Our motto is: "Be Active, Get Involved!" and we try to make that happen with action oriented lessons on a rug that include constructing models and important partner talks where students apply and synthesize what they know about a topic.
Our students are diverse ethnically and socio-economically as we draw from a wide swath of the Berkeley community.
We recently added on a new building raising our student population by 100 students and bringing even more families into our school. Our school's mission is equity and we have dedicated ourselves to minimizing the achievement gap through culturally relevant teaching strategies.
My Project
The rug is the focal point of our classroom. It is where we meet to discuss and debate personal and subject related issues, where we gather to sing each Friday with our fifth grade partners, where we read to our first grade buddies and where all important lessons are delivered. Right now, 29 fifth grade students are crammed onto a small 8 X 12 space and there is little room for materials to explore or to even turn and talk to a partner effectively. A larger rug will give students that space and provide a more respectful learning environment for the kids.
Many of our students come to school without a home of their own, let alone a personal bedroom and it is important for all students to have a space where learning is respected.
The rug is that space. A quality rug will send the message that the children themselves and their learning are important.
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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 Mr. Kleine and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.