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
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.

See this teacher's page

This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Thompson from Richmond, VA is requesting technology through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Thompson is requesting

Using Digital Recordings to Share School Literacy Activities

My project needs 1 digital voice recorder that has a USB that can be directly plugged into a computer, 400 recorable CD's, and 1 early childhood CD player.

FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Thompson's classroom raised $426

This project is fully funded

Connecting Schoolwork to Family Activities Language plays a critical role in a child’s success in school. My students are preschoolers in a Title 1, urban public school system. Most of the children I work with have speech and/or language difficulties. They also have limited exposure to books and/or reading experiences. Current research shows that success in school is dependent on the child’s oral language development, phonological/phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge and print knowledge. My students do not share verbally what he/she did during the school day with their family, thus the family is sometimes unable to follow up at home. I have also sent home newsletters explaining what were doing at school. Research also shows that children gain vocabulary and comprehension skills from repeated readings of books. Recent studies have also shown that children in lower socioeconomic status are exposed to fewer words compared with those of parents with higher economic status. We read books everyday but time constraints and other obstacles keep us from having as many repeated readings as we would like. We also do not have copies of the books we read to send home for the parents to read to his/her child. Many parents are not sure how to ask questions or facilitate language at home or while reading to his/her child. Parents may have other barriers that hinder them from engaging in literacy activities at home such as lack of materials, lack of time or funds to prepare materials. Preschoolers need exposure to language/vocabulary, repeated readings of stories and lastly to learn the rules of listening or attending. I would like to offer parents access to materials and share information on how to conduct literacy activities at home for young children. I believe that sending home an audio CD with recorded parts of our day such as circle time songs, finger plays, story time readings and other literacy/language rich activities would help the family become involved with developing successful academic skills for each child. The CD would also bridge the gap between home and school in language and literacy, provide children with materials and activities at home and allow the parents to hear his/her child in action at school. The purpose of the project is to increase parent involvement in home book reading and literacy activities, to educate and empower families to help prepare his/her child for literacy, allow families to hear what their child learned during part of the day at school and model for parents ways to interactively read to his/her child. Parents will be able to listen to the CD with their child and with the help of books and other materials sent home provide the necessary individualized follow up instruction needed to help the child. Previous surveys taken revealed that all families do not have access to computers at home, however, most of the families seem to have access to a CD player. Project needs: • Blank CD’s to record and for each child to take home weekly and keep. • Digital voice recorder and microphone that connects to a computer to allow circle time activities, interactive reading times and emerging literacy activities to be recorded live at school. The recording will be uploaded to the computer where it can be edited if needed. The audio will then be duplicated by a CD burner and distributed to the children with supplemental materials and a parent feedback sheet to take home. • 1 or 2 child friendly portable CD players for a family to borrow if they do not have one. Hopefully as a result of the project the parents/caregiver will: • develop an increased awareness of their child’s ability • understand and use books and literacy activities as a vehicles for communicating with their child • gain awareness that parents can play an effective, major, teaching role and partner in their child’s education, thus beginning to take on a teaching role. • establish a closer relationship with the child’s teacher. As a result of the project the preschooler will show a growth in oral language (Compass goal for grade K) by: • increasing the comprehension and growth in the amount of vocabulary words • improving communication skills • gaining an interest in reading • gaining an increase in attending to academic tasks.

Mrs. Thompson J.H. Blackwell Elementary School Grades PreK-2

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Richmond, VA View local requests

Nearly all 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

16 students impacted 1donor

Boost your odds

Add a profile photo in addition to your classroom photo. If you add a photo, it'll show up right here on your project page.

You are more likely to receive funding if you put a face to your name.

Upload a photo

Top rated for efficiency and transparency.

You donate directly to the teacher or project you care about and see where every dollar you give goes.

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

See our finances

TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

You can start a project with the same resources being requested here!

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
IMATION 52X CD-R 100PK SPINDLE -- Imation CD-R Discs; 52x, Silver Non-Printable, 100-Pack Spindle • Quill Corporation $26.99 4 $107.96
Kids Early Learning CD Player • Teacher's School Supply $51.92 1 $51.92
SONY ICDSX57 DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER -- Sony Digital Voice Recorders; ICD-SX57 • Quill Corporation $134.99 1 $134.99

Materials cost

$294.87

Vendor shipping charges

 $29.49

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.37

Fulfillment labor & materials

$17.00

Total project cost

$349.00

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$76.61

Total project goal

$425.61

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $425.61

1 Donor

-$410.59

Donations toward project cost

-$349.00

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$61.59

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$15.02

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

View complete list Show less

Give the most requested basic supplies

See teacher requests

Give back to your community

Find opportunities to impact local needs by exploring a map of classroom projects near you.

See local area

Project Activity

Project Activity
Back to top

DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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 Mrs. Thompson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

See how DonorsChoose works
{"pmaHash":"","showProjectRecommendations":true,"leadGenEnabled":true,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"VA","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":1,"name":"Early Education"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/using-digital-recordings-to-share-school/108026/","mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":16,"isEquityFocusV1":true,"teacherScreenName":"Mrs. Thompson","isEquityFocus":true,"proposalHash":"-1042005639","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"photosPublished":false,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"shouldTrackEquityFocusV2":true,"schoolCity":"Richmond","teachersOnPage":[115895],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"minimizedLeadGenEnabled":true,"proposalId":108026,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"schoolId":34933,"schoolName":"J.H. Blackwell Elementary School","authorIds":{"115895":{"owner":"Mrs. Thompson","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[108026],"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp115895_orig.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1606518208629","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":49592,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":[],"teacherId":115895,"schoolCounty":"Richmond City","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"VA","name":"Virginia"}}