In her novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith wrote "Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she [or he!] can read printed words!" Kindergarten is the year when many of my students will experience this magic hour, and I want to make sure it happens with a great book.
My classroom, located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, will serve just over 20 creative and inquisitive kindergarteners this year.
Ninety-two percent of students at my school receive free or reduced lunch. We have a unique focus on social and emotional learning that emphasizes student choice, personal responsibility, true love of learning, and care for the world around us, and what better way to accomplish those things than through truly wonderful books?
My Project
In our small group literacy time, my students rotate through activity centers, and one of the most beloved centers in any classroom is the listening center. Students don headphones and gather around a cd player. Each student will have a copy of the same picture book (with these amazing sets from Lakeshore, one week it could be Jamaica's Find, Juanita Havill's tale about an ethical dilemma; the next week, Ludwig Bemelmans' classic Madeline). Upon pressing "play", students' ears fill with the exciting sound of the book read aloud, just for them. As students follow along in their own text, they are developing valuable reading skills by associating written and spoken words.
By donating to our class, my students will not only have access to these magical stories, but also to the experience of hearing a text read aloud over and over.
The two sets I am wishing for are a Social Studies Set (titles include "The Relatives Came" "All the Colors of the Earth" and "Wemberly Worried") and a Favorite Picture Book Set (I can't wait for them to read "Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock"!). Who knows which book will be the one that makes a child fall in love with reading?
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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. O'Neil-Dunne and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
