My students' are enjoying the computer and the multi-lingual software you so generously provided. Since the project was funded I've received two new students, one from Korea and one from Vietnam. Both students spoke little English and use the computer to log onto google translate when they can express themselves in English.
Unfortunitly the Windows update that I wrote the proposal for was no longer available at the price I requested by the time the project was funded. I was able to select a replacement item, in this case I choose a Korean keyboard and Spanish keyboard. These are far more useful to my students then the upgrade I originally ask for. Students fight over using them, I will definitely write another proposal soon for more multi-lingual keyboards.
Thank you once again for your generosity. It has made a difference in the quality of my students' education this year, and will continue for many more years”
We cannot begin to thank you enough for your generous donation to our classroom! Because of you all, every day my students are able to use and enjoy the beautiful rug! Not only does it brighten our classroom, it also helps us learn. We spend a lot of time on the carpet area learning and listening to stories.
The rug has 30 colored squares, so each student has their special place to sit. Instead of spending time getting situated and finding a spot to sit, each time we go to the carpet area we know exactly where we need to go. This saves us a lot of time! It also provides helpful management tips for partner activities that also help us learn. The minute anyone walks into our classroom, it is clear where our meeting area is. We love to sit on the rug while we read books from the library!
This rug has made our school year a much better experience ! Thank you so much for everything you do to help students with their learning.”
Thank you so much for the Goosebumps, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter, each of these books has gotten my students reading on another level.
Goosebumps and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have gone around the classroom like wild fire. Each time someone returns a book, 21 hands shoot up to borrow it. I feel that some non-readers have turned into readers, that makes me feel really grateful. I have had to go to the library and check out other books in the series to accommodate the growing hunger for these books.
In addition, my students have bought these books from the bookstore because they just can't wait. I cannot describe how unusual to see students talking about books outside of the classroom with excitement.
One of my students, Adalid, has turned in three book reports for the Diary of a Wimpy kid series.
Karla and Marielis are reading books that are two grade levels above where they are reading because they find the subject matter so entertaining. I even tried to discourage them (nicely) from starting the books because I thought they would be frustrated, but they aren't! These books are a lot longer than they are used to, but they don't care.
You have given the gift that keeps on giving. You have started to turn on their minds to the possibility of reading for enjoyment. ”
The graphing calculator viewscreen has arrived! It is a fabulous addition to the teacher resources for my statistics courses. We utilize the graphing calculator literally daily. This tool is excellent because students can now cross check their own screen with the projection of my own screen. This helps them feel like they are on track and confident that they are keeping up with their peers and with the teacher.
I have started using one student as the 'driver' of the viewscreen calculator to keep the rest of the class on track. This allows me the flexibility to circulate the room to help troubleshoot individual issues and concerns.
This tool adds valuable technology to our daily instruction. Thank you for bringing my classroom into the 21st century!”
On behalf of my students I would like to thank you for your generous donations to my classroom. The projector definitely made a huge difference in terms of capturing and maintaining student engagement. My students loved having access to interactive math websites. The cartoons on Brainpop made difficult math concepts more accessible. Additionally, since Brainpop can also be found in Spanish I was able to more effectively to reach many of my English Language Learners. I appreciate your contribution so much. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Lovejoy
This classroom project was brought to life by Korein Foundation and 6 other donors.
The 2009-2010 school year is coming to a close and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for you generosity in helping me fund a project for my students. With your help, I was able to give 120 students their own notebook for a unit on memoir writing. The notebooks served as journals and students learned how to become stronger writers through writing everyday.
As a result of your donation, my students had the opportunity to reflect and discover the pleasure of remembering stories and sharing them with other people. Thank you for your kindness. On behalf of all of my students, your gift was greatly appreciated.”
I am truly appreciative of your generous donation to my classroom! I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness in supporting a vision of strengthened literacy through art and photography.
With the use of these cameras, my students will find inspiration to recognize the richness of their own life stories and will share these experiences through their art, conversations, and writing.
I look forward to seeing and hearing the stories my students will share through their camera lens. Because of this opportunity, students will be able to make connections between themselves and the community as they continue to grow as learners, teachers, and thinkers.
Over the past few months my students have learned to recognized the plastic bundle of newsprint that is delivered each Friday to our classroom. If they are lucky enough to be around when I open it, they all crane their necks to see what this week's TIME for Kids cover will bring.
Generally they don't need much incentive to read the entire magazine cover to cover. We usually take a "book walk" through the pages before they have their own copy. We examine headlines and discuss how they relate to topics we've learned about. This is not only a way to get the kids even more excited about their reading but it also gets them into the habit of "previewing" a text and developing expectations. Most of us do this as adults when we flip through the Sunday paper, so our book walk cements lifelong reading routines. Sometimes I have used articles to reinforce other reading skills like "making predictions," "summarizing," and "questioning the text," as examples. The pictures I posted to my Donor's Choose website show my class using our reading cards which prompt students to finish open-ended sentences as a way of sharing their new learning.
We generally find ourselves engaged in conversation about one or two articles that we connect to. Recently, students read about the turmoil in Thailand. It didn't take long for them to connect the unrest there to our social studies unit about the Revolutionary War. Students have been trying to answer questions like "What is the job of our government?" and "What choices to citizens have if they are unhappy with their government?" Like the American colonists in the 1700s, citizens in Thailand have resorted to protests to express their views. We talked about violence (kids are always opposed to its use when it comes up in class) and the many ways to solve problems. We talked about what happens when people don't have a voice. And in this way five minutes of connection-making and critical thinking went by without any of us even realizing it! This is the effect that your donation has had and we are very grateful.
My students still bring up your generosity. They were happy to write thank you cards and meant every word of them. Not only did you bring them current events, you taught a lesson about the power of asking for help (my request for the funding of our grant) as well as the power of giving help (the positive results of your funding). Finally, on a personal note, I am grateful for the ways you have connected us to a larger world. My goal was to provide my students with access to news about the world around them so that they could see how they fit within it. In the end I got this and something else too. I realized that I have connections to the community as a teacher. My work is supported by people I don't even know. During a time when teachers and schools face increasingly limited resources, your support is appreciated more than ever. Please know that your donation has been felt in countless ways and continues to do so each Friday when the mail arrives.”
I am writing this letter to express my greatest thanks to you for helping fund my project. In the past month, I have gotten to see the impact of this technology first hand. Our middle school students have recently begun to participate in literature circles in Language Arts as an end of the year project. Much of the unit requires independent reading. We have been able to upload audio books onto our new Ipods, allowing our students to access the books freely. Thus, they can listen independently during class or in study hall, making the experience a more pleasurable one.
We have also been able to use the Ipod shuffle to record instructions to tests and quizzes, which, once again, allows students to work on their own. None of this, however, would have been possible without donors like you. You have not only helped students with reading, but assisted in building self-confidence and autonomy, too. For that you have my deepest appreciation. ”
On behalf of my second graders, thank you again for your donation of books on CD to our class. These books were put to good use immediately! They were transferred onto our collection of classroom iPods to create stations in our listening center. My students love their bigger, better listening center and are incredibly appreciative of the continued generosity from you and other DonorsChoose.org patrons.
A listening center is a wonderful resource to have in an early childhood classroom. Your donation more than doubled the number of books we have in our listening center! You also provided us with additional copies of some of our most favorite books on CD, so now multiple students can follow along with a story at a time. On an almost daily basis, my students select books from our listening center and listen to the narration of the text on an iPod as they read the story. As the students follow along with the text, they are developing their reading fluency and comprehension skills.
Your help has ensured that my second grade students receive a high-quality education throughout the year, one that is full of excellent literature and many listening center experiences. Thank you again for providing the class with these incredible new books on CD. My current group of second graders' quality of education (not to mention many future groups!) has undoubtedly been improved by your kindness. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Konarski
This classroom project was brought to life by Give & Learn and 14 other donors.
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