Who wants to sit on a dirty rug?!!?!

"Where do you read?

I'm assuming you choose to curl-up in a comfy place? maybe on a couch or on a cozy chair. My East Harlem Fifth Graders are just like you? they love leaning against the giant floor pillows and beanbags we have in our classroom. They love sprawling out all over the classroom r..." more»

"Where do you read?

I'm assuming you choose to curl-up in a comfy place? maybe on a couch or on a cozy chair. My East Harlem Fifth Graders are just like you? they love leaning against the giant floor pillows and beanbags we have in our classroom. They love sprawling out all over the classroom rug. However, our rug is nearly two years old and has become a breeding ground for germs (it's survived a lice outbreak and two cold/flu seasons). It's no longer an inviting place for children to lay down on with a book. Therefore, we need your help!

My class and I are fortunate, thanks to donors like you, since we've received a range of classroom supplies and books over the past two years, which have made our classroom a divine place to be. However, the colorful rug that was the centerpiece of our classroom no longer looks so cool since it's spotted, faded, and dirty due to daily foot traffic and use by 26 terrific fifth grade students.

I use the workshop model of teaching, which calls for a rug to serve as the space for minilessons and share sessions. This allows children to be close together for a shared learning experience and allows them to focus (away from the distractions that await at their desks). Furthermore, this fall, 2006, I'll be starting to use the Responsive Classroom Method in my classroom, which states that the social curriculum is just as important as the academic curriculum. Therefore, we'll be having daily Morning Meetings as a means to build a tighter-knit classroom community. Again, the meeting area for these morning gatherings will be on the rug. However, I know my new class will not want to sit down on this mottled, visibly dirty rug. Who can blame them? It's no longer the inviting meeting area that it used to be.

With your help, the classroom rug can again become a glorified, treasured space in our classroom that serves the above-mentioned purposes. Do you think you can help my students and me out by helping to purchase us a new rug?

Thank you, in advance, for your consideration of this request! hide»