I am the lucky ELA teacher of 52 amazing fifth-graders! My students are kind, curious, passionate, and full of life. My compassionate and caring students accept and embrace each other's differences. They are the future world-changers and I am lucky to be a stepping stone on their path to greatness.
My students come to me each day with unique strengths and challenges, but regardless of their profile as a learner, ALL of my students have a common need for independent reading.
This is because the amount of time a child spends reading has consistently been found to lead to a growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. A student who independently reads 4.6 minutes a day reads 282,000 words per year whereas a student who reads 21.1 minutes a day reads 1,823,000 words per year. (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988).
My students have the latest and greatest technology at their fingertips which has led to a decrease in the amount of time they spend reading. My goal is to change that for my current AND future students and you can help!
My Project
Think of how you like to read for personal enjoyment...Do you sit at the kitchen table? A countertop? Maybe so, but the majority of you probably find a COMFY spot to curl up and enjoy your book! I want to create this kind of space in my classroom for my students because I believe this will encourage their love of reading!
Over 50% of my students responded with a wish for more comfortable seating and a more comfortable area to relax and read a book when I surveyed them and asked them what they wished our classroom had that would help their learning.
"I think we should get comfortable chairs or bean bags to read...because it will make me want to sit there and read more."
"...comfy chairs so then it is a soft, quiet place to read and work, and people can settle down and read."
"...a reading space, a very soft one, so you could be relaxed while you're reading."
"...comfortable chairs because it hurts sitting on hard plastic."
"...[comfy places] for reading so we don't have to sit on the cold hard ground. Being in a soft position will help us focus better..."
"...Comfier chairs or furniture because sometimes it's uncomfortable and I just focus on that instead of what we are doing."
I have a large classroom library from which my students regularly choose books, but I am lacking a comfortable space in which they can read these books. That's where I am hoping you can help! I am requesting a large area rug and beanbag chairs to provide comfortable seating and book lights in order to accommodate student's lighting preferences. I can keep the main classroom lights off and turn on the lamps, and students who require bright light can use the book lights!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Sarnacki and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
