My students need puzzles, movies, and play dough in a self contained autism classrooms they can receive the sensory break they need on a rainy day.
$327 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
I use puzzles at least three times a day and need to change them each time. Puzzles builds upon their weak fine motor skills. I use playdough to socially engage one another and to improve their fine motor skills. Some of my students are also beginning to read and they prefer flap books.
All of my students have Individualized Education Plans or are considered a part of special education.
They all have Autism or benefit from being in a highly structured classroom. This is a self contained room of five boys who are a mix of Kindergarten and first grade. Many of the students come from low income homes. Most of the students are very stubborn when it comes to academic work and will attempt to "sleep", hit, bite, cry, or run. The work needs to be highly engaging and not seem like work. If the student enjoys the activity they will complete it and learn. My students love to interact with puzzles and will patiently complete without the assistance of an adult. This is a great way to sneak in learning with puzzles that have numbers, letters, or sight words to match. After academic work it is important to reward the students with an activity they enjoy such as watching part of a movie. Many to times to begin work a student must know there is a reward at the end.
My Project
All of these materials I chose are heavy duty because my boys are not gentle. Using "nice" or "gentle" hands are a skill we are teaching in class. The students use puzzles at least three times a day to build the muscles in their hands, fine motor, and critical reasoning skills. Puzzles are completed at their work station along with a literacy or math activity and a coloring sheet to improve their fine motor skills. I do not have many books and they love to look at books, especially flap books. Most of them are reading sight words and will soon transition to reading simple sentences. I also chose playdough to further develop social interaction and fine motor skills. By the end of the school year I hope they will not mix the colors, eat it, and share. The pattern bears will improve their reasoning skills and ability to determine color and patterns. I chose the learning games because they learn through play and can be very stubborn at times when they are being taught formally.
I am a first year teacher and my boys require a lot of materials.
All materials will be used multiple times a day on a daily basis. With these books they will improve their literacy. With the playdough I hope through improving their social skills that one day they may socially interact successfully with their peers. Through the puzzles they will improve fine motor skills and critical reasoning. All of these skills will one day shape them into functioning adults in a group home setting.
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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. Lewandowski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
