You're on track to get doubled donations (and unlock a reward for the colleague who referred you). Keep up the great work!
Take credit for your charitable giving! Check out your tax receipts
To use your $50 gift card credits, find a project to fund and we'll automatically apply your credits at checkout. Find a classroom project
Skip to main content

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.

Ms. Long's Classroom

Support her classroom with a gift that fosters learning.

  • Monthly
  • One-time

We'll charge your card today and send Ms. Long a DonorsChoose gift card she can use on her classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send her a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

Edit or cancel anytime.

cancel

Support Ms. Long's classroom with a gift that fosters learning.

  • Monthly
  • One-time

We'll charge your card today and send Ms. Long a DonorsChoose gift card she can use on her classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send her a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

Edit or cancel anytime.

Make a donation Ms. Long can use on her next classroom project.

Your custom url is https://www.donorschoose.org/ms-k-long

Gift Ms. Long's classroom the essentials

$19.06 bandages

for Ms. Long in
Los Angeles, CA
show projects from all time

Past projects 59

  • Summer Word Game Fun with Mad Libs

    Funded May 9, 2023

    Your kindness helped spread so much joy in my classroom! I gifted these Mad Libs books to my 2nd graders on the morning of our last day of school, and it was one of the most perfect activities to do as we finished the school year together. If only you could have watched the children play Mad Libs together in groups of two or three, filling in their pages with random nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and reading their stories back to each other while erupting in laughter! After giving them a half hour to play the game, a few students volunteered to read their funny stories to the class. And the best part of this is that everyone was having fun, reading, writing, and learning all at the same time. At a point in the school year when students are (and I'll be honest) *done* with school and learning and eagerly waiting for summer vacation to start, this was a major win.

    Thank you for your support, and for making our last day such a beautiful, joyful experience.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 20 other donors.
  • Teachers Explore the Science of Reading

    Funded Dec 3, 2022

    Our book study of Shifting the Balance has been going strong for the past few weeks. Reading this book together as a faculty has made for some great opportunities to learn and reflect on our practice when it comes to teaching literacy. We just had our fourth book club meeting this afternoon--led by yours truly--when we got to discuss a chapter on how to rethink high frequency word instruction. As a faculty, we often take for granted the way we have been teaching reading for years, even decades, but this current, research-based book has cleared up so many misunderstandings on how children learn to read, and how we can teach reading more effectively. One of our common take-aways has been, "Why didn't we learn this stuff sooner?" Thankfully, this book gives us the power of knowledge to make our teaching better; indeed, when we know better, we do better.

    Not only has this been a time of learning and professional growth, but this book study of Shifting the Balance has also been a time to build camaraderie and come together as friends and colleagues, to recharge our professional batteries and get inspired by each others' ideas--which is so much needed in our busy and challenging profession. Thank you for helping me and my fellow teachers in becoming stronger and wiser educators.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 31 other donors.
  • Forward Thinking With Flexible Seating

    Funded Nov 30, 2022

    How quickly these past few months have flown since receiving our wonderful stools and Bouncy Bands! They have been such delightful additions to our classroom, making flexible seating during the day a breeze. For my students with sensory or attention issues, I've added Bouncy Bands to their chair legs and it allows them wiggle and wobble (safely!) in their seats to their hearts' content while allowing them to concentrate on their work. Everyone in our class enjoys using the stools to move closer to work with partners or small groups during math and reading activities, and I even use them occasionally when conferencing with my students. We also love how these stools come in such bright, cheery colors, and are so much lighter than the hard plastic and chrome chairs we've always had in the classroom.

    Thank you once again for providing these stools and Bouncy Bands for us - they've added so much to our classroom in the way of comfort, convenience, and a collaborative environment for my students!”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 16 other donors.
  • Zest for Zentangle

    Funded Aug 10, 2022

    It has been the focus of several art lessons, and my students are enjoying it so much! One of the things that makes this art form so fascinating and engaging is that there are hundreds of Zentangle patterns one can draw; 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.

    We will be doing Zentangle art in the coming weeks and months, since there is much more to learn. I see Zentangle as a good opportunity to teach growth mindset, since I tell my students that with practice their Zentangles will improve, and that as we get better at it, we will try out more difficult patterns. My class can't wait to learn more Zentangle!”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 8 other donors.
  • Drawing Our Way to Smart 2.0

    Funded Aug 10, 2022

    If only you could see how much my students cherish their sketchbooks! We use them nearly everyday for quick art minilessons and routine drawing and sketching exercises, as well as creative mindfulness activities. One of the children's favorite things to do in their sketchbooks is gratitude journaling. Each week, or more often if they wish, they devote a page to highlighting five to seven things they are grateful for by drawing them or sketching out the words with markers or colored pencils in artsy and whimsical ways. We've also done zentangle, which is a mindful form of doodling with interesting lines, shapes, and patterns. Last week, we ventured into our school garden to do some nature sketching. The looks of focus and concentration on my students' faces alone was rewarding and enlightening to me, as I watched them observe the curve of a leaf or petal, the arch of a stem, or the shape of a strawberry.

    Thank you for such a rich and wonderful gift to these children. We will continue using these sketchbooks throughout the year, and I'm sure they will be a source of inspiration and artistic discovery for many days to come.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 33 other donors.
  • Let's Go! Supplies for Starting 2nd Grade

    Funded Jul 25, 2022

    I look back on the past 37 days of school thus far, and how your support has lifted me and my students up and sustained us through our many hours of learning. Thank you so much for providing my class with the essential supplies for the work we've been doing. Whether it's been writing our personal thoughts down in our red journals every afternoon, keeping our math skills sharp as we practice daily warmup problems on our reusable plastic dry erase sleeves, or practicing our close reading skills with our handy yellow highlighters, your gift has made such a difference. You've even kept us organized as we use the zipper pouches to store our pencils, Expo markers, erasers, and other small supplies. We are deeply thankful for you and your kindness.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

  • Mad About Reading! (Phonemic Awareness and Phonics)

    Funded Dec 16, 2021

    Wow! This has been a very rich, in-depth project in reading and language instruction that I will continue to learn from and use to engage my students for years to come. As such, my update today shares with you how the materials supplied in this project have helped me to hone my skills in reading instruction in the past few months. Some ways included:

    *Highlighting strips and finger focus reading strips: I modeled how to use these tools in class and the students took to them immediately! The bright colors and transparent material helped them to focus on text during read alouds and partner reading practice. I could also use the strips during small group instruction to look at key words to teach vocabulary or look for spelling patterns.

    *Flashlights: we used these for Flashlight Reading Fridays - so fun, and even reluctant readers looked forward to it!

    *Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards: I used these to purchase two very comprehensive bundles of Orton-Gillingham activities, lessons, and games. These bundles were very helpful in practicing phonemic awareness with my students, and gave them the explicit, structured instruction they needed to build their decoding skills. My students actually enjoyed using the activities in the TPT resources more than those we had in the district reading program we normally use! There was so much material that I didn't have enough time this year to use it all, and intend to spend part of my summer to study it and prep more of the activities and games for future lessons (And as teacher nerd, I'm excited to do this. Delving into the science of reading is my thing!)

    I saw such growth in my second graders in their language skills this year. Thank you for helping them along on their journey to become the powerful readers we all wish them to be.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 50 other donors.
  • Let's Get Mellow: Learning Mindfulness in the Classroom

    Funded Dec 14, 2021

    Finally, an end-of-the-school-year update! This project has given my class some wonderful additions to my social-emotional learning "arsenal" of teaching resources, as well as helpful tools my students can use to self-regulate their behavior and emotions. The four wobble cushions were favorite items among my students, who happily took turns using them (I had a system in place the first day I introduced them so that every child had a chance to use them regularly throughout the year). They loved the cushions because it gave them a way to move and get their wiggles out while still being able to stay in their seats and pay attention during lessons and independent work. My students enjoyed the sensory toys as well. I made the toys available in a blue basket during our "quiet time" following lunch break, so a child could take an item from the basket upon entering the room if they wished, and use it to calm down for a few minutes before getting back to work. Using the wobble cushions and the sensory toys became a daily strategy for creating peace and calm in our classroom.

    I had a few opportunities to use the other resources in this project - the "Mindful Kids" activity card set and the mindfulness workbook - and hope to use them more extensively next year. Among a few of the ideas I have for future use - incorporating the workbook pages into short, quickwrite journaling sessions during our SEL time on Monday mornings, and having students take turns as "mindfulness monitors" to lead the class in some of the mindfulness card activities.

    Mindfulness is still a relatively new area of exploration for myself, and I look forward to incorporating it more into the fabric of my classroom. Thank you so much for helping provide these resources that make that learning possible for me and my students!”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 33 other donors.
  • Rollicking Reading Journey with James and the Giant Peach, Pt.2

    Funded Oct 22, 2021

    Hooray! We completed our reading of James and the Giant Peach on our last day of school. For three weeks, the class was riveted to the pages while I read the novel out loud, taken along on a fantastic journey with James and listening to the fun, unique prose that made Roald Dahl's writing so engaging and magical. We talked about the characters (my favorite was Centipede with his 42 pairs of boots, but many of the children loved adventurous James and the kindly Ladybug best), as well as lyrical devices that Dahl loved to use, such as simile, metaphor, and alliteration.

    As we were winding down with our activities, I made spiral-bound activity books related to the novel for the class, which they could work on during downtime or after reading some chapters together. The books had glossy covers and included coloring sheets of the characters, math games, and vocabulary activities.

    Perhaps my favorite part of our reading this chapter book was when I came to a point in the story when Centipede sang: "I've eaten many strange and scrumptious dishes in my time,/Liked jellied gnats and dandyprats and earwigs cooked in slime . . ." and my students dared me to sing it aloud! Somehow I was able to make up a melody on the spot while singing the entire song and it was hysterical.

    This was a fantastic way to end the school year, a way of adding one more lovely memory to our learning journey together. Thank you for making that journey possible.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

    This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 22 other donors.
  • Rollicking Reading Journey with James and the Giant Peach, Pt.3

    Funded Oct 30, 2021

    Hooray! We completed our reading of James and the Giant Peach on our last day of school. For three weeks, the class was riveted to the pages while I read the novel out loud, taken along on a fantastic journey with James and listening to the fun, unique prose that made Roald Dahl's writing so engaging and magical. We talked about the characters (my favorite was Centipede with his 42 pairs of boots, but many of the children loved adventurous James and the kindly Ladybug best), as well as lyrical devices that Dahl loved to use, such as simile, metaphor, and alliteration.

    As we were winding down with our activities, I made spiral-bound activity books related to the novel for the class, which they could work on during downtime or after reading some chapters together. The books had glossy covers and included coloring sheets of the characters, math games, and vocabulary activities.

    Perhaps my favorite part of our reading this chapter book was when I came to a point in the story when Centipede sang: "I've eaten many strange and scrumptious dishes in my time,/Liked jellied gnats and dandyprats and earwigs cooked in slime . . ." and my students dared me to sing it aloud! Somehow I was able to make up a melody on the spot while singing the entire song and it was hysterical.

    This was a fantastic way to end the school year, a way of adding one more lovely memory to our learning journey together. Thank you for making that journey possible.”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Long

I have 24 wonderful 2nd graders in a class that's culturally diverse. My students have eager and open hearts to learning. If you were to enter our classroom, you would find us immersed not only in reading, writing, and math but also arts-related activities that integrate with those subjects in fun and exciting ways. My students bring refreshingly new ideas and wondering in our learning discussions and activities, and they are happy to come to school.

About my class

I have 24 wonderful 2nd graders in a class that's culturally diverse. My students have eager and open hearts to learning. If you were to enter our classroom, you would find us immersed not only in reading, writing, and math but also arts-related activities that integrate with those subjects in fun and exciting ways. My students bring refreshingly new ideas and wondering in our learning discussions and activities, and they are happy to come to school.

About my class

{"followTeacherId":577070,"teacherId":577070,"teacherName":"Ms. Long","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp577070_orig.jpg?crop=1894,1894,x0,y371&width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1731373952928","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"vanityURL":"ms-k-long","teacherChallengeId":216377,"followAbout":"Ms. Long's projects","teacherVerify":1999584347,"teacherNameEncoded":"Ms. Long","vanityType":"teacher","teacherPageInfo":{"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"teacherHasClassroomDescription":true,"teacherClassroomDescription":"","teacherProfileURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/classroom/ms-k-long","tafURL":"https://secure.donorschoose.org/donors/share_teacher_profile.html?teacher=577070","stats":{"numActiveProjects":0,"numFundedProjects":59,"numSupporters":639},"classroomPhotoPendingScreening":false,"showEssentialsListCard":true,"teacherNamePossessive":"Ms. Long's","essentialsTopItemSummary":"bandages","essentialsTopItemImageUrl":"/images/essentialslist/supplies/bandages.jpg","essentialsTopItemPrice":19.06,"essentialsListLength":7,"essentialsListUrl":"https://www.donorschoose.org//donors/essentials-list.html?teacherId=577070","state":"CA","stateFullName":"California","city":"Los Angeles"}}