My students need a puppet stage to put their imaginations to use improving their literacy skills through fluency and expression.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Reilly's classroom raised $384
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
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.
My Students
Imagination has seemingly left the building as "intervention" time-blocks, test scores and skills training takes their respective demands on the day's schedule. Imagination may not be quantifiable but it is at the heart of learning.
My students represent a wide range of skill levels, ethnic backgrounds, and personal experiences, but nearly all are experiencing childhoods marked by economic poverty.
Our school is located in an area dominated by industry; when I tell people where I work, they almost always react with surprise. "People live there? There's schools there?" Our school has one of the highest mobility, ELL and free and reduced lunch rates in our state. Many assume that students from this area will never attend college or advance beyond menial labor. Consequently, students in my school rarely have the opportunity to engage in creative play at school, and their arts, science, and social studies education is minimal. Math and reading are inevitably taught in a skills first fashion, giving my students little opportunity to express themselves or develop their own learning styles. Despite these limitations, my students are exceptionally insightful, compassionate, resourceful, and creative.
My Project
A puppet theater in my classroom will become a vital and exciting space for learning, fostering literacy, community, arts, and even math and science. My students will thrill at the opportunity to create their own theatrical productions and bring their lessons to life with physical movement, music, and theater. They'll have the opportunity to practice reading with expression, create scripts and storylines, and be both actors and audiences. Getting out from behind their desks and putting their learning into action creatively will inspire them to get excited about material and share their learning with their peers.
My classroom's puppet theater project will be a vital space of art, joy, play, learning, literacy, and creativity for children whose lives are marked by poverty.
It will foster expression and excitement for learning and give my students the opportunity to take charge of their learning in a new and exciting way.
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 Mr. Reilly and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
