Past projects 11
Growing Readers in Speech Therapy
Funded Nov 30, 2024By fulfilling this project, I have been able to enhance my student's speech room library including both Spanish and English titles. My students are all special needs and sometimes they can be very particular about what they like to read. Being fortunate to provide different options that are to their liking is a huge blessing. With these titles my students have continued to target goals like requesting, describing, sequencing, and even responding to wh-questions. We have been working to expand on retelling a story by identifying story elements including characters, setting, problem, solution, and author's purpose.
Reading in the speech room includes selecting a title through exploring bins and requesting with their preferred form of communication. Students can make themselves comfortable on our bean bag chairs and cushions. My students really enjoyed the books that are a part of a series we previously have read. We used the Valentine's Day books and Holiday/Winter books this past season. Our work for Valentine's Day included making cards to send home to my students' families. They got ideas from the books we read from our Donors Choose Project. It also allowed us to provide books on our theme shelves in the library. Our little spot plush toys help my students describe what they are feeling, especially during times of frustration or confusion. Thank you for helping us reach our goals!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
Spring Restock for the Speech Room
Funded Feb 7, 2025Thank you so much for your help in carrying out another project for resources for my students. I look forward to new spring stories and materials to continue making hands on learning tools for my students. We are determined to continue advancing on mt students' goals. You are a huge help to our success!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Carter's | OshKosh B'gosh and 2 other donors.Assessment and Speech Therapy Resources
Funded Oct 23, 2024Thank you so much for you donations to keep the resources growing for my speech therapy students. When working with students with special needs sometimes assessment resources can be sparse to let their true abilities shine through. Looking for online resources through websites like Teachers Pay Teachers helps me fine language and skill appropriate resources to see what my students need to continue to target as Early Language learners.
Having accessibility to materials that are appropriate for books we have in our library such as wh-questions, sequencing visuals, and story element worksheets makes our learning fun and hands-on. Your generosity does not go unnoticed. We are currently working with a book called Sneezy the Snowman. Using resources from units put together by other teachers themselves and speech directed is really going to help my students work towards their goals this winter and for the remainder of the school year.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 5 other donors.Sensory Play During Speech Therapy
Funded Sep 18, 2024Thank you so much for contributing towards attaining new toys and sensory materials for my therapy room. The hands-on resources allow my students to engage in more than just verbal opportunities. The sensory bins allow for my students to explore in a hands-on way. They are very interested in linking the Very Hungry Caterpillar story to the sand bin where they can search for items that we see in the story.
Some of my students love dinosaurs. One of my students in particular could not stop asking about using the dinosaur dig bin. He loves it! He normally carries around his own dinosaurs when he comes to school. He was excited to use the brush to dust the sand off of the different dinosaurs and objects in the dinosaur dig bin. The space sensory bin has also been a huge hit. He previously had one and it got worn out with so much use. The toys inside were falling apart. Seeing the refreshed new bin has made my kids very excited to explore again. All of the new kitchen toys has given my kids an opportunity to make conversation over pretend play.
A lot of these resources can be linked to books we are reading or used as positive reinforcement when I present my student with tasks. They really seem to enjoy having a choice since most of them work with first and then boards. Having many options for my students encourages them to work for something they know they enjoy.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 4 other donors.Soaring Speech Skills & Positive Reinforcement!
Funded Jan 29, 2024Thank you so much for you helping my students get new materials to achieve their goals for the school year. We have been incorporating new books and visuals to improve question comprehension using pictures. One of my students loves looking at the different scenes in the workbook to provide their own stories as to what is happening.
The students were very excited to see interactive materials to use in speech that is not always print outs. The graphics really drew their attention. Organization in our small space is key and the calendars help us remain on task and remind us what we need to complete each day.
Next steps for the speech room include expanding on storytelling skills and wh-question comprehension. We hope to make the speech room even comfier in the future.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Someone who cares about New York City and 6 other donors.Blooming Bilingual Readers!
Funded Sep 26, 2023By fulfilling this project, I have been able to enhance my student's speech room library with new Spanish and English titles. My students are all special needs and sometimes they can be very particular about what they like to read. They are currently still reading picture books and developing their reading skills.
Being fortunate to provide different options that are to their liking is a huge blessing. My students have begun to use the materials to target goals like requesting, describing, sequencing, and even responding to wh-questions. My non-verbal learners are able to expand on their receptive identification skills through the use of pictures and story telling. The If you give a Mouse series is a classic and its fun to explore the new stories with my students.
Thank you for helping us attain new books and resources for our rooms!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Unilever and 5 other donors.Growing Communication & Literacy Skills for Special Needs
Funded Oct 11, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to reach the goals of my speech therapy students. Working with special needs students has shown me that there is always room for progress and development when their team puts in the work! Having resources such as velcro and laminating sheets has allowed me to put together new visuals for my upcoming Halloween lesson. It helps my students learn vocabulary through adding a visual aspect that they need. It is especially helpful with my non-verbal learners.
My students really liked the new bean bag in our space. It adds to our flexible seating and allows them to request where they would like to sit when reading in the library. Having a limited space I don't have somewhere to put a huge variety of seats like I would like but little by little I am able to accommodate my student's needs further.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 5 other donors.Technology for Speech Therapy
Funded Oct 3, 2023Thank you to all the donors who supported our project to get a new keyboard to add to the use of our iPad. Applications on our iPad used in speech include Boom Cards, language activities, articulation activities, wh-question card decks, and more. Most of my students are very intrigued by technology. They use their iPads a lot at home and having their attention to it makes them want to use it in the classroom. I love being able to find new applications for my students to expand on their communication and comprehension skills.
It is exciting to see my kids use a cursor and type with a keyboard. They are developing skills further than just tapping on the screen. They have even tried activities where they need to drag the cursor to make different shapes. This opens new possibilities for writing/typing that can be used in responding to open-ended questions. For example, I have set up to use Fall Decks on boom cards which allows students to respond using more than a pressed selection.
Thank you so much for helping us obtain our new tool for my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon on CBS and 3 other donors.Raving Readers!
Funded Sep 21, 2023By fulfilling this project, I have been able to enhance my student's speech room library including both Spanish and English titles. My students are all special needs and sometimes they can be very particular about what they like to read. Being fortunate to provide different options that are to their liking is a huge blessing. With these titles my students have continued to target goals like requesting, describing, sequencing, and even responding to wh-questions. Even my non-verbal learners have taken an interest in getting comfy on our new floor pillow to choose a new title.
One of my students in the photos provided has a really big love for cars and Toy Story. When he saw the new assortment of Disney series he immediately wanted to go through the basket. He would point at new titles and covers and gesture towards what caught his attention. He expressed interest even through his communication device. In speech, we are targeting skills that aid in the comprehension of reading. However, it is my goal for students to want to participate in our reading corner. I love how more of my students are choosing reading for their positive reinforcement or "choice time" since seeing the new books in the library! Thank you for helping us reach our goals!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Unilever and 4 other donors.Expressing Creativity and Life Skills With Cricut
Funded Sep 18, 2023I would like to start off by thanking you all again for contributing to our speech therapy room project. Resources for my students are often costly and I really appreciate the ability to provide them with new tools this year that can help them progress in their speech goals as well as life and hands on skills that will provide them with opportunities in the future. As we have received the new technology items, the students have been very excited to see how we can use them for new projects.
Working with tools for the Cricut has allowed us to unlock a new skill together! My students are becoming more creative and craft masters. One of my students even told me "Wow, this is so cool Ms. Nichole!" while we worked on a project together. They are still able to target goals like following verbal directions, requesting for help or materials, and using descriptive language to identify steps. As you can see in some of our photos I have been working safely with my students to ensure they know how they should work on projects like this if they were ever alone. I am grateful for the opportunity to see my students happy they are working on new projects. Crafting has been a passion of mine and I am blessed to be able to share the skill with my students.
Thank you for all your support. I hope you are happy to know my students are already benefiting from their new tools in our speech room. I wish all the progress in the world for my students this year!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nichole
This classroom project was brought to life by Young Sheldon on CBS and 11 other donors.