Mrs. Ortega's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 23

• Bringing Literacy Centers to Life

  Funded Sep 20, 2023

  Thank you again for your generous donation to my project "Bringing Literacy Centers to Life." After receiving the color printer, I was able to start printing out all these great learning centers for my students.

  School needs to be a fun place for students to come and learn, and I feel that these learning centers have helped my struggling students learn their ABC's and for the advanced students, they are learning how to read. The color printer has made a big impact on my students' learning and we are very grateful for this piece of technology in our classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• Calming Area

  Funded Jan 3, 2023

  Thank you so much again for your generous donation towards a calming corner in my classroom. One day I had one little boy who was feeling down, and that same day the first packaged arrived to my classroom with calming materials. He helped me open the boxes and I instantly saw a smile on his face. This is just one example of how the materials have helped my students. My students love spending time in the teepee just to relax or to have a time out when they are having strong emotions. They love exploring all the hands on manipulatives and books that are in there. I will continue teaching my students calming techniques that they can use and I will be using all the great literature that I ordered through this project.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

• Using Puzzles and Games to Learn!

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  Thank you so much for your generous donations! My students are loving all the ABC puzzles and games that the classroom received. The set of A-Z wooden puzzles have been used during independent small group time and they are engaged, learning, and most of all having fun while learning.

  When they first saw the boxes arrive in the classroom, they were all very excited. They were cheering and clapping as they saw all the puzzles being taken out of the big brown boxes.

  Having all these puzzles in the classroom will help my students learn the alphabet along with helping them build fine motor skills. They will also be learning how to share which is a very important life skill. Once again, thank you for your generosity.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and one other donor.

• A Feast for the Imagination!

  Funded Sep 8, 2022

  Thank you so much for your generous donation. My students have really been enjoying all the pretend food and cash register that we received. Last Friday was the first day that they got to play with all the new food, plates, pots and pans and cash register. They were having such a great time putting together some delicious plates!

  My students were so excited when they saw the boxes in the classroom. They were clapping and cheering every time I opened a new box. They were smiling and were so eager to play with all the new play food.

  Having all this new play food will help my students not only use their imaginations to pretend that they are chefs making food, but they will also be learning about nutrition and the different food groups. They will also be learning to make good food choices and learning to share with their friends.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by Valhalla Foundation and one other donor.

• Learning Through Digital Tools

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  Thank you so much again for your generous donation to my project. Having a MacBook Air laptop in the classroom has really helped bring lessons to life in my classroom. I have a lot of google slide presentations that I've been working on that will help students learn the alphabet letters and the sounds. Having this new piece of technology has really helped deliver these resources to my students. The MacBook Air has also helped me deliver fun lessons in all the other subject ares.

  My students have really been enjoying watching educational videos in the morning as they are having breakfast in the classroom. They are learning about phonemic awareness, the alphabet, and learning new nursery rhymes.

  Since my students have this new technology in the classroom, I have noticed that they are more focused on lessons in every subject. The Mac Book Air has helped those students who are easily distracted stay more focused on lessons being presented.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and one other donor.

• Zoo-Phonics for Pre-K

  Funded Feb 8, 2015

  Thank you so much again for helping me fund my professional development project. I was so excited to be part of this pilot program, and because of generous people like you, I have been able to grow as a teacher.

  This project has allowed me to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of how students learn phonics. I was able to acquire the zoo phonics materials and attend a one day workshop. The workshop trained me on how to use the materials and different activities one can do to teach phonemic awareness. I feel more confident in being able to help my students have a solid phonemic awareness foundation in their early years.

  I am very grateful that I have been able to sharpen my teaching skills and I can't wait to teach my students what I have learned.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.

• Financial Literacy for Pre-K

  Funded Feb 27, 2015

  Thank you so much for helping fund my "Financial Literacy for Pre-K" project! My students and I are very grateful for your generosity in helping our classroom have the tools to be financially literate.

  The HP laptop touch screen allowed them to access resources from the Internet that helped them re-enforce money skills that were taught in class. The touch screen was perfect because their little fingers have a hard time using the mouse, so just touching the screen was ideal for them.

  Having this laptop helped my little ones acquire financial literacy skills that will help them for the rest of their lives!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc. and one other donor.

• eBeam Edge for Interactive Teaching

  Funded Feb 18, 2015

  Thank you so much again for your generous donations that helped fund this pilot project. Having the ebeam in my classroom as a teaching tool has helped me teach my students in an interactive way!

  I was so excited when I received the ebeam edge that I couldn't wait to open it. The setup was pretty easy and the calibration of the ebeam was also a piece of cake. I went home and started learning how to use the different tools on the ebeam edge and I also created a few lessons that I used with my students.

  One of my lessons had to do with insects. I had Venn Diagram created with animals that were and weren't insects. The students had to decide which went in what circle. The cool thing about the ebeam is that I was able to take the insect picture on the white board and make it bigger so the students could really see the details on the insect. The students were so engaged because the white board had come to life and they could see objects moved around and made bigger.

  Thank you once again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 8 other donors.

• iPad minis for Pre-K

  Funded Sep 22, 2014

  Thank you once again for helping fund this project. The students were so excited to learn that they were going to have iPad minis in their classroom to use during independent centers and small group time. They would now all be able to have turns using the iPads to practice their abc's and 123's.

  I have seen growth with some of my students that were struggling with number sense and their ABC's. The iPads have been a great asset to the classroom. There are so many educational apps that make learning fun. I can't wait to see the growth at the end of the year!

  Thank you for helping put technology in the hands of my 36 Pre-K students. The mini iPads are making and will continue to make a huge difference in their education!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by First 5 LA and 7 other donors.

• Supplies for Sensational Pre-K

  Funded Oct 18, 2014

  Thank you so much for your generous donations! Because of your donations, my 36 Pre-K students are benefiting tremendously from the learning resources that our classroom received. Every day when a new box arrived, the looks on their faces was priceless. They were so excited to see all the great learning materials. They couldn't wait to use them!

  My Pre-K students love playing with their new Play-Doh accessories. This is really helping them build their fine motor skills. They are also learning their sight words with the sight word puzzles and readers, and they're practicing their alphabet with the uppercase and lowercase puzzles. All the learning supplies are being used and the students are having a great time using them. Finally, the iPad covers are helping protect our mini iPads. They students love using them during independent centers and they are learning so much from them.

  Thank you once again for your generosity and for helping fund this project.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ortega

  This classroom project was brought to life by First 5 LA and 7 other donors.