You're on track to get doubled donations (and unlock a reward for the colleague who referred you). Keep up the great work!
Take credit for your charitable giving! Check out your tax receipts
Donate
To use your $50 gift card credits, find a project to fund and we'll automatically apply your credits at checkout. Find a classroom project
Menu
Skip to main content

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.

Your school email address was successfully verified.

Edit classroom photo

Ms. Daponte’s Classroom Edit display name

Support her classroom with a gift that fosters learning.

  • Monthly
  • One-time

We'll charge your card today and send Ms. Daponte a DonorsChoose gift card she can use on her classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send her a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

Edit or cancel anytime.

cancel

Support Ms. Daponte's classroom with a gift that fosters learning.

  • Monthly
  • One-time

We'll charge your card today and send Ms. Daponte a DonorsChoose gift card she can use on her classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send her a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

Edit or cancel anytime.

Make a donation Ms. Daponte can use on her next classroom project.

https://www.donorschoose.org/classroom/1780736 Customize URL

View your stats
Track donations »
Edit
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.

About my class

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.

Read more

About my class

Read more
{"followTeacherId":1780736,"teacherId":1780736,"teacherName":"Ms. Daponte","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp1780736_orig.png?crop=350,350,x9,y0&width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1638071077435","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"vanityURL":"","teacherChallengeId":21666279,"followAbout":"Ms. Daponte's projects","teacherVerify":1943632364,"teacherNameEncoded":"Ms. Daponte","vanityType":"teacher","teacherPageInfo":{"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"teacherHasClassroomDescription":true,"teacherClassroomDescription":"","teacherProfileURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/classroom/1780736","tafURL":"https://secure.donorschoose.org/donors/share_teacher_profile.html?teacher=1780736","stats":{"numActiveProjects":0,"numFundedProjects":1,"numSupporters":9},"classroomPhotoPendingScreening":false,"showEssentialsListCard":false}}
Supporting teachers and students since 2000

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America create classroom project requests, and you can give any amount to the project that inspires you.

We've earned the highest possible ratings from Better Business Bureau, Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, and Guidestar.