At the end of the year, I want all of my kids to be prepared and ready to move on to first grade! I want them to feel secure and to know they have been successful when they leave my class. The biggest challenge I have is providing them with all of the tools necessary to be successful!
I have nineteen wonderful kids that have such incredible personalities.
I have a diverse group of students that has been an outstanding way for all of them to learn to accept people that are different. It has been so exciting to help nineteen kids to find their love and joy for learning. It makes me think of my favorite quote "teachers who love teaching, teach children to love learning." That has been my goal since beginning this journey. My kids have grown so much so far this year, and have found out what their favorite subjects are, and they are all making progress towards reading individually. The school they attend is in a very poor and struggling area. Each student has a very different background, and has been through a lot in their few years. Most of them do not have any educational materials at home, and they also do not have anyone at home to help them learn and work on the skills they are struggling with.
My Project
My students will use these big books in a variety of ways. Each week we focus on one story and all of the important aspects. We teach them about the front cover, title page, back cover, spine, dedication page, etc. It is very difficult to show the students these important parts of the book with a regular sized book. We tend to have the problem, "I can't see" or "their head is in my way!" Having big books would solve this problem, and would help the kids become more familiar with the parts of a book. We also go into detail about characters and settings, and the kids aren't able to see me pointing these out and that makes it hard for them to grasp the concept. Big books also help them distinguish words from letters, recognize sight words, and relate more to the book and the characters. When reading big books, it gives them the feeling that they are in your lap reading, and they are much more attentive than with small books. They also would use these books in multiple stations!
My kids are having a very difficult time learning how to read, due to the fact that I don't have all of the necessary tools to help them, and they do not have reinforcement at home.
Having these books will really help them get up close and personal with books, and all the important tools one book teaches them. They will be so excited to find out that people who don't know them truly care about them, and want them to have a strong foundation in reading!
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