Past projects 4
Mics for Moana Jr.: How far will their voices go?
Funded Feb 20, 2024On behalf of our students, we want to express our gratitude for your generous donation. This year, our students decided to put on a musical, which is the first of its kind at our school. Thanks to your support, our students were able to use microphones, and their voices reached a wide audience. Thank you to our Disney Jr. production of Moana was a success. It was a learning opportunity for many of our students, who have never had the opportunity to take the stage.
Your contribution is truly a gift that keeps on giving, as it ensures that we will have the necessary technology in the future to continue encouraging our students to use their voices and explore the world of performing arts.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paredes
A Comfy Corner to Take a Look at a Book
Funded Sep 29, 2022It's hard to truly put into words the difference that you have made in my classroom but your donation did more than just give my students a new bookshelf and a table with flexible seating. You helped create a library, a safe space for them to make mistakes, to explore new worlds, to learn about themselves and all they had to do was pick up a book. Maybe you do realize the power that a book holds or maybe you didn't but you helped my students learn the secrets that are hidden when they find the book for them.
I still remember when the boxes arrived after our project had been fully funded, I had planned to set up the library and surprise the students the following day. But as I was bringing the boxes into the class, the students caught me in the act and in their excitement they insisted they wanted to help set up their new library. They had so much fun opening the boxes and helping unpack all the new furniture.
Since the grand opening of our classroom library the students can't stay out of it and I for one am loving it. Students who refused to engage with books are the first students to go sit in the library and read a book. Students who have been avid readers are stealthily sneaking into the library, during instructional times I may add because they just need to go to the library to get a book. I watched my students start their own book clubs as they searched for the same books so they could read together or read to a friend who may be a struggling reader. The library has created a space for them to become confident readers, to push their own boundaries on learning, to discover new worlds and to build better relationships. It's become a quiet space to work, to talk with a friend and to get lost in a good book.
It is thanks to your generous donations that my students have found the magic of reading. All it took was a bookshelf, a table, some cool chairs and a new world they choose to get lost in as they sit in their new library.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paredes
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 22 other donors.Read , Read , Read All About It.
Funded Dec 3, 2019The Fourth Graders from PS. 483 Matilda Ave School were so happy to receive their new books. In a generation, where many children are lost to the world of video games, my students wanted to read. Since the beginning of the year,they have been eager to open up a book and get lost in the endless worlds that books offer.
Thank to your generous donations, not only have you helped expand our classroom library, you have helped expand the curious minds of my young scholar. You are supporting brilliant young minds in their quest for knowledge and academic achievement. In our class we read for enjoyment, we read to learn, we read to write, reading is an important aspect of our everyday lives.
My favorite moment was watching the students open the boxes and their faces lit up as they began to see all the new books that they would be adding to the library. At one moment they were all shouting out various book titles that they had discovered and each time there be a chorus of " Yes . I want to read that book". One of my students was happy to see that there were graphic novels versions of Goosebumps. Goosebumps was a series that was higher than her current independent reading level, but she really wanted to read them because she liked horror. Her face lit up and she was so happy because now she could jump into the world of Goosebumps and truly engage in the story with the support of the pictures. It may seem like such a small thing, but making that world accessible to her re-sparked her love of reading.
In the end, the biggest change is that the students are eager to check- out books to take home. They had already read through most of the books in the library and were eager to read something new. The hard reality is that not all of the students have access to books at home, my classroom library allows them to take their love of reading home with them. Your donation extends not only to the classroom but into their homes. Every night they get to check out a book and take it home to read at their leisure. Your donation has allowed us to continue to encourage there enjoyment of reading in school and at home.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paredes
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 11 other donors.123's and ABC's: Hands-on Learning Success
Funded Nov 30, 2018Thank you so much for funding our project and providing our classroom with the resources to help our students achieve their goals of identifying letters and numbers and developing pre-writing skills. Many of our students have developmental delays; which affect their ability to retain and process information and their fine motor skills such as writing or zipping up a coat.
The V31 Superheroes were super excited when they heard the news that our project had been fully funded. For three weeks they waited anxiously, each day stating " Presents?" when they greeted me in the morning. When the day finally arrived I knew that we had to celebrate the presents that were going to support my students academically. I decided to throw a pajama party and let the students open up the boxes and have a day of exploration. The students were so excited to open their presents and explore the new learning resources we had received. A big hit was the sensory containers that contained letters, numbers, and shapes, as many students enjoyed " digging for treasure" and finding a requested letter or number.
We were excited to have these resources because one major goal for many of our students was to start tracing their letters and numbers so that they could write their name independently. Since receiving the tracing books, many of our students have begun to make progress towards tracing and one student has begun to independently write a few letters in his name. The future is bright for our students and they are proud of the progress that they have made and continue to make.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paredes