grand reveal of the brightly colored carpet.
I quickly folded up the old carpet and put it by the door to make room for the new. Once centered in our group learning area, I invited the children to come and find their new spots. As I looked out at their beaming faces, I knew this carpet was going to make our group time more focused on learning than on where they were suppose to be sitting. What I did not know was the impact it was going to have on my students' writing skills.
You see our entire school is on a new journey this year to improve our writing skills. We have brand new curriculum that is not only stretching our students, but it is also stretching us as teachers. The carpet's arrival was perfect timing in our curriculum. The next week we needed to focus on a shared experience to write about and this event was perfect! All my students were able to write about this experience with focus and energy that I had not seen yet this year.
Your support of this project made this learning happen! When I wrote the proposal for this project, I did not envision the impact on our writing skills. This was truly a bonus that your contribution has given my students.
Thank you again for your support.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
We Are Authors
Funded Aug 14, 2013Thank you for supporting my project to bring a writing center to our classroom to help organize our writing supplies. Our school has started a new writing curriculum that requires a variety of supplies to be on hand for my students. Before the arrival of this writing center, I did not have the room for all the supplies to be out of our supply closet. This meant that I would have to use precious instructional time to hand out materials.
The arrival of this center has made it possible for my students to be in charge of their writing supplies not me. Each day the "material manager" hands out and collects the supplies for their table group. Different types of paper are available for students when they are ready to begin a new piece of writing.
Since the responsibility is on the students to get their supplies, this allows me time to pull small groups to work on specific writing skills without interruption by the other students. This instruction is benefiting my students' writing. Most of my students have begun to not only add details to their drawings, but they are learning how to use labels and speech bubbles to tell their stories due to being able to have the time for small group instruction.
Thank you for your gift of organization to our classroom. You have made an impact on our writing ability with this gift.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
Cords, Cords, Go Away!
Funded Jul 23, 2013Usually not having something in a classroom can be a negative. However, having no more cords on our headphones is a wonderful improvement to our classroom environment!
Your generous donations have made it possible for my students to enjoy our listening center without cords becoming tangled. No more shorts in the cords either! Pages in the books are easily turned because the cord is not in the way.
Simply pressing a button to turn on the new headphones has made our center much more efficient. Students at the center are on task on a daily basis. Students no longer interrupt small reading group time because their headphones are not working. It makes this dear teacher so very happy to be able to have no interruptions during this precious learning time.
Your donation has truly given my students the gift of learning. Thank you from both my students and myself.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf
Stamping Our Way to Reading
Funded Apr 13, 2012Thank you for your donation to my classroom project, Stamping Our Way to Reading. My students have been enjoying being able to use the new stamps and stamp pads to create "skinny books" that contain their sight words. After completing their books, they have shared their excitement for being an author with their classmates and their own families.
Without the support of donors like you, my students would not be able to enjoy new materials like these stamps. Your support has truly helped build the confidence in my new readers that will last throughout their school years.
Thank you again for supporting my students' learning.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Wolf