Benjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." Students need to be involved in their learning so that they can take ownership of what they are doing. Students need to get their hands "dirty" by using them to research, create, and make learning meaningful. I will teach about 22 eager, energetic 3rd grade students in my classroom this year. We are a Title I school with 100% participation in the reduced-price/free lunch program. Many of our students have never left the community or experienced anything outside of the area.
All of our students are eager to learn and need experiences that they do not get at home.
We do not have much parental involvement at our school and we are looking to change that. We want parents to associate school with love, learning, and caring. We would like to change parents' points-of-view from the negative experiences they may have had as children, to be able to see the positive experiences we provide their children through rich literature and unforgettable activities.
My Project
This year we have been focusing on incorporating more diverse texts in our literacy block.
Our students have loved reading meaningful books that have a positive, lasting message.
We have started our journey with America is Under Attack and 14 Cows for America. Our third graders have loved these two books. They were able to make connections and show empathy while reading the books. I want to continue our students' love of learning by getting more culturally diverse books. Funny Bones is a story about the creation of calaveras. We will read about Jose Guadalupe Posada and his life story. We will also read about The Princess and the Warrior, a Mexican folktale explaining how two large volcanoes came to be. The last book our students will read is The Three Questions, which is a Vietnamese and Russian story about how to always know what to do. A young boy wants to know when is the best time to do things, who is the most important one, and what is the right thing to do. He goes off searching for his answers.
These texts would help us learn about different parts of the world, as well as with our state standards.
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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