This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Our school motto is “just like family”, and in our classroom, we are all a classroom family. My students live in a small community in the south side of Richmond City, and we reflect those same tight knit community values inside of our school walls. In our classroom we value strong relationships built on trust, love, and supporting each others’ academic, social, and emotional growth; just like family.
My first graders are curious, active, social, creative, and resilient.
Our class word is “persevere”; I teach my students the word “persevere” during the first week of school, because the first grade is challenging, but we do not give up when we are learning new and difficult skills. “Persevere” rings in our classroom from the first week of school until the last day. One of my sweet firsties who made a deep connection with our class word, expressed to me on the last day of school that he learned how to “persevere and do my best work” in the first grade.
My Project
My students are eager, curious, and imaginative; Each day, I gather my students on the carpet for them to engage with literature. It is critical for emerging readers to be read aloud to each and every day. Young readers need to be exposed to a variety of texts to broaden their vocabulary, gain experiences through reading, and begin to develop their own interests. Young readers are more motivated to learn to read when engaging reading is modeled for them by an adult, and they are able to get cozy and actively listen to the words of the story. When students are given a safe learning environment and a good book, they are able to use their imaginative minds and their senses to visit a world only made possible in books.
I have carefully chosen each of the books for my project, because I believe they will motivate my students to want to become life long readers.
My students will want to hear each of the stories I have selected for my project more than once. A good read aloud book has vivid imagery for students to visualize the story in their own minds. My students will want to retell each of these stories to their friend on the bus, or a family member when they get home from school. The characters in these stories are relatable to my students, allowing them to take on many different points of view. My students will make connections with the stories and relate them to their own lives, while developing their own opinions, and be able to justify their own feelings about the story. Each of these books for my project will be essential for transforming my students from emerging readers into fluent readers, able to comprehend new texts!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Loren McAdams and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
