Past projects 7
BrainPop Makes the Grades Pop!
Funded Feb 1, 2019I am SO sorry for the extreme delay with describing the impact that BrainPop has had on our classroom. In addition to the writing, reading, and math state tests, as a fifth grader, you also take the science test. This test has standards from third, fourth, AND fifth grade on it. Our class used BrainPop to help us review some of those standards that we may not have seen in a year or so. The videos reminded our class about the topic and then we would use the resources page to practice some of the standards. Sometimes we used the related readings, other times we used the vocabulary pages.
My students absolutely loved BrainPop. I described our whole group use above, now onto our small group use. When we would break into small groups, we would have different stations that the students would visit to practice the standard we were working on. One of the stations that the students visited was the technology station. We had a Promethean Board in our classroom where the students were able to watch the video of the selected topic and then complete the related activities. Sometimes the students completed the graphic organizers that were related and other times they did the graded quiz. Thank you so much for making this possible!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
Fun & Flexible Classroom Seating
Funded Jun 19, 2018I wanted to thank everyone who donated or shared my project again for helping me reach this goal. Without you all, none of this would be possible. These flexible seating options have been a blast this first few weeks of school. When my new students first walked in my classroom during Meet the Teacher, they were both surprised and excited! I knew right away that they would absolutely love having the option to not only select their table each day, but also the power to choose their actual seat.
At this point in the year - we are three weeks in - we have established classroom rules for the free choice seating together. All four groups of my students have been doing excellent with following the rules that we co-created and making sure they are respecting the seating and their area. It has helped my students feel empowered and helped my students who absolutely need to move during class time.
I wouldn't change a thing about this flexible seating classroom; it works for me and for my students and we love it.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
We Like To Move It, Move It!
Funded Dec 20, 2017Thank you so much for helping to make this project possible. This project didn't just support my class, but it supported all of the students at our school. These physical education supplies were given to the coach at our school and she is using them in many different ways. Our school is third through fifth grade and many of the previous supplies were old and getting worn out. The students now have brand new pieces of equipment to use during P.E. and some of the equipment is being saved for our school's annual Field Day.
When the boxes were delivered to the school period, the students were amazed! Since we were lucky enough to receive so many supplies, there were a ton of boxes. We opened each box so that the students were able to have a sneak peek of what they would be able to use during P.E. We surprised our coach with all of the equipment as well. Although we haven't used everything yet, our whole school is extremely grateful for everything that we've received. You have no idea the impact that this has had on our small school.
Again, thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
This classroom project was brought to life by The PwC Charitable Foundation and one other donor.Goo Goo For Google Classroom!
Funded Aug 24, 2017Again, thank you so much for choosing to support my classroom and my students! These Chromebooks have been a blessing. The original reason that I wanted them was to be able to get students onto Google Classroom - an virtual classroom where students can complete assignments and activities. We still use it for this, however, we have expanded our use beyond that.
I am now able to get twice the amount of students logged on at once so that they can work on group projects together, watch videos to complete a class assignment, research a topic, and much more. One of their favorite websites is called Learning Farm. Learning Farm is an online site that matches the Florida State Standards. The site has topics ranging from fractions in math to identifying the theme of a story in reading. This site is the perfect reinforcement of what we are learning in the classroom. There is a learning mode, test mode, and the kid's favorite; game mode. The Chromebooks have allowed me to add a technology center rotation during my math and reading blocks. The learning gains we will make will only go up from here!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 10 other donors.It's No "Wonder" We Love Reading!
Funded Jul 11, 2017Thank you all again so much for helping us reach our goal so that we could get our "Wonder" books and flexible seating options. We have been reading "Wonder" since the third day of school and my students are absolutely in love with the story. They are excited to learn more about August's journey and are appalled about the way that some of August's classmates treat him. We are working to become a "Certified Kindness Classroom" while we are reading this book. It warms my heart to see my fourth graders praise each other and think before they speak.
Our flexible seating has done wonders for some of my "bouncy" students. They love using the yoga balls at their desks and the pillows in our classroom library making reading even more fun! Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU for always supporting my class!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 4 other donors.Markers, Crayons, and Chairs! OH MY!
Funded Nov 30, 2016Thank you for providing my fourth grade students with resources to help us throughout the 2016-2017 school year! I am very sorry for the delay! We absolutely loved the bean bag chairs, crayons, and markers. When I first told my two classes that the SEC had funded us for a project, they were extremely excited! We live near Gainesville, Florida so the Florida Gators spirit is very heavy in this area; they were very excited that the SEC would be willing to help "kids like them" (as they said.)
We used the crayons and markers for many different science, social studies, and math projects. The students were able to create posters about the Civil War, create math anchor charts to hang around the room, and sometimes we just used them to color! The bean bags were used in our "MVP Area" where students who have displayed positive behavior were able to sit and relax during class.
These contributions to our classroom definitely helped the school year go much smoother! Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell
Mrs. S's Centers Go Digital!
Funded Jul 6, 2016Hello and sorry for the delay - it's been a busy school year so far! I wanted to say thank you from myself and my students. I cannot thank everyone enough who donated to my project. It might seem like a small donation to you, but these four tablets have been such an asset to our classroom during small group intervention time. I am able to have a technology station where students can extend their learning with multiplication and other math topics. My students are able to rotate through their groups during the week and the technology component has been a hit! They love being able to practice their math while playing games. I have also added maps and apps about space that the students can use.
Your contribution has reached 46 students! I am a Math, Science, and Social Studies teacher this year, so I have two groups of students. My goal for this school year is for all of my students to make gains and learn the content, however, I want to focus on my lower scoring students. Being able to sign onto Reflex Math, a site that allows students to practice their multiplication fluency, has helped many of my students tremendously. These tablets provide extra instruction during small groups as I am not able to work with each student all the time.
These tablets have particularly made two of my male students very happy. They have expressed to me that they have little to no technology at home. Each time that it is their turn to go to the technology station, the happiness that they are feeling is very apparent. As a result, they work quietly and diligently during their time on the tablets. I have seen improvements in both of their behaviors and fluency since the introduction of the tablets to our classroom rotation.
Again, I cannot thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spell