Past projects 76
Unplugged Bingo
Funded Jan 14, 2021We have received the multiplication and sight word bingo. Students were very excited to get them. On Fridays I use the sight word bing to review after English Language Development to practice words that they should be able to read quickly. We also do the multiplication bingo to review our facts. Unfortunately many parents are working long hours and they are unable to play with students. However at least 30 percent of the families have enjoyed playing with siblings and other family members. Some families have up to 5 children in the home so those who are at a 3rd grade leve or above find it fun. Covid has limited many activities so playing these games make it easier to work and have fun together as a family. I will continue to encourage families to play with their students. Student's who do play have shown a great improvement in their math skills and spelling abilities. Thank you for helping learning to be easier and more fun.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
Cultivating Colors en Casa
Funded Nov 13, 2020Thank you for giving my students art materials so that they can find joy and relax at home. Some of my students commented that it was almost like being back at school. They have missed activities off the computer.
We finished our habitat projects and they were added to the school Zoom Winter Festival. The kids said that their projects were the best part. Our next art activity when we return to distance learning after the winter break, will be creating painting that shows inheritance of traits or different organisms that belong to the same species. This is an extension of our science unit called "Inheritance and Traits." The habitat project was an introduction to this unit since the unit also covers how the environment affects the traits of individuals in a species. Learning about science using art not only allows them to have fun, but helps them understand the science concepts. My struggling students especially need the ability to express their learning in alternative ways because their writing abilities prevent them from showing what they know.
After science, we will probably do an art project related to social studies. Since January is African-American Heritage Month and February Women's History month, I will probably have them create something related to that.
Thank you for allowing me to teach with art!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
Guided Reading Levels A-G
Funded Mar 7, 2020Thank you so much for your donation of books for guided reading. Guided reading books at levels A-G are for students who have not learned to decode English or have low language skills that prevent them from understanding basic vocabulary. Books at levels A-G support students through repetition of phrases so that decoding is manageable and students can understand what they read. Because of Covid I have not been able to use or organize the books in our book room. Our school is set to open for pre-K to 2nd in March. At that time I will work to organize the books in our bookroom and make them ready for the 1st and 2nd grade teachers to use. If I am able to get the vaccine I might ask to teach part time at school in support of the students who are not successful in learning at a distance. The students who are not succeeding at home are also the lowest academically or they have attention issues that are augmented by being in a noisy and crowded environment at home. The group of students that are struggling comes to 8 or possibly 9. Some of these students came in at a K or first grade level in reading, writing and math. The group of students that need direct in person instruction are now reading at a mid first grade level. That is at levels F, G, or H. They are able to decode but need to build fluency and improve their understanding. I will group books by topic in order to introduce them to new science knowledge. I will have the students read and discuss the books in small groups. As they gain science knowledge I will teach with guided books at higher levels, videos, and books that I will read aloud. Then we will begin our science unit and spend time reading the books at level P together, doing the experiments and writing our observations and conclusions about our experiments. The guided reading books will serve as an introduction to difficult topics and as a way to practice reading with fluency. Thank you for your donation. We greatly appreciate it.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 2 other donors.Guided Reading Books Levels H-N
Funded Mar 7, 2020Thank you so much for your donation of books for guided reading. Because of Covid I have not been able to use or organize the books in our book room. Our school is set to open for pre-K to 2nd in March. At that time I will work to organize the books in our bookroom and make them ready for the 1st and 2nd grade teachers to use. If I am able to get the vaccine I might ask to teach part time at school in support of the students who are not successful in learning at a distance. The students who are not succeeding at home are also the lowest academically or they have attention issues that are augmented by being in a noisy and crowded environment at home. The group of students that are struggling comes to 8 or possibly 9. Some of these students came in at a K or first grade level in reading, writing and math. If I have these students in person I willl work with the guided reading books in two ways. First we will work on decoding and learning to read and understand the books and the larger topic. I will group them into 2 groups and read books with the same topic if possible. I will then create an environment for discussion and learning more about the topic. Students will present to one another, ask questions, agree and disagree in English. Many of these students do not have the vocabulary or language to explain their learning in full sentences in English. Some also lack this skill in Spanish. The conversation will then lead us to express our knowledge and opinions in writing.
I chose books that are related to our science program so that I can combine and support our science education at the same time. It is my experience that students who are not successful in reading lack vocabulary skills that make reading meaningless and extremely difficult. Not every teacher notices this fact because some of these students can pronounce the words correctly. However, in the upper grades they struggle because reading changes from "learning to read to reading to learn." Guided reading is a great way to provide students with the knowledge and skills that they will need to succeed. Thank you for your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 8 other donors.Good Reading Habits About Habitats
Funded Sep 28, 2019Thank you for the Habitat Books that you donated to my class last year. I read them last year but we had the Covid Pandemic interrupt the final project and we were not able to complete it. This year I decided to request other donations to make it possible for students to do their project at home. I also decided to start the project earlier as an introductory unit to our "Inheritance and Traits" unit. Reading the books with the final project in mind allowed students to be more active in their learning. They asked more questions and expressed more curiosity about the different habitats. This was perfect because during our next science unit we will be looking at how the environment affects the behavior of animals. Our final project allowed students to examine the landforms in their chosen habitat, consider temperature and climate and begin to think about all the organisms that live in that environment. As a final project students had to create a diorama about their habitat, write a paragraph to describe it and record what they learned during this introductory unit. I was pleasantly surprised as to how the projects turned out. Learning at home has been very difficult and this project allowed students to become more engaged in science. Thank you for your donation to our classroom. I will continue using the books year after year.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
Hearing and Being Heard
Funded Oct 10, 2020You have no idea how much easier it is to hold clases now that I can clearly hear the quiet students in the midst of their noisy homes. Parents were very appreciative too because they do not have to hear as much noise as they did before. I was able to give headphones to some siblings and that has made it better for the whole family. Especially when we are reading and I have to check how students are pronouncing the short vowels, having headphones with mic's allows me to catch their errors. The vowels in Spanish are slightly different than some of the short vowels and if I cannot hear them clearly I cannot correct their errors. Pronunciation gets solidified around 10 years old, so if they don't pronounce the sounds correctly now, they might always speak with an accent. When we are singing via zoom it makes it sound a little more tolerable. If you have not heard 22 people singing via zoom at the same time, you are very fortunate. Anyway, thank you for allowing us to hear and speak to each other during this home learning time that never seems to end.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 2 other donors.Back Packs for Back to School
Funded Jun 28, 2020School started on August 17th, 2020. The week before school started I called each one of my incoming student and set up a time to deliver the backpack filled with tools for learning. Students were very excited to see what they were getting and parents were pleased not only to get to know me but to receive the school supplies their children needed and more. During this first month of teaching the backpack and the pencil pouch have been essential in keeping us organized. On the first day of school I explained to students and parents that they needed to keep the backpack near them when we are learning. I also told them to make sure that they kept everything in their backpack so that they would not loose it. I have them take out journals, whiteboards, books, and other tools daily during our 5 Zoom meetings. Most of the time it takes only seconds because most of the students listened and kept things organized. Every once in a while someone forgets to put something back in but they quickly learn their lesson. Transitions between activities take less than a minute because the backpack has made things so convenient and organized. Parents are also happy because their children are not leaving things all over the place or loosing them and asking for help. It seems like a small thing but your generous donation of a backpack and pencil pouch for every student has made learning at a distance less hectic for all of us. Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce and one other donor.Back to School Distance Learning Supplies
Funded Jun 19, 2020Thank you for providing the basic supplies that my students need when learning from home. It has been difficult to learn to teach online but with the right tools at home it makes it much easier. As you can see from the pictures students have been creative in their art time. One made a clay model of the heart. Another created a video on Seesaw that explains to her friends how to make a heart envelope. The supplies have definitely brought joy and creativity to being at home. However, the supplies have done more than that. We used the construction paper to make a spinner and a clock for math. We have used the markers as highlighters to find words in books or highlight sections in our notebook. The clay will soon serve to make landforms while we study geography and then animal habitats. The clay will also serve to create animal models that show inherited traits. The whiteboards have been quite a time saver and a great way to assess student learning. I use them to have students respond to questions in reading, math and science. Our music teacher uses them to have them draw to the music in order to keep them engaged in a Zoom class. While there are ways for them to share their answers and ideas online, using a whiteboard makes things much simpler, more engaging and fun for the students. Thank you for making these difficult times more pleasant and productive.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce and 14 other donors.Our Own Books
Funded Jun 29, 2020Thank you for purchasing books for our distance learning. The books have been very helpful in getting the students excited about reading. The books have also allowed me to provide support for all my students despite the difference in levels. We have read 4 books so far. I have been spending about two weeks in each book. I start by doing a read aloud and talking through the parts that might be tricky to my English learners. After we finish the book I have students talk about it. We retell the important facts, describe the characters and write about the book. Afterwards we analyze some of the sentences and parts of speech that will help my students progress in English. We have been focusing on adjectives and verbs. We are also working on pronouncing words with -ed endings correctly. Students are learning about the three sounds of the -ed ending and looking for patterns to determine how to tell if a word sounds like -d, -t, or -ed at the end. This is one of the skills that English learners have difficulty in learning.
After we study the book we end with students taking turns reading from the book in small groups. They are told to read and reread the books because we will come back to them later. Having paper books allow my students to rest their eyes, own books and learn to take notes and analyze the book by underlining and writing in the pages. Something that they would never be allowed to do in our library books or books borrowed from the library. Having our own books allows my students to experience reading in a new way. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce and 2 other donors.Learning Math at a Distance
Funded Jun 19, 2020We have been learning from home via Zoom for a month now. Our first math unit has been place value. I can't tell you how much the math manipulatives and tools you purchased for us have helped. The place value board has made it easy for students to understand how to expand a number according to the value of each digit. This has allowed my incoming third graders to compare, add and subtract three digit numbers. In second grade they were only exposed to two digit addition and subtraction. The were also learning math in Spanish. Some of the students came using their fingers to add one sums with one digit addends. It's great to see them record themselves analyzing a 4 digit number in English. We use the hundreds chart daily to count by 5's, 10's etc. Because it is a white board students can circle the numbers as we say them. This allows even students who normally struggle to be able to count with us. The manipulatives allow us to learn using several sense. We look and touch the tools as we learn. We practice saying the numbers in English and we hear student volunteers explaining the answers. Our next unit is Time and then we move to multiplication. Without the math tools that you have provided us, it would be difficult for me to keep everyone engaged, focused and learning. Thank you for your support in our math education.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Garcia
This classroom project was brought to life by Salesforce and 3 other donors.