• Project description
• Budget/source of materials
• Prep time
• Student feedback
• Lessons learned and impact

Description: Our goal was to use student centered labs to enhance understanding and data literacy for science classes. With PocketLab Air sensors, students got a chance not just to look at the data that leads us to the conclusions we learn, but to see how it is gathered, in realtime, on our campus. These sensors allowed students to see how temperature, particulate matter, humidity, among other air quality indicators, changed between different "terrain" areas of campus - forest, wetland, parking lot, field, playground, etc.

Budget/source: $2484 from https://www.thepocketlab.com/sensors

Students used their own chromebooks and the pocketlab notebook app

Prep time: The most recent lab took a few hours to prepare, as well as multiple teaching blocks related to what air quality indicators we'd be interested in, as well as how to use the sensors

Student feedback: They enjoyed it, but some of their data was confusing. They also wanted more time.

Lessons learned and impact: I need to devote more time to this lab in class so that students could allow the sensors to more fully calibrate at each location, and probably narrow the location options so that they could limit the amount of data they expect to collect in their exploration. The students had lots of interesting insights about why their data ended up the way it did, connecting some parts to other things they learned, such as the urban heat island effect. I think if I brought these in earlier on in the year, they'd be incredibly useful and students would want to use them even more. Now students have some comfort in how to use them, many of them expressed wanting to borrow them for their independent "Keystone" projects next year.

Schechter Boston

Grade 4/5

Community Building

• Project description:  Looking for some structure and activities during recess, we have a large group of students who have in the past really enjoyed building with materials they found in the nearby woods during recess time. Though we saw some of the most collaborative and creative play here, it became a safety and supervision issue so we had to close student access to the woods. Our outdoor creation station helped to honor the curiosity, creativity, and ingenuity  of these students in a safe and constructive way by giving them the opportunity and materials to safely create, collaborate, and play outdoors during recess time. It also helped and inspired some of our kids who have trouble joining physical recess games and are otherwise lonely and unsure of what to do and how to play.  

• Budget/source of materials: We ordered about $1,000 of equipment from Amazon for this project. 

• Prep time: We needed very little time to roll this out. We assembled the box and filled it and were ready to invite the kids to create!

• Student feedback: Students appreciated the resources and materials to build and create!

• Lessons learned and impact: New programs need plenty of reminders and reinforcement in order to maximize their impact. I hope that in the coming year I can help teachers come up with more uses for the equipment and space, and help recess teachers to remind students in the moment that it's there for their benefit! This is particularly useful in times when students are in conflict or withdrawn. This is a great use for this!  

Epstein Hillel School

Professional Development for middle school math teachers

Last year I participated in the Atrium School Summer Institute. The registration fee was $325. This was an opportunity to meet with other middle school math teachers, collaborate on problem solving activities, and gain resources to utilize in my classroom. One activity that I particularly enjoyed was using geoboards to explore the Pythagorean Theorem. While I did not end up using geoboards with my pre-algebra students this year, this helped prepare me to facilitate their use of an online Desmos activity that involved the same idea. I also got access to visual proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem that I shared with my students.

• Project description: one-year school-wide site license to Gimkit,  an online educational tool that gamifies studying and reviewing concepts across any discipline.  Faculty from all departments, from Math to Jewish Studies to Language Arts, used Gimkit throughout the year.

• Budget/source of materials: $1000 for full site license

• Prep time: Faculty create questions, so this can vary, but once a “kit” is created, there are over ten games that can be played with the questions.

• Student feedback:  Students LOVE Gimkit. It’s not a lot of upfront work for the teachers (just writing the multiple choice questions), but the actual games played by students are incredibly fun and engaging. There’s a “fishing” game in which students must answer questions to get bait; then they use the bait to go fishing; then they can sell their fish for “money.”  There are team games like Capture the Flag and “Blastball” (like soccer), and students get “energy” to play by answering questions. There’s also a collaborative model where students work together as a class to answer as many questions accurately as possible. Questions are repetitive so they reinforce the topic, whether it’s vocabulary words and any other topic.

• Lessons learned and impact: Gimkit offered an enriched, dynamic, and engaging experience for both our students and teachers. Next year, I’ll encourage faculty to use the “assignment” feature more to assess students individually rather than always in the full class game format.  I’m very excited that due to the success and positive feedback from students and faculty alike, the school will fund it next year.

The grant made it possible for our students to have hands-on experience with tools and techniques that are far beyond the budget of a high school.

It also allowed students to get a taste of autonomy in their learning journey as their 3 full days were not graded, observed by teachers or met any class requirements. Yet they were fully engaged, worked hard and learned so much about medical bioengineering. It was the ideal learning for learning's sake experience that we hope to provide for all students.

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Project description: Over the course of two months, students researched real artifacts from history, some of which are well over 100 years old. Then, they had to share stories of these items to the wider community, to bring these artifacts “to life” in the modern world.

Budget/source of materials: $1250 - artifacts found in antique shops and eBay

Prep time: two months, give or take, to get everything gathered and planned before bringing to the kids

Student feedback:

“Being able to handle actual artifacts made the experience a lot more interesting. I was able to really understand why the objects mattered, and seeing them and feeling them in person makes it feel a lot more real. “

“It was very interesting because I never had artifacts that were that old to work with. They felt very special and valuable, so I knew that we needed to do good research.”

“It gave me a new perspective on things from different times. It was also cool to see other people artifacts, and compare them to ours.”

“I thought it was interesting to work with real artifacts because it sort of made the history come alive.”

“It was really cool and helped me understand better how it would have been to use the artifacts and to live in the time period that they were around.”

Lessons learned and impact:

Kids love old stuff! (Who knew?!) They were instantly drawn to the artifacts and understood immediately how fortunate they were to be able to work with them. This resulted in great reverence being paid not only to the artifacts themselves, but to the work of telling their stories. Moreover, simply having these items in the classroom where students can see and learn about them gets them more excited to learn history and makes soliciting buy-in on future assignments easier.

The grant supported our new course, Hebrew Chef, which was taught for the first time this year (23-24). In this immersive Hebrew experience, students learned to cook and bake, focusing on preparing Israeli breakfast foods (baked goods, egg dishes, dips, and salads). Students learned how to read a recipe in Hebrew and made their recipe book.   

Budget/source of materials 

• We bought equipment – specifically, rolling prep tables with drawers for students to work on.  

• We brought in a second teacher- Reva Haselkorn,  Hebrew-speaking American, professional chef, and employee in Gann Servery, to co-teach the course.  As a professional chef, she was able to break down the instructions into easy HEBREW and easy-to-demonstrate steps.  She also understood how the Gann kitchen worked. Without her, this could not have worked.  

• We also published a Hebrew Chef cookbook.  

Prep time 

• It took a long time to design the course and then to revise it as necessary for the second semester when we did it again.  

• This is a cooking class – so we had to keep track of supplies we needed to buy, and make sure that there was time for set-up and clean-up.  

Student feedback 

Students were very excited about this course. Due to demand, some students couldn’t take it and were on wait lists. Although this was a pass/fail course, students wanted to be there and took the course seriously.  They would tell us that it was their favorite course—and we would also hear positive feedback from parents. There was a “domino” effect in the school – everyone came into the cafeterias and wanted to try it out, to taste, etc.   Students loved the course so much and we are now considering figuring out a way to let students be able to do this course a second time.  We also heard from families who loved the course – and the foods students were able to cook at home!  

Lessons learned and impact 

As a new course, we learned the following: 

• It is beneficial to teach a recipe more than once – the first time, teachers model how to make it, the second time, students do it with the help of teachers, and the last time, students make it on their own.   

• Having two teachers is essential. As this course is hands-out, we needed lots of hands – to help the 15 students in each of the sections and to be able to not be overwhelmed by set-up and clean-up. 

• This course works with students in a variety of Hebrew skills, as cooking is very visual—so even if students don’t understand everything, they can keep up.  

• This course was a great way to allow students to study Hebrew all year – one semester they had a regular Hebrew class and the other semester they took “Hebrew Chef.”  

• Students were initially hesitant about trying new foods/spices but, over time, they got more comfortable trying things with more spices.  Cool! 

• Students learned skills that they were able to take home – Parents were excited about the food items that their children were able to make for them.  

• Students benefited from our focus on Israeli breakfast foods Rather than try to cover everything, students focused on Israeli breakfast which is insanely varied (and so Israeli). It includes baked items, items with eggs, Israeli salads, and dips.  

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students explore the various structures of the human body and understand their contributions to overall bodily function. Utilizing a digital scale, students measure the weight of different body parts, thereby practicing the concepts of mass and weight.

Materials and Resources:

• Digital scales provided by Grant

• Additional materials provided by the school

Preparation Time:

• Approximately 2 hours

Student Engagement and Learning Outcomes:

Students demonstrated high engagement and enthusiasm while learning about the different body parts and their functions. They expressed surprise at the actual weight of some human organs and appreciated the precision of the measurements taken using both a balance and a digital scale. This unit effectively prepared students for the human growth and development topics they will encounter in future classes.

• Project - The Milestone projects are long-term passion driven projects in which Grades 6-8 students use the design thinking process to work toward solving a problem they interested in. Students conduct interviews with people working in the field of their topic, research, create documentation of their progress, and present their work.

• Budget/Source of Materials - $1200, resin, resin molds, pouring cups, accessories, heaters

• Prep time - 1 hr

• Clean Up - 1 hr

• Curing time - 24-72hrs depending on size of project

• Student engagement and feedback - Students were given the option to use resin for prototyping, models, or accents to a project within their Milestone work. One student used resign to create a model of the ocean floor, it was a three-dimensional work using small animal figures, plastic, and other trash within the resin representing plastic pollution in our oceans. Students found the resin difficult and challenging to work with on the larger scale. Mixing the right consistency could be tricky as well as adding items to the resin. There was a lot of trial and error and experimenting.

• Lessons learned - I plan on experimenting with resin more. I think it will be ideal on a small scale for projects

  such as Judaica or enhancing a larger project. It takes time and patience to work with resin.

  
  

Last summer I attended a 3-day professional development course for math teachers in grades 4th-10th. The title of the PD was "Creating Confident Problem Solvers", and it was an opportunity to meet with other middle-school (and high-school) math teachers, do math together with others who care depply about math teaching, and talk about creating a classroom where all students can access math problems and grow as mathematicians.

During the course, I have learned and practiced a couple of routines that can be used in the classroom to encourage students to think structurally, to model with math, and to build an argument and critique others' reasoning. I also learned how to better use strategies such as annotation, turn-and-talk, and ask-yourself-questions to promote productive struggle in the classroom. This year, I have used these routines and strategies in my classroom, and I could see how my students and my teaching benefitted from them. It was a great opportunity for me to grow my teaching. I also brought some of what I learned to other teachers at my school, so this PD had an impact on other classrooms as well.

• Project description - I applied for a Just Imagine grant to raise Monarch butterflies and to plant a garden that attracts Monarch butterflies. Our Kindergartners undergo enormous growth over the course of the year, and we wanted to tie in their growth to butterflies. So, we raised caterpillars and watched them become larvae and then butterflies ready for release into nature. We also planted flower seeds and watched them grow into flowers which we then planted outside. We also purchased books that explained the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies. Every year our K class works toward their June milestone with parents and others invited. The theme of this milestone is “Mi ani?”, or “Who am I?” Who they are is revealed at the milestone, touching on themes as their family’s make up, their favorite colors, foods, etc. At the end of this year’s milestone, we all went outside and released the butterflies (see photo below). We made the connection that just as the butterflies were ready to be released, they too, are ready for all that follows the end of Kindergarten. Our guests gushed, and our students were proud.

• Budget/source of materials - $446.82 (butterfly kit, larvae, flower seeds, potting soil, books)

• Prep time - 4 Months: Around February I started prepping students about our butterflies and the curriculum. We also planted flowers and built our garden in the earlier months. The caterpillars to chrysalis, to butterfly process took about a month as well.

• Student feedback - Our students marveled at watching the seeds grow into flowers, and watching the caterpillars grow into butterflies.

• Lessons learned and impact - In science, we learned the difference between living and non-living elements. This project brought to life this lesson. Our students were tasked with making observations and noting their observations, and made butterflies in their ceramics class. We also talked about geography (where are Monarch butterflies found and where are their migratory patterns).

In the fall we studied immigration to the U.S. and focused on Irish immigration and the Mill Girls of Lowell. We visited the Tsongas Industrial Center in Lowell to tour the mills, boardinghouse, and participated in the Yankees and Immigrants program.

In the spring we studied the American Revolution and brought history to life with several field trips. We visited the Commonwealth Museum in Boston for a gallery tour and role play of the Boston Massacre Trial. We later followed up with a trip to the Boston Tea Party Museum.

The students LOVED each trip and were able to share all the knowledge they learned in class and through textbooks with the guides.

The students learned that they are so fortunate to live in Boston a hub of historic events that impacted the forming of our country.

The best line was "When can we go on another trip?".

Our goal was to give our students the proper tools and activities that can help them strengthen their gross, fine, and social skills to help them excel in and out of the classroom.

In our class, we strive to attend to the needs of each individual student.  In order for each student to excel and succeed in class, they need to first feel physically and emotionally  comfortable in their own body.  The goal of purchasing these manipulatives was to enable all the students to  feel relaxed and ready to learn.  Every child benefits from using these tools. With stronger social awareness children thrive in and out of the classroom. Their penmanship was enhanced, scissor skills improved and motor skills strengthened when children practiced and used these manipulatives, giving them the means to sit better and longer in class, thereby helping them focus better on thier classwork and be less distracted.

All the children were happy and excited when the manipulatives were taken out to be shared by everyone. So, in essence, these manipulatives enabled our students to succeed in all subjects learned during the day as a result of achieving emotional and physical comfort and readiness for learning.

The $500 was a great help to start our Library in the 3rd grade classroom with reading material that has been published with an interest for educating Jewish young students.
We started with the Circle magazine. It has many different current interesting facts that did give some worldly and specifically interesting facts for the 3rd grade. There were enough copies for the 10 boys to rotate and share the material. We look forward to continue to grow and enhance the library with more books and fun Jewish material.

We bought equipment and materials (kind of like a makerspace) to have hands-on experience when learning about the laws of שבת. We did numerous projects and activities.

$2500 - Materials came from Amazon.

Not much prep time.

The students loved it and gained in so many ways. We always did it at the end of the morning and it was the highlight of the day. 

The students learned about the science of the different forbidden types of work on שבת through the activities which better helped them understand the laws.

This grant helped our students in grades 6-8 to have a few week sessions on food skills. Each session focused on knife skills, teaching how to safely cut, chop, slice and dice ingredients. The girls also learned how to use appliances safely. The main goal of the project was to empower our students to take charge of their own health by teaching them essential cooking skills and promoting healthy eating habits.

Budget/source of material

Ordered cooking equipment for our kitchen. 

Prep time

Each weekly session took a couple of hours to prepare., Included lesson plan, menu planning, recipe composition, grocery shopping and prepare the kitchen. 

Ran two sessions- Each session ran 6 weeks for an hour long

Student feedback

The program received great feedback from the students. We even offered another session in the winter term to give other students an opportunity to participate in the program. We also received great feedback from the parents who stated their children started preparing their own healthy snack which they have learned in the program. 

Lessons learned and impact

Students were able to bring skills they learned in the sessions home. Students were able to create a healthy snack/meal for their family members. 

Project description:

In 2023-24, we launched the Jewish Studies Scholars program, which incentivized over 30 students to take additional Jewish Studies classes and provided them with a cohort experience. In addition to taking extra classes, the Jewish Studies Scholars met 5 times during the year for enrichment programs with outside speakers on Jewish Innovation, including in the areas of technology, music, food, and art. We used the grant to fund a trip to Lehrhaus, where students experienced the foodie culture of this innovative space and learned with Rabbi Charlie Schwartz for an afternoon.

Budget/source of materials:

Most of our outside speakers donated their time or did so for a small honorarium (total spent on honoraria for the year was $300). The Lehrhaus trip was the most expensive part of the program: about $1900 in total, of which $1000 was funded by the Just Imagine grant.

Prep time:

Each of the five sessions took many hours of staff time to plan in coordination with the outside speakers. For the Lehrhaus trip, we planned logistics with the Lehrhaus staff and coordinated buses and transportation.

Student feedback:

Students loved the Lehrhaus trip -- they found it exciting, stimulating, inspiring, and delicious! The other speakers also earned high marks from the students. They loved learning about new areas in Jewish Innovation.

Lessons learned and impact:

The biggest challenge for us was scheduling sessions, both in terms of the students' schedules and the speakers. We had to reschedule several programs and that did hurt our attendance.

Students who take the Jewish Studies Scholars program mostly do so because they want additional Jewish learning. The cohort experiences are a bonus! Other Gann teachers and students also attended the speakers, which worked out nicely for all.

PreK-3 Math

Project Description: 

We curated a collection of math games to help strengthen students’ mastery of basic skills, improve the quality of opportunities to differentiate among students with diverse learning profiles, and deepen students’ self confidence around math. Game play is fun and also provides opportunities to practice valuable social skills like turn taking, playing fair, and being a good sport. 

Budget/source of materials:

We purchased $750 worth of games, mostly from Amazon but a few were purchased directly from manufacturers like Learning Resources.

Prep time:

Games require different amounts of time to learn, but once a teacher has learned to play a game, it’s easy to add them to the classroom routine. 

Student Feedback:

Students love the games and regularly ask for them! 

Lessons learned and impact:

These games accomplished everything we hoped they would. They made math fun and engaging and provided challenge and excitement for students of all skill levels. Teachers are excited to continue incorporating these and other games into regular instruction. 

MetroWest Jewish Day School 6-8th grade.

Our Middle school Passion Projects allow each of our students to select and investigate a topic of their choosing for an entire year. This grant allowed students to purchase materials for two of their major assignments.

First they were asked to build a working object that an expert in their field could use. Some objects that were built included a network replicator, RC drone, anime model, game keyboard, sports shoes, and rocket.

Second they were required to construct and run an experiment based on a scientific principle related to their topics.

The $500 budget helped purchase items from a variety of online and brick & mortar stores.

The student feedback was exceptional as it allowed them to really interact with the tools and materials of their field, as well as empowered them to a greater access to materials to make more sophisticated items or experiments.

MetroWest Jewish Day School 6-8th grade.

Our Middle School Science class learned life sciences, genetics and ecology through hands on activities and experiments. They learned about photosynthesis, cell structure, punnet squares and more! Each student had multiple opportunities to continue developing their laboratory skills. The budget allowed not just our middle school, but our entire school to travel to the Museum of Science in Boston this last winter. There, all students created lasting memories and shared in multi-aged exploration of the museum.

Project Description:

I received a grant to start a lending library of decodable books for my students.  Most of my students are just beginning to read, and they need to read “decodable books” that will allow them to practice their decoding skills with learned spelling patterns.  This allows them to enjoy reading without getting frustrated or getting into bad habits of guessing words that they cannot yet decode.  My challenge is that these books are not always readily available at local libraries, making it challenging for parents to give their children they type of reading practice that will help their progress.  This grant allowed me to purchase additional decodable books for the sole purpose of sending home with students to read at home with their parents.  

Budget/ Source of Materials: 

I spent $1064 on books (and shipping costs) of which $1000 was covered by the grant.  My school paid for the remainder of the cost of the books and for bins I ordered to store the books in and for bags I ordered to send the books home in .  I purchases Dandelion Readers, Dandelion Launchers, and Sound out Chapter books from High Noon books as well as some sets of books from Reading for All Learners.  There was not much prep time involved.  I needed to put an additional bookcase in my space, order the materials, and print labels to label each book with, so that it would be returned to the proper place when students finished with it.  I created a spreadsheet where I kept track of which books students borrowed and when they were returned.  

Student Feedback: 

My Kindergarten students were so excited to bring books home!  They were also very responsible about letting me know when they had books in their backpack to return to me.  I had several K and first grade students who did not work in my groups who repeatedly borrowed books from me, as well.  

Lessons Learned and Impact: 

I learned that some of my first graders needed me to check in not only with them, but with their parents, more frequently to make sure that I knew when they needed new books and when they had books to return to me.  

This project was a success!  While I would like to continue to build this library, so I have more books and a greater variety of books available to lend to more students, I met all the initial goals of this project: 

1. To increase the amount of time on task students get reading appropriate books in order to build their skills faster.

2. To increase students excitement around reading.

3. To encourage home practice and build the habit of reading at home with their parents from an early age.

4. To  build  a stronger home-school partnership and share more with parents about what their child is learning in literacy and how to support them.

STEAM K-5

I purchased the Air and Weather Module from the FOSS Third Edition:

FOSS Third Edition Air and Weather Complete Kit, Grades 1 to 2, with 32 Seats Digital Access

select.schoolspecialty.com

The goal was to add more hands-on STEM into the curriculum.

The students loved working with balloon rockets, the weather calendar, cloud chart, and moon observation! The kids became excited and more engaged. They loved science class!

I didn’t get to use all of the materials last year but my goal is to use more of the materials this coming year. The beauty of the kit is that many of the materials, and the curriculum, are reusable year after year.

Not only were the kids more engaged, but I was stretched as a teacher as well. 

Our Kindergarten wanted to thank your team and the Just Imagine Grant for their support in reimagining our dramatic play space. Attached are pictures of some of the ways we used the grant to re-envision the space with students. They have LOVED playing in dramatic play this year and continuing to explore our curriculum.