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.
My Students
I teach fourth grade at a school that’s served the area for 114 years. My students are predominantly of Latino descent. Our student body is diverse: 71% are Latinos, 15% White (Predominantly Armenian), 6% Asian, 4% African American, 3% Filipino, and 1% others (which includes Pacific Islander and Native American).
Our school is Title I with 96% of our students classified as low income and qualified for free lunch.
48% of the population is classified as English Learners.
My students are 21st century learners who apply critical thinking to their everyday learning. On any given day, you will see students engaged in cooperative learning and discussion.
Students use technology as a tool to enhance their thinking and create projects that display what was learned using google apps for education. I have many Gifted students in my classroom who need to be challenged through problem based learning. I would like to challenge them to think outside of the box and come up with solutions to problems our world faces. Many of my students face economic hardships at home, but are determined to do their best in order to succeed.
My Project
Literature is the way to awareness and understanding how history has a way of repeating itself. Last year in March when quarantine hit, I grabbed a bunch of resources to teach my students from home. I needed a new read aloud for my fifth graders and picked up Lawrence Yep's Dragon's Gate novel and it was one of the best moves I made. 5th Graders learn about California's Railroads and how partially led to statehood, and how the Chinese helped build this state through the railroads. I was so shocked and intrigued reading this Historical Fiction about the racism that occured within their own culture along with surrounding cultures. My class and I had so many great discussions about what was unethical and how to stop stereotypes in their tracks. The students and I were glued to the book because it was raw and gritty just like the urban community they live in. I vowed that this was a book that I would forever read aloud with my students to keep the discussion going especially with the current climate going on in society.
My job as an educator is to inform students and teach students to accept people different from themselves.
Scholastic News does a great job at keeping students informed with the current events going on in society to keep that dialogue going in a neutral way that sees both sides of the topic.
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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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. Ladefoged and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
