"Play is the work of children."~Friedrich Froebel
I am a third grade teacher at an elementary school in western North Carolina. We are a Title I school with a culturally diverse student population. I feel like I have been given the task this year of inspiring my students to want to learn more. Being able to motivate students to want to learn can sometimes be a difficult task for teachers. This year I have been extremely excited to see my students getting excited about learning. One tool that I have utilized to motivate students has been the power of play. There are many benefits of using play as an educational tool in the classroom. Games in the classroom give students the opportunity to practice their skills and provide them a place to apply the information that they are attaining.
Games and play also reinforce skills without the student realizing that they are learning. This nontraditional learning environment is fun and relaxing for the students. Another benefit of play is that it helps to connect all of the students in our classroom. All children enjoy play. Average, academically gifted, and struggling students all enjoy games. By playing together, they are able to see past their academic, social, or cultural differences and connect for a common interest. This kind of interaction also helps build the life skill of cooperation which they will use later in life as well.
Because play can be such a powerful tool for the education of my students, I would like to use a variety of games that will spark their interest and reinforce their academic skills. I have purchased and made several games for my students this year, but I truly need your help to get additional activities that we would benefit my class this year and my students next year as well. The games we would like to purchase are Language, Vocabulary, and Math Quiz Game Show. Students would play these games as teams in order to reinforce skills that we cover in class. These games focus on reading and language skills like synonyms, antonyms, homophones, contractions, and compound words. The math game focuses on numerical operations, mental math, problem solving, money, time, and geometry. Because of our diverse student population, we are also requesting the grade 4-6 cards in order to motivate and challenge our higher level learners. The requested pocket chart stand is necessary to hold the game pocket chart upright so that the students can play the game. We are also requesting several Tic-Tac-Toe games that reinforce specific skills: fractions, place value, vocabulary building, and more.
These games will be extremely beneficial to my students. Please help make this a reality for my students. "Play is the work of children." With your help my students can become better learners through the power of play. Help make learning what it should be in the classroom: a fun, entertaining, relaxed, enjoyable experience.
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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. McMahon and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.