I am the Special Education co-teacher of a fourth grade integrated class, consisting of 26 students. As we all know, differentiation is the new "buzz word" and as teachers we need to be very creative in our teaching skills. My students are very diversified in their learning as well as their home life situations. We're a title one school with free lunch, and my students come from low income families. Some live in shelters, some with relatives and all have a story.
Reading levels vary, and Special Education and General Education are united as one in my classroom. My co-teacher (General Education) and I use all of our skills collaboratively and bounce off of each other our different strengths so we can reach every child's individual needs. During a curriculum mandated unit on poetry, our students came alive. They experienced all different types of poetry with zest, and wrote their own. They went from Acrostic, Couplet, Haiku to Free Verse.
Many of our students are struggling in reading skills because their vocabulary is below grade level, but that didn't stop them from expressing themselves through acting out their poems. I had heard about Readers Theater, where students read and act out stories through scripts, and how it improved their reading levels as well as their self esteem. My students are in need of improving their fluency and comprehension and being able to express themselves through acting out stories. Performing in this fashion would bring their reading levels up, and provide a love of reading.
My students are a talkative bunch to begin with. I would love for them to throw their enthusiastic talk into something fun and entertaining, yet educational. Parents could come in to watch the children perform, and that would bring in much needed parental participation. There is also times that students need to do independent work when we conference with a small group of children. One group could be studying their lines while another group could work on an independent anchor activity.
My students need to purchase books and materials from "Readers Theater" through Lakeshore Learning. They need to purchase small group activities they can work on independently in their centers, which would count towards their grades and portfolios. Lakeshore Learning will build up their comprehension and reading fluency. They need to be able to become independent and have materials available to work on at their desks. Lakeshore Learning offers these "take it to your seat writing and reading center" materials. We would be very grateful if we could purchase them. We would greatly appreciate your help with these supplies.We thank you for taking the time to read this. I would like to put drama back into the classroom in a good way, and give these students a love of reading, comprehension and fluency. Please help us.
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
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