The cost of the Dictionaries is $206, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Jones's classroom raised $221
This project is fully funded
I am a teacher of Special Education students. My class is composed of 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Our dictionary activities have been impeded because the dictionaries currently in our classroom are out of date, and in bad shape. Several of the words my students have tried to locate are not listed in the tattered and obsolete books we have.
As special learners, it is important that as I discuss with the students how to use a dictionary and looking for guide words at the top of the page, it is important that the words are actually there. When they are not found, my students will often become frustrated. As a result, I will provide them with the definitions, parts of speech etc. However, this is not teaching my students basic research skills.
As the student study a particular core subject, I might stop them during the reading of a lesson and ask if they understand a particular word in the context of the passage. Most of the time they do not understand the word and I engage them in looking up the word, reading the definitions and selecting the definition that is most appropriate for the context of the passage. For my students reading is already a challenge. I would then engage them to make up sentences using the word to assess their understanding after finding and reading the definitions.
These lessons also lead to discussing prefixes and suffixes, synonyms,antonyms and homonyms. In addition, we have a word of the day game where teams of three students each compete to locate the word of the day and write three sentences using the word before another team. We do this as a daily activity. It is a great and fun way for children to take an interest in building their vocabulary and improving their reading and writing abilities.
The school I work in is considered a high poverty school and currently receives Title I funding. There are children considered "at risk" because of family demographics. Many of my children are foster children who come from backgrounds of abuse. I have a class of 16 with learning disabilities ranging from mentally retarded to ADHD and academic performance levels from pre-K to 3rd grade. Several have social/emotional issues, visual/spatial and motor deficiencies. I am always trying new and interesting ways to teach them the core subjects. I have a MA in Multicategorial Special Education and teach Math, English/Language Arts, Social Sciences, Science and Social Skills.
I would like my students to have dictionaries that are functional and provide them with the resource they need. I work very hard to get their enthusiasm up for dictionary activities, only to sometimes have to alter or adjust the activity because of inadequate dictionaries for them to use. If possible I would like to have sixteen dictionaries, as a minimum, we could survive with eight.
I appreciate DonorsChoose providing me with a possible solution to enhance the classroom experience of my students.
Nearly all 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 Ms. Jones and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.