Past projects 22
Tools for Success
Funded Oct 9, 2023Thank you very much for supporting our class with your donations. We cannot wait to start using our new materials! The calculators and headphones will be used on day one to help us during classwork and with assessments. The pencil holders, chair bands, and calming strip stickers will be used daily to help us stay calm(er), focused, and a little more organized. Your gifts will immediately have an impact and support learning in our classroom. We could not be more thankful.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
Watching the Weather
Funded Aug 2, 2023Thank you so very much for your generous donation which will supply our class with a weather station! With school starting in just a few weeks, we will be able to start the year collecting data and making predictions. The plan is to teach the students in our class how to collect and then share this information by being meteorologist on our live morning announcement show. I cannot wait to share our learning and progress with you in the near future.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Butterflies, Birds, Books, and Squirrels
Funded Nov 29, 2022All I can say right now is WOW! You all have made our little project possible. These supplies are going to excite and extend our learning opportunities so much! We already LOVE our outdoor space and use it almost every day. Just wait until I tell them all about the new birdfeeders and seeds we will be getting to extend our activities after winter break. They are going to be blown away! It was a gift that you did not need to give, making it all the more special for us. Again, THANK YOU so much for supporting our class!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 7 other donors.Creating Literacy Connections to Strengthen our Comprehension
Funded Aug 1, 2022Thank you very much for supplying each student in my class with their own Scholastic Storyworks copy every month! Storyworks is a great resource for us because it is a current events magazine. It has relevant, nonfiction articles written at our reading levels and support materials we use to follow up after our reading. We have already read an article about an avalanche that occurred in 1910 and compared that to current extreme weather events. We are currently reading a story about a Native American boy learning how to dance in honor of his Cree heritage which we will compare and contrast to another text, Indian No More. Every time we read Storyworks, I find students' understanding of concepts and comprehension skills are enhanced. They also make key connections to other people and places around the globe. We can compare those stories to our own life stories and then expand our understanding of what it means to be a "global citizen."
Storyworks has a variety of fiction stories, poems, and persuasive articles in each issue. Students will use these mentor texts as a basis for grammar lessons and writing assignments during the school year. We look to these stories to examine plot development and identify character traits. We analyze rhyme schemes and figurative language. We identify well-placed adjectives or try to utilize the way an author uses quotations in dialog in our stories. The persuasive articles allow us to take sides, debate and write opinion pieces using our voices and arguments.
It is a rich resource that we are using every week in our class, thanks to you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
Preparing for Success This School Year
Funded Aug 9, 2022I am so very excited to share that our class project has been fully funded! Thanks to your generosity, we will be able to jump right in because our materials are scheduled to arrive just a few days before the start of the new school year. Thank you for setting us up for success!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 3 other donors.Exploring the Wild Around Us
Funded Mar 30, 2022I wanted to share all the wonderful things that happened in our class because of your generous donations. Our learning was truly expanded, both in scope and location, with the addition of the plants and feeders. Every day there was a new observation, another task that required attention, a lot of questions, and rich conversations about the natural world which we rarely focused on outside our window until this spring.
The biggest impact by far was how the students responded to adding these materials to our days. Most students checked in on the flowers and the feeders multiple times a day. The excitement in the class was high the days students arrived at school to see squirrels hanging off of the bird feeders, or to find the seeds they planted breaking through the soil. We rotated jobs for watering the plants, moving planters to get the best sunlight, and refilling the feeders. We brainstormed ways to keep squirrels from eating the fake sunflower feeders (spoiler: squirrels won).
Your gift, I believe, made a difference in the way students connected to our lessons about life cycles, ecosystems, resources, photosynthesis, matter, and energy. It made a difference in the way our classroom worked as a team to care for things beyond ourselves. Most importantly, it made a difference in the positive memories the students will carry with them about their time in 5th grade. Thank you for making all of those things real for us!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
First Chapter Friday Books
Funded Sep 10, 2020Last year, my goal for this project was to build a collection of new books that would be introduced and discussed virtually with the whole class through a reading of a first chapter every Friday. Last year, we were able to have a little time during our Teams meetings for me to read aloud from the books and to pique their interest in completing these titles on their own. Summer of the Woods and Mystery on Church Hill - both books from the Virginia Mysteries - were very popular and I know several students started reading those with their families. Leaving Lymon proved to be the most popular selection since we read the first book in the series, Finding Langston, together as a class. (Audible cheers actually followed the unveiling of that title, which was an achievement considering the excitement level for anything among 5th graders during virtual learning.)
This year, our curriculum and schedule do not lend themselves to read alouds on Fridays, but the wonderful thing about books is that most are available and being used during choice/free reading time by many of the current students. I do have a few - Lymon and The Dream Keeper - tucked away for introductions to the class in the coming weeks. I feel that the ongoing impact of this donation to introducing students to stories like these will continue to support our students and promote their love of reading and learning for many years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
Virtual Learning with Scholastic's Storyworks Magazine
Funded Aug 12, 2020Thank you very much for providing our class with Scholastics Storyworks Magazines! Storyworks was such an amazing resource for everyone in the class last year during virtual instruction. Each student was provided a physical copy of the magazines which included a variety of fiction stories, nonfiction articles, and poetry delivered through take-home packets. We were able to read and discuss stories, or practice reader's theater, just as we would have done during in-person learning. One of the best parts of having Storyworks last year - besides students being able to highlight and write on the text - is that the material was engaging, and relevant to my student's interests. For example, both nonfiction stories Searching for the Titanic (September 2020) and The Search for Bigfoot (February 2021) provided students a launchpad to lively discussions about what they already knew about these topics, to connect to our content (oceans and adaptations, and to develop questions for exploration beyond our virtual class hours.
Another valuable component of this magazine was the support it provides for me in delivering quality lessons. Our class subscription allowed me access to a library of resources like Google Slides the students could complete, video clips with background-building details, and author interviews to use virtually. The materials were easily differentiated to meet our variety of student needs and editable to fit our objectives. It saved me valuable time while providing quality, virtual learning experiences and for that, I will be forever thankful!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.Creating Connections to Strengthen our Understanding
Funded Aug 24, 2021Thank you very much for providing our class with Scholastics Storyworks Magazines! Storyworks is such an amazing resource for everyone in the class. Each student is provided a copy every month which includes a variety of fiction stories, nonfiction articles, poetry, etc. So far, we have been able to read and discuss a nonfiction story about the Thailand boy's soccer team that was trapped in the cave in 2018 and practice reader's theater with a play about King Midas. One of the best parts of having Storyworks - besides students being able to highlight and write on the text - is that the material is current and relatable to my students. For example, the fiction story, Back to Normal? from the start of the year, provided students an opening to discuss what learning has been like for them over the past couple of years, how they were feeling about those experiences, and what they were looking forward to from this year.
Another valuable component of this magazine is the support it provides for me in delivering quality lessons. Our class subscription allows access to a library of resources from old-school printable worksheets to Google Slides the students can access, video clips with background building details, and author interviews. As well, the materials can be differentiated to meet our variety of student needs and edited to fit our objectives. It saves me valuable time while providing quality learning experiences and for that am so thankful for this gift!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 6 other donors.A Great Place To Meet
Funded Sep 9, 2021Thank you so much for your amazing gift of a large rug for our class. Even with Covid-19 protocols in place, it is used in some capacity in our classroom every day. The students are so excited to have an alternative to being at their desks - especially those who have difficulty seeing the board clearly from their normal location. They cannot wait to move closer during presentations or video clips. It really breaks up the day and provides a comfortable alternative for stretching out or lying down.
Students also love coming to the space for movement activities during "Workout Wednesday," "Fitness Fridays," or GoNoodle brain breaks. We have been blessed with (mostly) great weather, but the carpet is also a go-to spot on indoor recess days. Students use STEM materials like our marble run, Magna-Tiles, or Kiva planks on the carpet during their free time.
I'm also excited that they are having discussions around the USA map featured on the carpet. Our curriculum covers US geography and, in the coming months, we will be referencing specific region characteristics more and more. It will be amazing for them to learn and make connections with such a big, bold piece of "reference" material in addition to posters and digital maps. The carpet has definitely become one of the most engaging places in our class.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Anderson