Past projects 9
Play Is FUNdamental to Our Learning in Kindergarten!
Funded Aug 22, 2018Here in Massachusetts we have experienced an incredibly wet autumn. As a result, we have been forced to have indoor recess more often and earlier in the school year than is typical. The magnetic tiles have been a constant classroom favorite during indoor recess. Students have cooperatively played with them, constructing tall towers, building beautiful castles and engaging in fun, hands on learning.
We are just beginning to learn about attributes of objects and we will be using the magnetic tiles to describe color, number of sides and size.
We cannot thank you enough for your generous donations to our classroom and I look forward to sharing more with you as we integrate our puppets and new puppet theater into our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.An Apple Today Provides Language Every Day!
Funded Aug 17, 2017Thank you so much for your generous donations of iPads to our classroom. We have been so busy this year learning English, using our iPads during Center time and becoming strong Math scholars! Your donation enabled my students to be able to use specialized applications and programs that have supported their developing literacy every day. One way we have found particularly effective in using the iPads is to support our newest language learners by the use of Speech to Text applications. This has supported their written literacy by capitalizing on their strengths in oral language.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 2 other donors.iPads Bring Literacy to Life
Funded Dec 22, 2017We have been able to use our iPads for center work during our literacy block and to provide intensive intervention for those students who are learning English for the first time. The students have been so excited for this time of the day and they have been using the technology in meaningful ways to support the learning that we are doing every day with pen and paper. My students are so grateful, they could not believe that someone they had never met before would be willing to help them learn. We cannot thank you enough for your generosity. You will see from the pictures how happy the students are to have this technology in the classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
With One Easel We Can Learn to Read and Write!
Funded Oct 8, 2017I truly cannot thank you enough for the donations that contributed to our classroom easel. I use this easel for phonics instruction every single day. My students are all English learners and this instruction is critical to their success in learning a new language. We also use this easel for mathematics, small group mini-lessons and for general instruction. In addition, my students love to use this easel during free tine to "play school." Know that this easel may possibly be inspiring a whole brand new set of teachers!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
Sensory Seating to Support Great Learning
Funded Oct 8, 2017It is almost impossible to imagine what our classroom life was like before we had these sensory seating options. We spend a lot of time at the carpet to do our best learning, as proximity to the teacher is very important for my students. The floor is not the most comfortable place to sit and our sensory sitting has helped all of the students to be more comfortable when needing to sit for an extended period of time. Additionally, we are able to take the wiggle seats to our tables so that those students needing additional support are able to use them there as well. To say that it has dramatically improved our classroom climate is not to say enough! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
Magic Carpet Ride for Reading!
Funded Aug 26, 2017We cannot express our gratitude for the beautiful rug in our classroom. Our building is not the newest facility but my classroom received a beautiful makeover with the addition of this rug for our reading area. It has brightened up the classroom and given the students a comfortable area to sit when they are buddy reading with a cuddly stuffed animal or with a classroom friend. Students are very excited to invite their parents to read with them at our very first Reading Night. Your generous donation has helped my students' classroom feel like a home away from home and we cannot thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 6 other donors.Big Cheer For the New School Year with Basic Supplies!
Funded Aug 18, 2017We have been using our new classroom supplies every day! All of my students are learning English as a second language. Using materials that support learning language in different modalities such as "rainbow writing" with colored pencils, coloring and cutting out letters to paste into words is incredibly beneficial to them.
A second way that these materials have been beneficial is through the daily use of crayons and markers to illustrate our stories and add detail to our work. As we have worked to identify the sequence of events in some of our favorite stories, "Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon" and "Peanut Butter and Cupcake," we have illustrated them using our new crayons and markers. It is impossible to overstate how quickly we go through crayons, markers and colored pencils, so your generous donation will help us to be sure we have what we need to be successful throughout the school year.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 5 other donors.Leveled Books to Level the Playing Field
Funded Jul 30, 2017My students and I are so grateful to have leveled books to help us during independent reading time. One of the challenges that we have faced is that many students want to read during independent reading time but they are unsure of how to pick books that are at the correct level for them: not too easy and not too hard. With the books purchased from Donors Choose, my students have been able to pick out books that are just right for them. Because of the variety of high interest topics, there is a book for every student. In addition, because many of my students do not have lots of books at home, having additional books for our classroom library has allowed me to lend books to students to take home. I have one student who takes home a new book every night. This student was a non-reader one month ago and has already begun learning how to decode simple words because he was able to pick out books he was interested in and take them home.
We cannot thank you enough for your generosity, please know that you have positively impacted all of the lives in my classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 9 other donors.Building Brain Power! Full STEAM Ahead!
Funded Feb 3, 2017I cannot thank you enough for your generous donations to our classroom. Your support enabled my Kelly School students to have access to grade level scientific texts. In my classroom, two-thirds of my students are English Language Learners or ELLs. These students bring many resources to our classroom including their first language knowledge and knowledge of other cultures and customs that support which they can transfer to the learning of their second language, English. What is sometimes challenging for ELLs is that domain specific or content area vocabulary, especially Scientific words is some of the last type of vocabulary that is acquired both orally and in reading and writing. Access to texts that use this type of vocabulary helps me to support them in their oral language development as we conduct science talks and in their scientific writing as we read, write and speak to deepen our understanding of these challenging vocabulary words.
We are using these texts as springboards for our hands on learning and to help build background knowledge for my students. Building background knowledge helps students to activate what they already know about a topic and connect it to the reading. Without these texts my students would have to rely on outdated materials that are not appropriate for their reading level.
All students are expected to know these types of vocabulary words and how to use them appropriately and in the correct context. My students will be taking high stakes science tests next year and your generous donations will help them to be prepared for those tests.
My students deserve the same opportunities as students in more affluent communities. Your donations have helped me to begin to level the playing field for them.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Donnell