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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Daponte from Brooklyn, NY is requesting classroom basics through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Daponte is requesting

Handwriting Foundations for Future Success

Help me give my students the foundational writing skills to help them achieve academic success.

  • $429 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Daponte for her next project!

Help Ms. Daponte

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Daponte for her next project!

My Students

I am an occupational Ttherapist working with students in PreK through fifth grade with developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities and visual and hearing impairments.

Our school is a Title I community school with over 44% of our student population receiving support through IEP (Individualized Education Plan).

More than 75% of our school population qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and fall into the low income range.

Many of our students struggle with attention, following multi-step directions, and writing. The pandemic has compounded these difficulties along with with basic foundational skills such as holding a writing utensil, drawing shapes and letter formation.

My Project

Handwriting is a foundational skill that impacts reading, writing, language use, and critical thinking. The first step in handwriting are pre-writing and foundational skills such as holding a writing utensil, drawing shapes and letter formation. Students need to be able to draw horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines as the basis for drawing pictures and letter formation.

I am an occupational therapist and I use a developmental and multi-sensory approach to building foundational skills for handwriting success.

We meet students where they are developmentally and work on strategies to help build fine motor strength to hold a pencil or crayon, form shapes and then form letters. We use small pencils to help with pencil grip. We use small pieces of chalk and work on chalkboards to help students with finding the right pressure to form shapes and letters. We use Play-Doh as part of our multisensory approach to build fine motor skills. Students can increase hand strength by squeezing, pulling, and rolling Play-Doh into shapes and letters.

As part of our developmental approach we also use Learning Without Tears program which includes digital, print, and other tools to reinforce learning.

Research tells us that handwriting practice will lead to handwriting mastery and writing fluency and a structured and consistent handwriting program benefits students at every grade level from 3K to fifth grade. Additionally, learning how to write by hand is a necessary early motor exercise for other

cognitive and physical skills.

Ms. Daponte PS 307 Daniel Hale Williams Grades PreK-2

Equity Focus

At this school, more than 50% of students are Black, Latino, and/or Native American, and more than 50% come from low-income households. Learn how your donation to this school supports a more equitable education.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Daponte

Brooklyn, NY View local requests

More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

30 students impacted 9donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Daponte is requesting.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Learning Without Tears - My First School Book Student Workbook, Current Edition - Get Set for School Series - Pre-K Writing Book - Social-Emotional, Pre-Writing Skills - for School or Home Use • Amazon Business $13.75 8 $110.00
Learning Without Tears Building Writers- Student Edition- Grade 1, Writing Skills in Narrative, Information, Opinion Style, Writing Fluency- Independent Writing or Whole Class- For School and Home Use • Amazon Business $11.31 4 $45.24
Learning Without Tears - Cursive Kickoff Student Workbook, Current Edition - Handwriting Without Tears Series - 2nd Grade Writing Book - Cursive Writing, Language Arts Lessons - For School or Home Use • Amazon Business $13.69 3 $41.07
Learning Without Tears Building Writers, Student Edition- Grade 3, Writing Skills in Narrative, Information, Opinion Style, Writing Fluency- Independent Writing or Whole Class- For School and Home Use • Amazon Business $11.31 3 $33.93
Play-Doh Modeling Compound 36 Pack Case of Colors, Non-Toxic, Assorted Colors, 3 Oz Cans (Amazon Exclusive) • Amazon Business $24.99 1 $24.99
Learning Without Tears - Transition to Kindergarten Student Workbook Set, Current Edition - Includes My First School Book & Kick Start Kindergarten Minibook - Pre-K Writing - for School or Home Use • Amazon Business $15.61 1 $15.61
Creative Hobbies Synthetic Chalkboard with Unfinished Wood Frame, 4 x 6 Inch -Pack of 6 Chalkboards • Amazon Business $14.94 1 $14.94
Learning Without Tears - Can-Do Print Student Workbook, Current Edition - Handwriting Without Tears Series - 5th Grade Writing Book - Print Writing, Language Arts Lessons - for School or Home Use • Amazon Business $13.75 1 $13.75
Learning Without Tears - Kick Start Kindergarten Student Workbook, Current Edition - Handwriting Without Tears Series - Pre-K Writing Book - Capital and Lowercase Letters - for School or Home Use • Amazon Business $13.69 1 $13.69
SKKSTATIONERY Half Pencils with Eraser Tops, Golf, Classroom, Pew - #2 HB, Hexagon, Pre-sharpened, 96/Box. • Amazon Business $8.89 1 $8.89
Binney & Smith Crayola(R) Drawing Chalk, Assorted Colors, Box Of 24 • Amazon Business $7.11 1 $7.11

Materials cost

$329.22

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$4.94

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$364.16

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$64.26

Total project goal

$428.42

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $428.42

8 Donors

-$296.71

Donations toward project cost

-$260.70

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$36.01

match offer

-$121.72

Match offer toward project cost

-$103.46

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$18.26

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$10.00

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Daponte and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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