This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Have you ever met a child who DIDN'T enjoy playing games? If you said "Yes," you certainly haven't met my first grade students! I teach in an urban Illinois community. Almost all of my students receive free or reduced-price lunch, and over half are English Language Learners. Exploring language and problem solving through games is crucial to helping these young learners be successful in school. However, due to economic hardship in our school's community, very few of my students have even one game of their own to play and enjoy. I want to provide my students with the opportunity to learn and play through games in the classroom.
So what's the problem? Every day, a class of 30 students sit in front of me, eager to learn, problem solve, and play. However, we don't have access to high-quality games that promote strategic problem solving and language skills.
A simple way to solve this problem is for each child to play with educational puzzles and games. The set of games I am requesting for my students encourage creative thinking and discussion through play. And the games are FUN!
Ducks in a Row combines the challenges of checkers and Connect Four, while Clever Castle is a kid-friendly logical-deduction game like Sudoku. Rush Hour Jr. encourages students to discover alternate solutions to problems. Other games promote word recognition, build memory skills, encourage turn-taking and following directions, and require strong verbal communication. All of these skills are vitally important for young students to acquire and strengthen at a young age. Also, learning to use more precise language to play games with their peers will deeply benefit my students for whom English is a second language. All of these skills transfer to math, language arts, and science. The list of benefits go on and on!
Remember how much you enjoyed games as a child? I know my students are eager to experience the same joy and excitement! By donating to this project, you will help students become strategic thinkers, confident problem solvers, and great communicators.
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. Angie Stewart and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
