Past projects 4
Mystery Boxes are Coming Their Way!
Funded May 19, 2020Thank you so much for your support with this project. My students were so excited to receive these items and use them in our final weeks of school. I made fun and engaging activities around these items that would keep them wondering what we would be doing next.
These items got students off of their computers and making colorful poetry to decorate their windows at home. It got them reviewing basic parts of speech and writing funny stories to share with each other. Students got to do research on animals and share top 10 ten lists about those animals with one another. While we could not be together for our class party, students all drank out of personalized tumblers which joined us as one.
These items might seem like small every day objects, but they certainly brought joy to my students at a time that is difficult for them to understand. I know that when they see their items they will think back with great memories how fun the month of June was in our virtual classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Massaro
Learning from Home is Fun!
Funded May 5, 2020Thank you so much for your support with this project. My students were so excited to receive these items and use them in our final weeks of school. I made fun and engaging activities around these items that would keep them wondering what we would be doing next.
These items got students off of their computers and making colorful poetry to decorate their windows at home. It got them reviewing basic parts of speech and writing funny stories to share with each other. Students got to do research on animals and share top 10 ten lists about those animals with one another. While we could not be together for our class party, students all drank out of personalized tumblers which joined us as one.
These items might seem like small every day objects, but they certainly brought joy to my students at a time that is difficult for them to understand. I know that when they see their items they will think back with great memories how fun the month of June was in our virtual classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Massaro
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 2 other donors.We Are Different and the Same!
Funded Aug 9, 2019Thank you so much for supporting my project. My students were thrilled to be working on a year long project and we've transitioned the project smoothly using the videos for learning. My original intent with this project was to create empathy for others, gain a love of travel, and see how families all over the world do things similar to us. I did this and so much more thanks to your support.
The school year started out and students were assigned countries that they were going to research the entire year. These projects did not just occur during our Social Studies period. In Science, when we learned about weather and climate students tracked the weather for a month and came up with bar graphs to display their data (Math). Students also researched food webs that take place on their continent and displayed and presented them in our classroom. In Language Arts, students compared and contrasted their country and the United States. We researched immigration and why people of different countries immigrate to America. In Math, students also looked up statistics about their country and practiced reading large numbers.
Students learned and worked hard on two things that will help them for the rest of their lives. They learned about researching, online and using books, and about giving a professional presentation. With each aspect we discussed how to present a topic and create amazing visual presentations. My students became stellar presenters both in the classroom and online! I was amazed how easily they transitioned to online learning for the second half of the year. Our culminating project was presented through Google Meet where students presented all of the research they gathered from the year.
The video series that students watched followed a family in each country through their day. Students were shocked to see how different some things were like schooling and work, but couldn't stop saying how similar their families are. Students also loved seeing the different types of food and were eager to try some of them. At the end of the presentations students could not stop talking about what they have learned and how they cannot wait to go to their country (and the others that were presented) in the future. This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish with this project and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
These videos will be used for years to come and I can't wait to do more research and learn more about these amazing places.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Massaro
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 10 other donors.Non-Fiction Books to Inspire Student Interest
Funded Dec 19, 2014Thank you so much in supporting my first Donors Choose Project. The day my class received the encyclopedias they were so excited and overjoyed that people from all over the country, that they didn't even know were so vested in their learning. All of my students were so eager to see the encyclopedias and begin to use them right away. Many of them had never seen or used one before so I started by introducing how to use the encyclopedias to find what they are looking for. Students love "researching" topics during D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) Time and reporting back to me on new things that they learned.
We have used this set of encyclopedias to introduce Non-Fiction text features. The students also had to complete a Non-Fiction Text feature Hunt to find various text features in different books. In Science the students used these books to research animals, the adaptation, predators, and environment that they live in. Students then had to take their research and make a diorama with a classmate to show the animal in it's natural habitat and how they use their adaptations to help them survive in their environment. In Social Studies, students had to research a landform so that they could recreate it using clay. We also incorporated technology and students put all of their facts along with a picture showing the landform that they did their research on. Our next project is going to be focusing on different countries. Students will each have a country to research and they will report back to the class with what they found. I can't wait to see the results of this project and know my students will love using the encyclopedias to report back to their peers.
Having these encyclopedias in my classroom have benefited my students in so many different ways; the most important being that my students are learning how to conduct research with books! With the Internet being so popular, books are often forgotten about when it comes to research and I am so happy that I introduced my students to doing research in encyclopedias. It is so rewarding to see them read the encyclopedias during free time and open their minds to things they had no idea existed.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Massaro