Past projects 10
Legos, Balls, and Puzzles!
Funded Aug 15, 2019The girls and boys were thrilled with the soft balls, Legos, and puzzles at the beginning of the school year. The children practice throwing, catching, and kicking the balls in physical education classes outside. The Legos provide an excitement of building homes and communities with little figure people. A child in class recently said. "I'm a builder!" when making his creation with Legos. Teams of two students attempt and complete the puzzles with enthusiasm. They try different strategies in placing puzzle pieces together and problem solving is in action.
The new materials this school year have given the children a time to be creative and active. They are socializing with each other and learning to share.
With much gratitude, I thank you again for your caring and donating to my classroom. The girls and boys find great joy with all the materials that you have given to them!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 11 other donors.Exercise and Sing to Music
Funded Aug 7, 2018Whether it's listening to music during a math lesson on counting collections or dancing and moving in a brain break, students are pleased to be enriched by the music coming from our new speaker. The girls and boys are always ready to move, stretch, and exercise through out the school day. Often one student or another will ask for certain song that they enjoy. With our many rainy days this winter, the music coming from the new speaker gives the children an outlet for movement when they aren't able to be outside on the playground for recess, lunch or physical education. Thank you again for your donation to my classroom and supporting public education!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
Paint, Draw, and Color!Students Creating Art
Funded Jan 25, 2018The girls and boys in second grade were thrilled with the new art materials. The art pastels and watercolor paints have been a great motivation to be creative. Each child has new clean colors to draw and paint with. Recently, the students drew and painted urban landscapes with skyscrapers. They learned how to manage the use of water and paint on a paintbrush. Children learned how to switch colors by dipping their brush in water and clearing it of one color and moving onto another. They learned how to manage the water on their paintbrush. They began to understand and experiment on how to add more water to their brush when they see streaks on their paper and a dry paintbrush. The students are eager to paint again. Thank you for your donations to our classroom and school. Thank you for your donations to public school children.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
This classroom project was brought to life by The First Million Fund and 5 other donors.Classroom Library Books Give Children Many Opportunities to Read
Funded Sep 11, 2017Many thanks to you for your generous donation for our new classroom books. The box of books arrived as the school year was underway. The boys and girls were so surprised and happy with the gift of books. I hadn't told them about the package that was to arrive to our classroom. When the box was opened, the children couldn't wait to get their hands and eyes on the stories. The children were especially pleased with Mo Willems' books (his Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books).
If you walked into our classroom today, you would see a stack of books on the top of the children's desk to be read at any moment they finish their work. More time is dedicated to reading in the classroom when the children have a book of their choice. The children make many trips to their classroom library switching out books for new ones to read.
Thank you again for bringing the joy of reading to the boys and girls in my class. One thing they are so thrilled to say to me is, "I just finished the whole book!" with a big smile on their face.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 4 other donors.Visualize with a Classroom Projector
Funded Dec 3, 2015Thank you for the new classroom projector I received from you this school year. It has been a highly needed tool to help my students learn and focus in on a daily basis. The children have been excited and eager to look and learn from all the material that is projected and displayed on our front whiteboard.
The children are seeing content from the Internet such as Scholastic News videos. They also are shown pictures to help them understand vocabulary in language arts and math. With the help of our document reader, we are also able to display a child's writing to share. The boys and girls become very proud of seeing their very own work projected in the front of the room for all the students to see.
The classroom projector was a needed addition to the changing times of our younger learners. The girls and boys are especially drawn into the lessons and vivid displays of the content. Thank you for your generous donations to our classroom.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
Nonfiction Books for Second Graders
Funded May 23, 2015The girls and boys in my class were thrilled with the arrival of new nonfiction books. They were immediately attracted to the bright colored pictures and text. The books are leveled at different degrees of difficulty, so that there are books that everyone can read.
My writing workshop lessons are moving into informational writing. The books give me a chance to read and show students many different kinds of information books. Soon the children will write their own informational books. I will be teaching them how to write a "How to Book" and an "All about Book".
Thank you for donating to my classroom and supporting public education! New books attract young readers. As one of my most favorite principals once said to the children year after year, "The more you read, the better you read." The bright new nonfiction books bring students to read and good readers are successful students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
2nd Grade Scholastic News in the 2015-16 School Year
Funded Mar 28, 2015The girls and boys in my classroom are so pleased each week to receive the weekly magazine, Scholastic News. The vivid photographs and articles are drawing the students into the reading. The magazine is an interactive piece of nonfiction and the children are discussing content with questions, opinions, and thoughts. One of the magazines was titled, Our School Communities. The magazine described the rural, suburban, and city schools. The children identified their school as a city school. They were able to compare the differences in the three kind of communities.
I am using Scholastic News to teach reading skills and strategies. Students are looking for text features such as headlines, bold face print, and captions. The children are identifying the main idea of the article and details. The boys and girls are learning new vocabulary. Our class is also using the videos from Scholastic News to see vocabulary come to life. In a three minute video, children were able to see a rural, suburban, and a city community.
This project is bringing in current and valuable nonfiction content to our classroom and the children's homes. It is exciting to watch and see the enthusiasm when the students first open up their magazine. It is boosting the children's learning in the classroom and also being brought home to be reread with family members.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
Second Graders are Reading Chapter Books!
Funded Sep 15, 2014My students actually shrieked with excitement when I opened the box of books that arrived in early October. The children were oohing and ahhing as I pulled out each set of series books including Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter and Tabby, and Junie B. Jones, etc. They couldn't wait to get their hands on the books.
The following day each student choose a book to read. Our class began using the books for a silent reading time after lunch. Then as the week continued, the books were used between lessons. Children would read the books when they finished their work. Finally, the girls and boys began reading the books during our reading workshop time. The children will begin responding to the stories in a reading response journal. They will write down thoughts about characters and story plots.
These specific books were chosen because they are leveled at about the middle of second grade reading ability. With books easily assessable, students will be able to practice reading and improve. Children are choosing books that they are interested and want to read. The materials will boost the children's reading levels, because the more the children read... the better they will read.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
Second Graders take on Scholastic News!
Funded Aug 23, 2014The girls and boys in my classroom are so pleased each week to receive the weekly magazine, Scholastic News. The vivid photographs and articles are drawing the students into the reading. The magazine is an interactive piece of nonfiction and the children are discussing content with questions, opinions, and thoughts. Our second magazine was titled, Our School Communities. The magazine described the rural, suburban, and city schools. The children identified their school as a city school. They were able to compare the differences in the three kind of communities.
I am using Scholastic News to teach reading skills and strategies. Students are looking for text features such as headlines, bold face print, and captions. The children are identifying the main idea of the article and details. The boys and girls are learning new vocabulary. Our class is also using the videos from Scholastic News to see vocabulary come to life. In a three minute video, children were able to see a rural, suburban, and a city community.
This project is bringing in current and valuable nonfiction content to our classroom and the children's homes. It is exciting to watch and see the enthusiasm when the students first open up their magazine. It is boosting the children's learning in the classroom and also being brought home to be reread with family members.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 2 other donors.Chapter Books for Classroom Library
Funded Jan 29, 2012Many thanks to you for your generous donation for our new classroom books. The box of books arrived a few weeks ago. The boys and girls were so surprised and happy with the gift of books. I hadn't told them about the package that was to arrive to our classroom. When the box was opened, the children began cheering when I announced the different series of books that were sent. The children were especially pleased with the Magic Tree House books, Diary of the Wimpy Kid series, and the Judy Moody set. They are also big fans of the joke books as well.
If you walked into our classroom today, you would see a stack of books on the top of the children's desk to be read at any moment they finish their work. More time is dedicated to reading in the classroom when the children have a book of their choice.
Thank you again for bringing the joy of reading to the boys and girls in my class. One thing they are so thrilled to say to me is, "I just finished the whole book!" with a big smile on their face. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Touscany
This classroom project was brought to life by Magic Tree House Gift of Books and one other donor.