Past projects 107
First Lego League: The Beginning of Everything
Funded Nov 2, 2017I asked the kids to give you a status update, since anyone not directly involved with First Lego League probably has a hard time picturing all the parts. It is pretty involved. We built a competition table and then added the map for this year. It has to do with hydrodynamics. There are ten modules that have to be built and added to the map. Then the robots have to navigate the map and carry out tasks. They are all obsessed with the toilet portion and you'll notice they mention it a lot in their letters. We split the kids up into programming teams and robot building teams to create experts, but this week we have been building the modules daily since the table came in. I love that every single 5th grader has been able to be fully involved and hands-on. They have been working hard to be kind to their partners, especially when frustrated. It is a joy to watch. I had the kids write their update letters to you with our language arts teacher, so we wouldn't lose any of our building time. I just read them and spent most of the time crying. I think they really have conveyed in these updates how much we appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to work with robotics, and more importantly, how much we appreciate you. I am sending them unedited, because I think their voice really comes through mistakes and all. Thank you so much for your continued love and support. I don't think any of us will ever be the same after this experience.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
OMG Robotics, Part 2! #AllinCLE
Funded Aug 26, 2017Our project has gone from, "Hey, those robots look cool" to building a First Lego League competition table in my garage this weekend. The First Lego League embodies everything I believe in and try to instill in my students. It combines STEM problem solving mimicking real-world situations and promotes teamwork and character building. I can already see the changes in my students as they tackle the coding and engineering challenges building a FLL robot present. There is such a high interest, that it naturally leads to a strong desire to succeed. Students are fully engaged and although frustrated at times, I am thrilled to see how kind they are to their teammates.
We are extremely grateful to you for allowing us to have the opportunity to fully immerse in STEM learning in such a such a profound way. We can't wait to share our journey with you.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
This classroom project was brought to life by 3M and 5 other donors.OMG! We're Doing Robotics!
Funded Aug 13, 2017Thank you. Our class is obsessed with these Lego's. They are the go-to item during free-time and have allowed me to reach previously unreachable students. They are engaging, require spacial and critical thinking, and promote important social skills. But they are SO much cooler than that! The coding we learned last year allows the kids to walk right in and start creating. Kids obsessed with Lego's have a leg-up on their peers and are suddenly go-to designers. And my favorite part...there are NO written directions! This has leveled the field between my kids with reading disabilities and my kids who are book-smart.
I love projects that allow new kids to step forward and be on top. I can't wait to see where we go with this. We are now one of three classrooms in our district with Lego Robotics, and I have a whole lot of learning to do (: Thank you for bringing this opportunity to our class.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
This classroom project was brought to life by 3M and 4 other donors.Building a Maker Space
Funded Aug 13, 2017Having a 3D printer in the classroom is an amazing experience! We've been printing quite a bit now that we've figured out the software. We started with robots and have moved on to modifying the models. Every time we print we learn something new! Our next goal is to print with a color change in the middle. The kids have put together a 3D surprise for you. We placed it in the envelope with your thank you cards. It was so much fun to watch the kids search and deliberate what to make for you. I think they've found the perfect item and they were excited to watch it being created.
Thank you so much for your continued support of our classroom. Our experiences would be so different without your support. We are so thankful for you. The district came to our class to film a story about Donors Choose. It should be tweeted out in early October. The kids said over and over how thankful they are to you for choosing our class and bringing these experiences into our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
Organized Storage Needed
Funded Aug 6, 2017Our first photo shows our classroom last year in 4th grade. We have several students with special needs and their materials ended up all over the place. They were constantly looking for books and papers and several items were repeatedly lost. We wanted to start off this year tackling our organization issue head-on.
The kids, now in 5th grade, LOVE their organizers. They've worked on a plan of how to share them and decided which homeroom gets which drawers. It has been working very well! They have decided to take turns being an organizer captain, who collects and organizes materials for the table for the day. I often see them sitting and straightening up their things, which is a huge improvement from last year. We had a sub last week as I took my daughter to her freshman year of college and I was worried what I would find when I returned. I found everything in place! It is exciting to watch them take ownership and become more responsible. Thank you so much for helping with this project!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
Scholastic Math Solves All Our Problems
Funded Aug 4, 2017I can't wait until you read their thank yous! They are so excited to get their very own copy of DynaMath. The photos and stories are so engaging and interesting. Not only are they using more math vocabulary, they are also learning about other cultures. Many of them loved the article on making blankets for elephants and mentioned that in their thank you cards.
I am so thankful for your help in wrapping my students in layers of math support. It is a joy to watch them unpack each article and discuss solutions. The article we are reading tomorrow is about meerkats, and they can't wait, because the photo is pretty disgusting LOL.
I'm glad I have the experts at Scholastic to help me. Each issue has questions for third, fourth and fifth grade levels. We'll be reading everything from cover to cover, because we have a great deal of work to do to get caught up and on grade level. My hope is to out-pace the school on our end of year exams and encourage other grade levels to incorporate literature in their math lessons.
Thank you for your continued support and faith. Knowing you're behind us keeps us working harder every day.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
Formative Loop Doubled our Math Skills, Let's Loop Again!
Funded Aug 21, 2017Thank you so much for helping us get the full version of this amazing program. Our progress with Formative Loop and the free trial was impressive last year, doubling our passage rate and propelling students to proficient and advanced on Ohio State Tests. That was only six weeks of work! Thanks to your generosity, we can continue working with Formative Loop through July.
You can see on the faces of my students their excitement for math. They are loving the challenge of learning increasingly difficult material as well as increased speed in their calculations. There are no complaints when we take the short assessments to move up to the next level. There IS tons of excitement when they pass and see the next challenge. I truly believe we would not be in this position without this product and hope you continue to follow our progress on Twitter as we tackle increasingly difficult 5th grade standards.
Thanks for your support of our classroom. We appreciate the love!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
Using Creativity to Survive Standardized Testing
Funded May 7, 2017I can only say "Wow." My students absolutely LOVE duct tape. We were fortunate to get a donation of 100 rolls when Duck Brand saw our tweet about this project. It saved us from the stress of testing, for sure. The kids loved working with Duct tape so much that they incorporated it into the project we were making to display at The Great Lakes Science Center in May. They created a city and adapted it to Solar Power. Duct tape on cardstock was their preferred construction material. They proudly won a Best in STEM award for their teamwork and collaboration on the project.
We were able to work with our tape long before the project was funded, and we will be forever grateful to Duck Brand for keeping us going. We are thankful to you for the materials in this project. We were able to use the mats and cutters when they arrived just in time for the last week of school. I posted a picture of the amazing purses a few of the girls made. They were so proud!
I am looping with the class and we are moving up to 5th grade together. We are all excited to continue with these fantastic supplies and to have them there for us when standardized tests weigh us down. Thank you for valuing artistic expression, thank you for choosing this project, and thank you for supporting our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
This classroom project was brought to life by Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers and 11 other donors.Let's Get Loopy!
Funded Mar 29, 2017Thank you so much for your generosity. What a huge weight of the shoulders of myself and my students' families to know that we have every supply we need to start the new school year successfully. By moving up to 5th grade together, I already know their strengths and weaknesses. This allows me to spend summer planning and individualizing their curriculum instead of desperately searching school supply sales. This was my first time participating in #BestSchoolDay. I appreciate the speed in which Donors Choose posted my project and the matching funds by Dan Gilbert and The Cavs. We appreciate our repeat donors who are always there to support and share our project. We appreciate our new friends and hope you continue to follow our progress on twitter @ubeme. This August is going to be epic (:”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach
This classroom project was brought to life by Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers and 8 other donors.Manipulating Math
Funded Dec 25, 2016This project has been amazing! Not only has it produced great enthusiasm for math in our 4th grade classrooms, but the 3rd grade has joined in as well. They've already borrowed our geometric 3D shapes and have their eye on our bucket of coins. This impact is doubly appreciated as their gains in math as third graders boost their math skills as they come to me as fourth graders. Everyone has been given time to freely explore each tool to discover how they can best be used in mathematical calculations and problem solving. They overwhelmingly love the Unifix Cubes, but you will see in their thank you cards that they love them all. My greatest joy has been watching them use these tools to understand perimeter and division. The impact has been immediate, enormous, and exactly at the right time. The counters have helped students who didn't understand how to divide. Several still use them to make multiples as they navigate long division. The fact that these students, well behind their peers, ARE working hard to understand is a huge result of having these tools. We can't thank you enough for providing us with these manipulatives so what we can finally understand math.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Kovach