I teach first grade in a rural Minnesota town with a population of 1000. We have had to combine our resources with two neighboring towns and create a new school district. That has not brought financial relief to any school. Our school has a higher than normal special needs population and the vast majority of the families we service are not professionals. Money is extremely tight to come by. Teachers have been cut and larger class sizes are the product. I am given $100 for the entire year to spend on items for my classroom. This is to cover everything! YIKES. I sneezed and that was gone...The games and manipulatives would allow my students to enjoy new center activities.
So many students, so little time! Our classroom needs more hands on activities. Manipulatives are an essential, crucial part of the learning environment in a first grade classroom. The students will be able to create words, identify words, and learn to recognize patterns in text by 'playing' with these items!
Center activities are the heart of a good, functioning first grade room. However, they can be very time consuming to make. These products are already pre-made, all I have to do is unwrap each box and the learning can begin! First grade is a crucial grade for learning to read. One component of successful readers is to identify word families or 'chunks' in a word. For example, the word 'tan' can be found in the word stand. With the games and manipulatives, students will be able to practice identifying and creating word families. And the best thing is they can do this independently and it's not a paper and pencil activity. It is something that is taught all year. Practice is the key element to obtaining and maintaining the knowledge needed to be a successful reader. Word families can be taught using paper and pencil, finding them in books, and using different mediums such as markers and paints, but children learn best by playing and creating.
Look! I made the word snug and hug! They rhyme! Imagine yourself hearing those words from a 6 year old and knowing that your gift helped to foster that piece of information. The gift of reading, what could be greater?
More than half of 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 Mrs. Danielson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.