My students live in an urban environment surrounded by wild animals and wild weather! Moose, Geese, and even Black bears have been known to roam our neighborhood and playground while we shop for groceries just a quarter mile away. The weather can change in the course of minutes, from rain to snow to hail, and then rise twenty degrees with a little dab of sunshine. Our school has over 500 students, including grades K-6. My students are eager to learn and are keen observers of their immediate world. Many emotions in our classroom revolve around ever-changing home lives, job loss/gain, hormones, middle school here-we-come, and our crazy seasonal changes.
When life is in a state of flux, my students escape into books, friends, technology and the warmth of indoors.
Within my classroom, creating a friendly, steady environment with clear expectations is always a priority. Working through life's troubles is a constant; having a safe space to allow students to try-out different problem-solving skills is important to me. My students have resiliency, good-hearts and a strong work-ethic.
My Project
With so many flashy ads, website banners, and eye-catching commercials, my students need practice negotiating truth from fiction and advertisements. Quick attention-grabbing magazine articles allow my students to read information and practice comprehension in shorter segments. Sometimes books can be too much for the on-the-go middle-age student, and the articles printed from different online sources are black and white, and not always formatted like their magazine companion.
Non-fiction, current event articles found in "for youth" magazines are a perfect way to have students practice the reading skills needed to obtain literacy skills for our world.
Since the Time for Kids and Scholastic Magazines are printed for young readers, the content is geared towards their interests as well as reading level. The magazines will provide my students with colorful articles that they can then take home and keep, adding to their home library.
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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. Kaltenborn and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
