Past projects 59
Paper Magic: Origami Books for Every Student
Funded Apr 9, 2025My students and I are so blessed with your kindness and support this year! Thank you for gifting us with these fun origami books, which will help fuel my class's obsession with this beautiful art form. I am waiting with anticipation to present these to them on the last day of school, and will be sure to let you know what they do with them!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 16 other donors.Graphic Novels Galore, Part 2
Funded Apr 7, 2025Amazing!! To have this project funded for our class today, on my birthday, is a wonderful blessing. I am so very thankful for my friends and community for coming to support this literacy project for amazing graphic novels. Thank you for believing in this project, and for keeping the love of learning alive in my students with books they enjoy.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
Paper Dreams for Young Writers and Artists, Part 2
Funded Jul 21, 2024I'm so thrilled to give you this update on how much my students have grown as readers and writers through this project which you helped fund. The red journals, epecially, have been a crucial part of our journey in 2nd grade, since we use them almost daily for jotting down ideas and crafting narratives for weekly journal assignments. Having each of their pieces stored in one journal helps me track their development in grammar skills, spelling, and written expression. My students enjoy sharing their work by reading their stories out loud from their journals, giving them opportunities to be in the spotlight. And because my students frequently take their journals home, their parents can see what we've been learning and writing about, making the journals a great home-to-school connection.
Since we received the colored multipurpose paper at the start of the school year, I've been using it to make copies of a variety of worksheets and parent communications. I often color-code the types of copies so that students can quickly identify and locate different papers they store in their folders and on their desks. It's always quite a challenge to keep everything at our workstations organized, but the colors definitely help!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
More Than Meets the Eye: Digital Microscopes for 2nd Grade
Funded Nov 14, 2024Wow! It's not often that I can say I learned and discovered something genuinely new alongside my students, but this time, with these amazing Skybasic microscopes, I can honestly say that I did!
This week, my class had the opportunity to try out these digital microscopes for the first time. We were first given an introduction on how microscopes work, as well as their proper use, by a UCLA scientist and parent volunteer. We then looked at variety of samples, including rocks, feathers, fabric, hair, sand, pond scum, and compost. Because the microscopes could magnify everything between 50-1000x their actual size, we were able to see fine details and microscopic creatures we would have never otherwise noticed. Of particular note were the tiny mites that scurried around the samples of compost.
The digital microscopes came with a useful app that we were able to download onto our iPads, allowing us to not only view, but take photos and videos of what we saw as well. Afterwards, students jotted down their observations and sketches, describing in detail what they saw. What a powerful way to get my students writing and drawing! We will be revisiting our notes and observations in the coming weeks, and I'll be setting up a station for students to use the microscopes. Our UCLA scientist parent will also return for a few more sessions to talk to us about erosion and how sand is formed, using the microscopes as a way to illustrate the process.
Thank you for your support and generosity in making this learning experience in science happen. I cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon and 11 other donors.Sweet Learning: The World of Chocolate
Funded Dec 31, 2024How sweet it is! Firstly, to know your support has brought this project to life, and secondly, to know that we'll be able to learn about chocolate with a unit of study that will integrate math, literacy, science, and social studies. Thanks to your generosity, we will be able to think critically in these areas within the real-world context of a beloved treat that everyone enjoys and knows well.
As we head into a new year, I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for the spirit of kindness and goodwill you have shown our students, and to wish you a joyous new year filled with delicious and happy adventures!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 34 other donors.Books That Inspire: Dragons, Battles, and the Power of Reading
Funded Oct 3, 2024Our newest additions to our classroom library--The Dragon Masters series, and the Who Would Win? series--have been one of the greatest things that's happened in our classroom! My students have been devouring these books for the past several weeks. They keep flying off the shelves, and not a day has gone by without me seeing one of those books on a student's desk. A few of my students have asked to take a copy outside with them to recess or lunch break, which brings me a lot of joy.
Having these books has been a beautiful way to connect with my students as well. Being new to the Dragon Masters series myself, I have taken on the challenge of reading all the books myself before making each one available to the class, and sometimes I will write a personal note to a student, saying, "I just finished reading Book 3 of Dragon Masters, and I thought you might enjoy this." This has helped to create more buy-in to reading, especially letting students see me as a reader, too.
Thank you for helping my students grow their love of reading! It's certainly one of the most exciting journeys we take together as a class.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 7 other donors.Architects in Action: Fostering Creativity With Stem Tools
Funded Dec 10, 2024Oh my, what joy you've brought to our classroom with your kindness and your belief in the power of STEM to engage our learners! These building kits will become the new "hottest" items which my students can use to set their imaginations on fire, I'm sure of it. I'm excited just thinking about the fun challenges I can pose with these tools, as well as the variety of ways I'll be able to integrate their use with math, literacy, social studies, science, and art.
Stay tuned for an update in a few months!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 10 other donors.Zest for Zentangle, Part 2
Funded Nov 29, 2023My students have been so inspired using these fine quality ink pens for their meditative, zentangle drawing exercises every Wednesday, and it's become their go-to art tool. Tremendous variety can be achieved simply with the work of a black pen, making so many creative, original art pieces possible. The Pigma Micron pens that were part of this project have made such a difference in the quality of their Zentangles, making it possible for the children to create crisp, fine lines and precise patterns. We use the pens frequently for other mindful drawing activities, including gratitude journaling.
Thank you for adding extra richness to our artistic lives in the classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 33 other donors.Brain Boost Sketchbooks: Unlocking Creativity and Gratitude
Funded Aug 14, 2024My students have been on a roll with their artist sketchbooks! We have been using them for five weeks so far, and for a variety of purposes, from zentangle, to gratitude journaling, to simple doodles. It has become an established routine for us on Wednesday mornings (i.e., our "Wellness Wednesdays") to spend the first twenty minutes of class working on a sketchbook page inspired by a theme or a question, such as "What are things that bring you joy?" or "What are three things you love about yourself?" I take a few minutes to model for my students how I would begin my drawing or design, thinking aloud about the theme and what it inspires in me, which gives me a valuable opportunity to share with my students things that are important to me, as well as show them who I am as a learner, thinker, and artist. I believe this can inspire and motivate my students to do their best quality creative work, as well as help them practice thinking deeply and more compassionately about themselves and the world and people around them.
Today we got to do a fun science activity with leaves we collected from around our neighborhood, learning about why leaves change color in the fall, observing and comparing different leaf shapes and trying to identify the trees they came from, and finally, ending with creating beautiful leaf rubbings in our sketchbooks.
Thank you so much for providing us with these sketchbooks! They have become precious to my students, an integral part of our learning, and an insightful way for me to learn more about my budding artists.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 33 other donors.Paper Dreams for Young Writers and Artists, Part 1
Funded Aug 15, 2024What an encouragement and a lift to the spirits to have your wonderful support for this art project! Thank you for providing quality watercolor paper for my students - frequently used in my classroom and so much needed. And thank you as well for the black drawing paper, which my students and I use to add that extra "oomph" and dramatic richness to our pastel drawings.
We look forward to sharing some of our artwork with you soon. Your kindness during this point of back-to-school season is very much appreciated.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Long
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 6 other donors.