Past projects 12
Math Club: Playing 24 & Making Math Magical
Funded Aug 25, 2024Our project is now fully funded!!!I Words cannot express how thankful I am for your generosity. My students are going to be so excited. They love playing 24 and they are going to love the different games we have now. The snacks and tokens of recognition will help us to really build a nice community.
I can't wait for the resources to arrive. I will so enjoy the look on my students' faces when I show them everything. This is really going to bring math to the forefront across the whole school!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
After COVID - Recreating Our Library to Inspire Reading
Funded Aug 23, 2021Thank you so much for your generous contribution and for caring so much about my students. The day your books arrived was so exciting. When I showed them to the students, they wanted to read them right away. The baskets in our library had been pretty empty and the books created so many more inviting options for the students as they visited the library.
The kids really love the Magic Tree House books and the other series books, so they were so excited to be able to read more books. Because the kids are so excited about their new books, they really enjoy analyzing the characters and plot, developing theories, and thinking about the authors' messages.
Since we now have double copies of several of the books, the kids often read the same book as a friend or reading partner and compare their theories and ideas. It is such a joy to see and hear.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Books, Books, Books! Libros, Libros, Libros!
Funded Apr 12, 2021First of all, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to thank you. You supported me and my students in a very difficult moment and the books you funded made such an incredible difference. When I couldn't be with my students in person, having new, exciting books to read to them and send to their homes made all of the difference.
In the Spring, I had a few students who really needed the structure of school and access to books in order to keep reading. Your books arrived at such a critical moment and renewed students interest in books. One student regained her love of reading, thanks to the Poppleton and Mr, Putter and Tabby, books she loves so much, that you brought to her. She really started reading again and we were both so excited.
So many of these books helped students to understand why perspective is so important. Not only is this an important reading skill, it is so important in terms of social emotional skills. For example, A Max le gustan las muñecas and Los discos de abuela made the students' eyes light up and opened their eyes to new perspectives and possibilities..
Thanks to your contributions, my students are better readers and more empathetic people.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Read All About It! Students Demand High Interest Books!
Funded Dec 26, 2019In our class, we read all over the room, on the rug, in the reading nook, at our desks, anyplace we feel comfortable. Research shows that kids' brains grow the most when they read hard books, but with their brains on fire. When I wrote this proposal, I was confident that the books you so generously donated would support my kids in doing just that. These books are high interest and very challenging for my students. As you can see from the pictures, the kids are really working hard to understand and absolutely loving it!
Pretty much every student in the class has a few books from your donation (most kids have many) that they find both challenging and incredibly exciting. Even my student who just arrived this year from Ecuador is using the diagrams and pictures to learn more English and learn more about animals!
Not only that, but my kids are learning higher level reading skills. Many kids are learning how to better read diagrams and use those diagrams in combination with the text to deepen their understanding. Others are having amazing conversations about the concepts in the books and I even have heard some interesting conversations about what the authors' underlying messages might be, yay! This is one of the more challenging, and important, skills I teach.
As a teacher, your support also inspires me to work just a little bit harder every day.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Bilingual Books for Bilingual Brains
Funded Sep 14, 2019Opening a new grade in a new Dual Language program is always full of challenges and building our 4th grade library has definitely been a big one. In the Fall, our school was able to buy some lovely series books, but many of our Spanish library shelves were empty. The students in our 4th grade class are really passionate about being bilingual and they have worked incredible hard on keeping and growing their Spanish. Opening our 4th grade Dual Language classroom with so few Spanish books was heartbreaking. During Spanish time, kids were reading the series books, but they kept asking for more books and, especially, more books that they knew would be at their reading levels.
Finally, a few weeks ago, your books came in and our library was transformed! The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on the new books. As kids poured over the new books at their very own reading level, their eyes were filled with delight and excitement. They couldn't wait to start reading! One student said, "Wow! The shelves were empty and now they are full!" Reading time each day feels completely different now. Kids are much more excited and engaged, with their heads in their books.
As we start our new unit on nonfiction, each student has been able to read a book on their own level that they are interested in. Having both fiction and nonfiction books that are leveled will allow students to continue making progress in developing and applying reading comprehension strategies so that they can continue to learn in the magical world of books!
Thanks to your generous support, our kids are continuing on their path to bilingual readers and writers and our library has a strong base from which to grow as well!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Putting the A (Art) Back in STEAM and Social Studies
Funded Aug 5, 2019Every head turned as the art teacher walked into the room with a huge box. He placed the box in the back of the room and several hands shot up. "What's in the box?" they wanted to know. I explained that there were lots of amazing art materials like clay, clay tools kits, and watercolors. The kids eyes lit up. Our art teacher had already told me that this class was full of amazing artists, so I wasn't surprised.
Within days, we had used the watercolors to create beautiful borders to decorate the frames of our classroom bulletin boards and to paint our favorite characters and began to use the clay and tools during choice time, to familiarize ourselves with them.
Then, last week, we read about different habitats, the animals that live there, and how each animal/s adaptations help it to survive within that habitat. Each student chose whether to use watercolor and oil pastels to show one of the habitats OR to sculpt an animal within that habitat. The kids were so engaged and I can't wait for our next project! Without your donation, all of this would not have been possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Different Seating Choices for Different Learning Styles
Funded May 10, 2019A few days before school started, I ran into one of my students for this school year. He and his parents were bit concerned. They said he needed to be in motion constantly and they wanted me to understand that about him. When I described the wobble stools and asked if he would like to try one, he seemed so excited and his parents did too!
On the first day of school, his eyes lit up when he saw his wobbly chair. The rest of the class was all so excited and full of questions. Over the past couple of weeks, during reading time, writing time, and math, you can see several students wiggled around on the wobbly chairs at all times, as they read, wrote, and tackled challenging math problems.
I feel confident that this is going to be an amazing year and that these wobble chairs will make our classroom a more supportive learning environment for all of my students.Thank you again for supporting us in redirecting our wiggles and extra energy!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 8 other donors.Fantastic Creatures and Our Own Mysterious Bodies
Funded Dec 15, 2018Thanks to your generous donations, our beautiful, new books have been arriving a few at a time over these past few weeks. As they arrive, the kids have been so excited, practically grabbing them out of my hands. Okay, my students this year are way to thoughtful and kind to grab, but they are over the moon about these books!
I can't tell you how touching it is to have so many people from across the country come together to support me and my classroom with this project, from my family and friends from every stage of my life to colleagues and community members to names I don't recognize.
I original submitted this proposal asking for your support because my students were writing me essays asking for more books at their levels in Spanish. They wanted more books they could decode and understand to read at school and at home. As your beautiful books have been coming in, I have watched the book baskets fill up. The kids no longer express frustration. Instead, they talk about the great books they are reading and which one of their many great options they want to read first, passing books excitedly on to their classmates as they finish them.
After the books came in, several of my students wrote thank you notes to those of you who asked for them. Many of the kids talked about how they get to read new, exciting books, instead of re-reading the same old books again and again. Others talked about a specific book or two that they were really excited and some of the cool things they learned.
Thanks to all of you, reading time in Spanish is a lot more fun now. There is a real buzz of excitement in the air as kids read eagerly, talk excitedly about who is going to read which book first, and share their impressions and ideas about our wonderful new books.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Make Our Meeting Time Cozy!
Funded Sep 21, 2018A few weeks ago, the custodians arrived to our classroom with our beautiful new rug. In order to carry the rug up the 4 floors to our class, it was rolled up and wrapped in plastic, but we all knew what was inside. The students made a big semi-circle as we slowly took off the plastic wrapping and unrolled the rug. There were a lot of oohs and ah-s as the beautiful colors were revealed.
Finally, the moment had arrived; the kids were able to sit on our beautiful new rug. As they settled into their rug spots, their eyes lit up. Several students began to stroke the rug and I heard one student comment, "it is soooo soft," which was then followed by a chorus of similar comments about how soft and comfortable the rug is and how much they love having such big squares on the rug, so they can have their own private space! (This is really important, since we have our classroom meetings, several times a day.)
The kids have continued to enjoy our new rug and they are so much happier and more focussed during our meeting time. We even have students, teachers, and parents stop by our classroom and comment on how beautiful and welcoming it looks and what a wonderful learning environment we have.
The students were so deeply touched when I told them how many people contributed to the project and when I told them about so many of you are important parts of my life and theirs: friends, former students and colleagues, and family members (both mine and my students'), as well as people who none of us know, but somehow care about us and our education.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley
Reading is Awesome, Especially in Two Languages!
Funded Jan 20, 2016Thank you so much for funding our project and supplying my students with such amazing books. The moment your books began to arrive, the whole feeling in the room changed; the kids just couldn't wait to read them!
Each day, we have a dedicated reading time and I spend a lot of time teaching students strategies to understand and fully enjoy their texts. For example, I teach them specific strategies to carefully pick book that they will find interesting and engaging. I also teach them to visualize what is happening, to think about what their students are feeling, etc. All of these strategies really help the kids to engage in reading. Nonetheless, I always have a few students who are distracted during this time or feel that they just can't find a book that they really love.
Since your books arrived in our classroom, all of my students have been much more engaged. It was so fun opening the first boxes with them. Once they saw what was inside, every new set of boxes that arrived was an exciting event! It has been especially rewarding to see my most hesitant readers become completely absorbed in reading the wonderful books you sent. Just the other day, four of my kids, all of whom are normally very distracted during reading time, were begging me to let them please take the Weird, But True books home. Of course, I had to let them take them home and the next day, they were begging for more! The kids really love all of the books and they are already looking a bit less new.
Every Friday afternoon, the kids have a period of Choice Time, when I set up all kinds of interesting art projects, Robotics materials, etc. As the name suggests, the students choose their activity for that period. Thanks to the excitement your books have generated around reading, last Friday afternoon, over half of the class chose reading during Choice Time. One of my most important goals as a teacher is to instill a lifelong love of reading in my student's hearts. I believe that your support has made this possible. Thank you again for your generous contribution to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Woolley