Past projects 11
Books Win Every Time!
Funded May 10, 2024Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting my Donors Choose project! The interactive children's books you funded have made an incredible difference in my speech therapy sessions with pre-K through 2nd-grade students.
These new interactive books introduce a range of foundational skills for young learners. We use them to target phonological awareness, which includes skills like recognizing rhymes, counting syllables, and identifying beginning and ending sounds in words. The books also help build articulation skills as students practice producing specific speech sounds in a fun and engaging way. Additionally, we focus on receptive language skills (understanding what's being read) and expressive language (how students use language to communicate their thoughts and ideas). Through the stories, I can introduce new vocabulary, teach students how to make inferences, and help them understand story structure, all while keeping the lessons playful and interactive.
When I'm reading to a group of students, more often than not I'm in one of the pre-kindergarten classrooms. Students are gathered around for "circle time" ready and excited to interact with the story. We might use finger puppets to act out scenes or play games that reinforce sound patterns and vocabulary. My students don't just listen to the story—they actively participate by answering questions, predicting what happens next, and practicing their speech sounds. I use the interactive elements of the books to encourage discussion, so every child has an opportunity to engage. We focus on building both communication and confidence, allowing the students to express their ideas in a supportive environment.
I would love to share about one of my students who is particularly shy but has really opened up since we started using these interactive books. The engaging stories and puppets have given her a fun, low-pressure way to "practice her words" and I've noticed her smiling and participating more than ever before. Another student, who struggles with attention, stays focused longer when we use these books because the interactive components keep him engaged. It's heartwarming to see how these new materials are helping each child connect with reading in their own unique way!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.Literacy in Action
Funded May 13, 2022I have thoroughly enjoyed assembling and creating these interactive books you so graciously donated toward. I have over 50 interactive book options to choose from and have been able to create some differentiated books as well (e.g., supports for phonological awareness, images with text or no text, etc). Books include themed units, CORE word practice (e.g., want, look, go, more), phonological awareness and articulation practice opportunities.
These interactive books provide a hands on experience for my students. They are activity engaged in the plot using the visual aids incorporated into the stories (e.g., unpacking a backpack, searching for a lost animal, finding buried treasure). They can use the laminated images to complete sentence frames, answer "yes/no" questions, engage in prepositional concepts (e.g., look under, behind, next to, etc.), build vocabulary skills and so much more.
Given I work throughout my school building, the organizational wall pockets have been so handy and provide an easy access to "grab and go". Thank you so much for supporting this project.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 4 other donors.Touchscreen Technology for Online Education
Funded Dec 9, 2020Once again, on behalf of our students, their parents and teachers, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks for your generous donations. Being able to provide touchscreen technology to support listening and spoken language development for our hard of hearing students during this time of hybrid learning has been such a gift. For our younger population, having touchscreen access to online educational activities with an iPad has provided our students opportunities to navigate their learning with increased independence. They have been able to access tele-health services, live-online educational activities with their teacher(s) as well as supplemental online activities to support continued listening and spoken language development. This has been a true gift.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
Reinforce Me
Funded Aug 13, 2019Thank you again for your thoughtful donation. My students have enjoyed the reinforcing activities that I have been able to integrate into their speech therapy quite seamlessly. Being able to organize them all into the storage/travel containers has been such a blessing as I am on the move a lot throughout my school building. Having the ability to "grab and go" has been of tremendous help. The lego activities and shape builders have been very successful as it takes small parts to make a whole. The students earn pieces of the "project" as they practice their speech sounds and at the end of our therapy time, they are able to build their creation. They thank you as well for these new and fresh options for practicing their speech goals.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Book 'Em!
Funded Oct 25, 2018Thank you for your kind generosity. Our students have enjoyed sharing in the stories read to them in large group, small group and one on one settings. So many students have made fun connections with the characters and themes presented to them. These stories and interactions have helped build student-teacher connections on a level playing field as well. We all can relate to the social cognitive themes of these stories (e.g., problem size, perspective taking, emotional regulation) and are able to have conversations with each other about them. What a joy to be able to engage with our students in this manner. We are all looking forward to exploring these books over and over again.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 3 other donors.Little Buddies
Funded Mar 27, 2018Thank you for your donation toward this project. We are very excited to introduce the Feeling Buddy's program to our preschool and kindergarten classes this fall. In fact, a group of our teachers were able to use it over this summer while working with some incoming kindergarten students. This program compliments our other programs for addressing social emotional regulation as it teaches the foundational concepts of understanding and identifying key emotions for our younger students. I am looking forward to learning more about this program as we begin to implement it this fall. Thank you again for your thoughtful giving.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple and one other donor.Communication Supports and Adaptations
Funded May 1, 2018Thank you so much for your kind generosity. Your donation has allowed our classroom to expand our visual supports for our visual and concrete learners. It's amazing how much color printer toner, lamination and Velcro we go through! We have been creating file folder activities for our math and literacy centers and for independent work stations which has been a big success for the students. Our morning meeting time has been more successful with our visual "morning check in" system and choice board for preferred activities from which our students can select. Given the variety of levels of communication, these systems have been successful for all ranges. Even our highly verbal students will depend on the visual systems when they are struggling with social/emotional regulation. We truly appreciate your donation and the community support for our school/classroom.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
Just My Size
Funded Nov 15, 2017Thank you for your kind donation to help my younger students access a free-standing, magnetic whiteboard for the purpose of incorporating fun, creative ways to facilitate speech and language development. The cardstock, laminate and magnets have helped with creating materials to use with the whiteboard as well as to develop personalized game boards, cards, as well as other speech and language therapy related materials. The magnetic, whiteboard is two sided so it will be perfect to use as a barrier game so students can work together giving and receiving directions using the descriptive vocabulary words they are practicing. I am so very appreciative of your donation and support for teachers and students in your local districts.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
Use Your Words
Funded Dec 20, 2016Thank you so much for your donations toward this project. The vocabulary flashcards and vocabulary rich stories have been welcomed with opened arms and smiling faces. I have been using the flashcards a lot while working with my student's for not only building vocabulary but also for expanding category knowledge, following sequential directions and as visual cues for telling narratives.
The sight word steps have been a big hit in our building and have been used during our Literacy Blitz times to engage our student's whole body while reading words. Because these steps have laminated pockets, it makes it easy to exchange the pictures for other activities as well (e.g., articulation therapy).
The Sentence Building kit has been so helpful with one of my student's with apraxic speech. The visual support has helped provide visual cues for use of the smaller parts of speech (i.e., articles, -ing, plural s) that are more difficult for him.
I am so very grateful for your generosity and can see positive gains already with the students I work with. These materials are reaching more and more student's as I have been happy to loan them to other teachers and support staff as needed.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich
5 Minutes of Your Time
Funded Jun 30, 2016Oh Boy do my speech kids LOVE all of the new therapy materials and activities you have provided them to engage with during their 5 minute therapy sessions. The cards, games and tokens have really amped their motivation to practice their speech targets, allowing for a high frequency of speech practice in a short amount of time.
Just today I pulled a student out for her speech time during a math patterning activity in her classroom. She was able to continue working with this concept while practicing her speech sounds as she engaged in Cat Stax puzzle game.
As an added benefit, working with my students who have nearly achieved their speech articulation goals and are practicing using their sounds in conversational speech, these activities allow enough distraction to provide increased "real world" practice as opposed to contrived, structured conversations.
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your generosity!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mihelich