Children w/Special Needs Can Learn to Read - With Help
My students need books and also, literacy activities so that they can learn to read. Using hands-on-activities, coupled with books, is crucial for students w/disabilities
As a first year teacher, visualize my shock and dismay when I realized the shelves were full of preschool toys - not books or curriculum. Now picture my shock when a student kept signing for something, so I gave him a pen and paper...he wrote "VAN" because he wanted the toy van. My kids are smart...
My kids are smart and very capable of learning how to read.
Literacy skills will help my students gain access to the world around them. I did my student teaching in a rich school, where we had 1,000 times the materials I've requested in this grant. The kids were years/grades a head of my current students, even though they have the same disabilities and IQ scores.
My kids have great senses of humor and problem solving skills. They make me laugh everyday. When I look at my students, I don't see disabilities...I see kids who have greater challenges to conquer than other students. You'll never see harder workers than the ones in my room.
My Project
My kids are smart and deserve curriculum and learning materials that challenge them to achieve the greatness I know is inside of each one of them.
Within my first 2 months at school, my non-verbal students have learned their letters and sounds. I was told they couldn't do it, but when I gave them a field of four letters, they were able to hand me the correct letter with 100% accuracy! My verbal students are bored and often act out as a result. I've done my best to begin accumulating books and sight word readers, but I've been spending 1/4 of my paychecks on just the basics - like pens, paper, etc. They can do more!
Imagine their faces if they could get to learn about beginning letter sounds with pictures and manipulatives that they can touch and feel. The literacy materials I'm requesting allow students to demonstrate their knowledge without having to use words. Even my students with lacking fine motor skills, will be able to pick up the pieces, and engage in the reading process!
My special education program has NO curriculum.
In an environment of severe budget cuts, children with special needs have fallen to the bottom of the priority list for spending. My students can't wait until the economy picks up to get basic literacy supplies! It is crucial in their development to receive interventions as early as possible. If we help them now, there's no telling how far they can go! Please, please, please, show my students that people care and believe in them!
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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. Eyre and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.