Help Turn Reluctant Readers into Brilliant Bookworms
My students need 10 write/wipe boards, dry erase markers, 7 copies each of 2 books: "New Kids in Town: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens" and "We Beat the Street", single copies of 2 additional books and a visual presenter camera.
My students are a hardworking group of middle-schoolers in the Resource Program! Resource students are bright, creative, and very capable--and they come to the Resource Room to learn how to address their learning differences. They represent the cultural, racial, and socioeconomic diversity of our California city, and they bring a wide array of experiences and skills to their school work. Although they are only in 6th and 7th grade, many of them already have ideas about college and future careers.
Many of my students have low literacy skills coupled with documented auditory processing disorders. Although their academic aptitude is at or above that of their peers, they need visually-supported curriculum in order to access the material. The typical lecture-only English class is a frustrating, unproductive experience for them. Unfortunately, we do not have a projector or other visual and kinesthetic supplies to help them learn.
Educational research shows that talking to at-risk students about their long-term goals and how to reach them can significantly improve academic achievement. I would like to combine texts that prompt students to reflect on their values and goals with technology and supplies to visually support the literacy curriculum. A document camera will allow me to model marking up texts for the class, fill out graphic organizers with them, and project other visual aids to support their understanding. White boards will encourage engagement and practice with remedial skills; the same students who hate spelling and learning parts of speech will endlessly play "hold 'em up" (compete with each other to answer questions on the white board).
Your help will make it possible for my students to raise their literacy levels and end their feelings of frustration in the unmodified English classroom. Educational statistics indicate that the achievement gap is largely a literacy gap, and your donation can help close that gap in our inner-city classroom. Coupling visual technology with values-based books will encourage my students to reflect on how to reach their long-term educational and vocational goals.
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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. M. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.