Past projects 20
What In the World?!
Funded Jan 10, 2024Wow, there is nothing like a finding a book series that kids love to read! Seeing students tear through this series and trade with each other while asking, "can I have that one next?"is so heart-warming and keeps a teacher going! This series also sparks conversation and more research into the history of our world. Students were then charged with checking facts and other resources to learn more about the different historical events and people. Thank you so much for sparking our journey into the twentieth century with these wonderful books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 11 other donors.Feelin' Crafty? or How About a Game?
Funded Feb 15, 2025Thank you! What a wonderful Valentine’s Day surprise to get this project funded for our 6th grade team! We are so excited to share these super cool games and fun crafts with our students! Thank you so much for your generosity. It will be so much fun to have students unbox and sign up to craft and play. Memories are built through shared experiences and we can’t wait to provide more opportunities for laughter and friendships. Thank you, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
Powering Motion: Learning to use Circuits, Gears, and Batteries
Funded Nov 14, 2024Thank you so much for funding our energy project! This project will reach over 200 of our 6th graders. Learning how energy transforms from one source to another is the first learning goal then it totally comes alive when you have to make a vehicle that can travel 10 feet with no initial inertia. First, students will be given guided inquiry lessons using the snap circuits, hand boilers, and pullback cars. Then students will be asked to synthesize their knowledge and actually build both a water craft and a battery operated, fan propelled- unless they can gear it correctly car! It's amazing to see what students can do when they are given the supplies to accomplish hands-on tasks. Thank you, thank you! This will be a project full of light for our dark winter months!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon and 10 other donors.We Are Here
Funded Aug 1, 2023Thank you Alaska! Recognizing the need to have our students emotionally and socially connect with each other is what this project was all about. Students learned new card games and set up championship matches for games they already knew. The positive interactions and discussions we were able to have truly bonded the students to each other and allowed them to practice communicating in a safe environment with friends.
The books that were distributed were greatly appreciated and read several times, as the quotes were inspirational and the mini-life-lessons were applicable to both short term and long term goals. "We all have what it takes to do exactly what we want to do in life, no matter what anyone else says." Putting the words into practice first with games, and then with classwork made an impact with my students.
"You turn the ball over? Let it go." "You miss a big shot? Let it go." "Learn from your mistakes. Move forward."
Thank you so much for the opportunity to practice perseverance, kindness and teamwork.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.Fast Frindle Fun
Funded Mar 27, 2024Thank you so much for the copies of Frindle! We read the book in a day, went to the play and compared them both. It was so fun to have the students complete their read in and activities all together. Getting to see the play after they had read the book, really captured that age old saying- nothing beats how we imagine the characters in our heads! The play certainly sparked some critical conversations of comparison. (Many preferred the book, and didn't like that the actors playing children were adults. But they did appreciate some of the humor in the over-acting that was done!)
What joy to bring the book to life with a chapter that we turned into a mini-play, a vocabulary hunt, a character comparison and of course a look at all the words that have become "real," because of pop-culture or just someone making them up! Thank you again. Can't wait to see some of the words from this young generation being added to the dictionary.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by LOFT and 3 other donors.Engineering Energy
Funded Dec 10, 2021Zoom, Zoom! Beginning with the basic exploration of energy, kinetic and potential, we then explored gravitational, elastic, light and thermal. It was a blast to have my students take full ownership and truly learn the scientific method and how energy shapes our lives. From the simple dropping of a bouncy ball and describing the actions with energy vocabulary to the taking a part of a pullback car was key to initial understanding and growth.
Students could then design their own experiment and follow the scientific method using the unique materials from donorschoose! Knowing the definition of variable and control jumps off the page when you are working with a partner to create a safe exothermic reaction or get that ball to bounce higher!
Thank you so much to the donors for this project. It is amazing what can be done with the right tools!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon on CBS and 11 other donors.Epic Energy STEM Experiments
Funded Nov 14, 2023Thank you so much! Students were able to build two different roller coaster designs with the roller coaster kit as well as work in teams to build rubber band powered cars.
Thank you to donorschoose donors we were also able to expand the engineering design process to work on prototypes of paddle boats by building rubber band powered cardboard boats. We reviewed potential and kinetic energy through these builds and students were able to see how one form of energy transforms into another! Although we were not able to get our original supplies, I was then able to make a slight pivot and dive into how the basic knowledge of the transferring of energy works with Bridge Building! We were lucky to work with some engineering partners at a local firm in town to help us go through the engineering design process to build popsicle stick protype bridges with the glue that was ordered, and then use real basswood to enter a bridge building contest! We entered 12 bridges into the contest and were the youngest to compete!
We have not been able to do our egg drop project yet, however, with the coming of spring the designing step will happen in the next few weeks. Thank you again for taking science and making it hands-on.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors & Young Sheldon on CBS and 4 other donors.Capturing Curiosity Through Community
Funded Aug 25, 2021Building a strong classroom community that supports one another through academic and emotional challenges is my greatest goal every year. With the supplies donated we were able to bond as a class and increase the circumstances where true curiosity could spark discussion and research!
How does a simple book about plants, popsicle sticks, colored pencils, and some dried bees do this? Well there in lies the magic of teaching with inquiry and open investigations. Of course after a few chased each other with the bees, we got right down into the business of being an observer- a scientist. That allowed the door to open to positive feedback, research investigations and expert speakers to be brought in.
Thank you donors, for being our spark this year, and for allowing me to reach my goal of molding my class to be curious learners and to support one another through all our challenges.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 7 other donors.Can We Debate?
Funded Mar 22, 2021Wow. My students were very eager to have the variety of books that dived into challenging debatable topics! The books gave the students the ability to research information from both sides oof an argument without having to navigate online resources. The books also referenced the resources used to write the book and then gave further websites for additional research.
We discussed homework policies, cell phones, zoos, fast food, social media age limits, and school uniforms. Lively speeches were presented and students also practiced responding to questions by their peers about the topics researched.
Most importantly students were able to navigate topics fitting for their age, ask questions, and safely research each topic. Thank you for helping my students have access to a variety of books suitable for pre-teens.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.Bring Science Home
Funded Mar 19, 2021Wow! Thank you. I started the energy unit, with the balloons and bouncy balls; small hands-on experiments demonstrating the basics of the different types of energy.
Next, My students were thrilled to be able to build a basic windmill using the straws, pins, and paper clips! With the supplies given each student was able to create their own! Then when their simple windmills could actually do work- lift pennies- they learned that the design of the blade as well as the materials used for the blade were extremely important factors. We then used our knowledge to create a working electrical windmill.
Next, the thermometers were used to measure endothermic and exothermic reactions! Just measuring the temperature change of baking soda and vinegar was thrilling to many students. Adding to that we discussed geothermal energy.
The enjoyment of hands-on individualized experiments made our scientific learning real. Thank you for allowing me to guide students out of text and into real experiences.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Kaltenborn