Kids just want to have fun! Kindergarten students don't want worksheets and flashcards, they want their learning experiences to be fun and engaging at their developmental level. With the push of more difficult curriculum and learning standards in kindergarten, I am determined to keep our learning fun and active!
My students come to school with very diverse needs in their school readiness skills.
Some can't identify a number or a letter of the alphabet, while some begin Kindergarten with the experience of preschool and are ready to explore the curriculum at a deeper level. I have 25 students who are five and six-years-old in a full day kindergarten classroom. Our school is considered "high poverty" due to our large percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
My Project
"But I can't read!" As a kindergarten teacher, I always hear this concern from my students at the beginning of the year when I talk about our classroom goals of becoming better readers throughout the school year. We need books that match the beginning reader skills with basic sight words, simple sentences and repetitive text so my students have success with early reading.
The books in this project will help my students meet their reading goals by getting books in their hands that are actually a match to their reading level!
Giving early readers the confidence of being successful and competent readers can be achieved with these very unique leveled texts. Typical library books do not meet the "good fit" criteria to be used for independent reading and practice. Giving my students a bright beginning with these experiences in early reader texts sets the path for a lifetime of enjoyment and success with their future reading. Our classroom needs more nonfiction books at these lower reading levels so my students have materials they are interested in reading. These leveled books will be used for the students to read to themselves and read with a partner. Using texts that are a match with the students' reading levels will help them master sight words, segmenting and blending sounds, voice-print match with text, phonics skills, fluency and comprehension.
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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. Prochaska and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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