Past projects 14
Basic Supplies for Brilliant Kids!
Funded Aug 14, 2024Thank you so much for generously supporting my students. This year my first graders are eager to learn and look forward to coming to school each day. Our curriculum is rigorous and we don't waste a single second of the day. Having our basic supplies availalbe helps me focus on teaching time and my students focus on learning time.
We LOVE having the laptop cart to neatly hold our laptops. The management of the laptops has always been a nightmare and our new cart makes things a breeze. Students can easily find their laptops, unplug them, take them to be used and return them and charge them with ease. This frees up my time to work with students!
The large mesh zipper bags help keep our precious books safe while transporting them home to practice our reading each night. The cardstock helps keep our game pieces sturdy and strong so they can be used over and over to practice concepts while having fun.
Again, thank you for your continual support. To the future ... our students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.Stupendous Supplies!
Funded Oct 26, 2022It is so amazing to have the basic supplies that our classroom needs. When the packages starting coming in from Amazon, I waited until the students were here to unpack them all. The children couldn't believe that there were people who were so generous that they would buy us supplies. They couldn't stop smiling.
Students use the black pens every day during writing workshop. We use the mesh totes to hold our dry erase boards and we also use them to take home our books to read nightly. The left handed scissors have been a game changer for our lefties!
The pencil grippers have helped so many of our students with a correct grip. This really helps letter formation and legibility of writing. Thank you again for your support! Kind and generous people do exist and care about our future!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
Stupendous Supplies for Success
Funded Jul 27, 2021Thank you so much for all of the essential classroom supplies that this grant provided. I was able to get paper, pens, markers, individual dry erase boards that are magnetic, tissues, lanyards for our masks, and so much more. We use these materials on a daily basis and so appreciate them.
The magnetic dry erase boards are used to practice spelling high frequency words. The children spell the words with their magnetic letters on their boards. Their partners then mix the letters up and the other student has to put the word back in the correct order. Students also enjoy practicing writing their words and giving each other "spelling tests" on the white boards.
The Handwriting without Tears book became invaluable as I taught letter formation to my students who had a hard time with this during our virtual year last year. The Kleenex, of course, are a welcome addition to our classroom at any time. Thank you again for your amazing generosity in supporting my classroom and my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 2 other donors.Wonderful Writing Workshop
Funded Jul 26, 2021Writing workshop is our favorite time of the day. Students look forward to grabbing their special Flair pens and three-page booklets and writing the stories of their lives. They share funny stories, sad stories, touching stories-- as they put their lives on the pages. Each unit we complete, we celebrate with a Publishing Party.
Having the fancy pens and materials that "real" authors have makes the students feel special and empowered. They use their purple Flair pens to revise and edit, and take these duties very seriously. My administrators and students' parents have seen the amazing growth my students have made as they become true writers, communicating important events and feeling using the written word.
When I introduced students to their pens they were flabbergasted. They had never before been allowed to write with a pen in school. The pens allow for students to write more easily without having to apply as much pressure to the paper. They also don't allow students to erase, therefore they just cross off a mistake and keep going. The materials from this grant have been amazing and my students and I really, really appreciate your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 2 other donors.History Is Now!
Funded Mar 27, 2018My fourth graders couldn't have been more excited about the amazing books that this project provided. You would have been so THRILLED to see their faces when we opened the boxes that came!
We had so many opportunities for growth when studying the various historical time periods that were covered in our novels. From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Era, students were able to grow their knowledge about history while stretching themselves as readers.
As their teacher, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my 80 fourth graders this year in their quest to grow and learn. The next group of fourth graders will be impacted just as greatly, I am sure! Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple and 6 other donors.Super Seat Sacks!
Funded Jan 24, 2020Having our seat sacks has been GREAT! The seat sacks have allowed students to have a place to store their materials in a neat and organized fashion. Students love having their own place to keep their things.
The seat sacks hold the students' writing folders, their individual white boards, their poetry notebooks, their math notebooks and a white board marker and eraser. Having the seat sacks saves a lot of time. Instead of searching for materials and having to spend time passing them out, we can get to our learning right away!
I am so grateful to the donors who recognize the importance of education. Your support is so uplifting. I love teaching and look forward to each and every day that I spend with my students preparing them for their bright futures! Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
Razzle Dazzle Writing Workshop
Funded Oct 24, 2019My students LOVE writing. Each day, they get out their supply bins full of felt tip pens, boo boo tape, staplers, and a variety of paper choices and work on their craft. Thanks to you we have what we need to be successful. Students are excited to share what they know ... their stories, their feelings, their opinions and their expertise. They work through the writing process daily, drafting, revising, and editing. When it is time to start another subject, the students groan. They don't want to stop writing! Thank you again for your generous support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 3 other donors.People of Influence -- Biographies that Teach!
Funded Jun 1, 2018Having a large selection of high quality literature in my classroom library makes all the difference in the world. Students in fourth grade LOVE to read books from the "Who Was" and "Who Is" series. We just completed a unit of study on biographies and students loved having a huge selection of famous people to read about. Students used their narrative and expository reading skills to successfully read their chosen biographies and made multimedia projects to share their learning.
Some of the lessons that taught while students were reading these books were: (1) how the person's early life and the setting affect the character, (2) how readers must make inferences using evidence from the text about characters, (3) how biographies usually follow a formula ... great promise, event, obstacle or struggle, overcome/remarkable event, and then a meaningful contribution, and (4) who was influential in the person's life.
Students in my classroom participate in a reading workshop. This means that each day starts with a mini-lesson that provides them with a skill or strategy to help them read. Next, students read self-selected material appropriate the unit of study and the teacher meets with students in small groups or individually to confer with them about their reading. At the end of the workshop students or the teacher share some additional tips or successes that are valuable to student learning.
Thank you again for supporting my students' love of reading!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
Summer Writing Institute = Lifelong Writers!
Funded Dec 3, 2017I attended the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University in New York from June 18-22. For a literacy teacher, this is an absolute dream! From the moment I entered and heard Lucy Calkins speak on Monday morning, I knew I was in for a career changing week.
Each day we started in a large group session of grades 3-5 teachers with Lucy Calkins presenting. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday focused on narrative writing within the writing workshop model. Thursday focused on opinion and persuasive writing and Friday's focus was informational writing.
After the large group session each day, we broke into small group sessions by grade level. Staff developers from Teachers College led these sessions. Laurie Burke led my daily sessions and did demo lessons, provided guided practice and tailored knowledge to our experience level and questions.
Following lunch, participants were able to pick "choice workshops" to attend. A few that I attended addressed working with struggling writers, creating toolkits for conferring with students, and incorporating grammar into writing workshop. I had quite a few "AHA" moments which will change the way I teach writing forever. What I learned about the importance of small group work and conferring will directly affect my students and my instruction.
If anyone is looking for AMAZING professional development in reading or writing, please consider attending ANY of the workshops offered by The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 6 other donors.Summer Writing Institute = Lifelong Writers!
Funded Nov 28, 2017I attended the Teachers College Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University in New York from June 18-22. For a literacy teacher, this is an absolute dream! From the moment I entered and heard Lucy Calkins speak on Monday morning, I knew I was in for a career changing week.
Each day we started in a large group session of grades 3-5 teachers with Lucy Calkins presenting. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday focused on narrative writing within the writing workshop model. Thursday focused on opinion and persuasive writing and Friday's focus was informational writing.
After the large group session each day, we broke into small group sessions by grade level. Staff developers from Teachers College led these sessions. Laurie Burke led my daily sessions and did demo lessons, provided guided practice and tailored knowledge to our experience level and questions.
Following lunch, participants were able to pick "choice workshops" to attend. A few that I attended addressed working with struggling writers, creating toolkits for conferring with students, and incorporating grammar into writing workshop. I had quite a few "AHA" moments which will change the way I teach writing forever. What I learned about the importance of small group work and conferring will directly affect my students and my instruction.
If anyone is looking for AMAZING professional development in reading or writing, please consider attending ANY of the workshops offered by The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Lazarus
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.