The cost of a variety of learning manipulatives from Lakeshore Learning, including the Desert Animal Collection, the Polar & Tundra Animal Collection, the Mountain & Forest Animal Collection, and the Rainforest Animal Collection, is $1214, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
I began this school year teaching at Brock Elementary School in Slidell, Louisiana. Because of Hurricane Katrina, about five feet of water completely destroyed my classroom. Everything that I have purchased, inherited from generous teachers, or created in my five-year career as a teacher was ruined by the floodwaters. My losses were not insured. Thankfully, my job was spared, and I was transferred to another school in the district - Woodlake Elementary. I now teach sixteen Transitional First Grade students, all of whom were affected to varying degrees by Hurricane Katrina. These children have been through so much, yet have shown so much resiliency.
Transitional First Grade students need a developmental curriculum for a year between Kindergarten and First Grade. The curriculum is based on developmentally appropriate practices, and emphasis is placed on play, the child's natural approach to learning. Part of the guidelines for the T-1 curriculum state that learning activities and materials should be concrete, real, and relevant to the lives of young children. Because I have lost so many materials in the storm, it is difficult to create a classroom environment that these children need; I have been purchasing all of my materials with money from my own pocket.
We work in Learning Centers for a good percentage of the day. Because I lost so much, I don't have everything I need to complete our centers. There are several things that our classroom could use that would be very beneficial to the students learning. This includes:
- Phonics teaching tools such as word cards.
These will be used in center activities to reinforce letter sounds that follow our curriculum.
- Sequencing sets to help reinforce sequencing skills.
- A magnetic manipulative board that can be used to create pictures with specific pattern shapes. The board can also be used with magnetic letters to build words. It can be used with number magnets to create math facts.
- Science animals so that the students can create animal habitats and sort animals by family. Our students study an animal each week, and they learn about the habitats of each animal. I have a habitat center where the children re-create the habitat of the animal of the week, but I have no animals for them to use!
- Juggling scarves can be used for various gross motor skills.
- A globe - our classroom does not have a globe and I feel it is important to introduce the students to the continents and countries. It can also be used to show where our animal of the week is typically found.
- Nutritional foods (plastic) to provide greater understanding of our health and nutrition unit. The students will be able to sort the foods into the proper place on the food pyramid. They will also be used in our housekeeping center on a daily basis.
- A GeoSafari - this is an item that is included in our parish's T-1 curriculum every week for the children to use to develop phonics skills. I do not have one for my classroom.
- A weekly calendar pocket chart to use during our calendar time to provide a visual of our week, as well as teach the concepts of today, tomorrow, and yesterday.
Thank you so much for your generosity!
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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 Mrs. Astugue and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
