My students need a combination of different tools such as Scrabble, a Wireless Eggspert, a ReadingPen assistive device, and highlighter strips, to maximize their literacy education.
Have you seen the look of pride on a student's face when she or he realizes they learned something new? Well imagine how much more amazing that feeling is for special education students when they gain new knowledge.
My students are 11th and 12th grade English students in the Special Day Class (SDC) setting.
An SDC is one in which the students all have either learning disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or both. Our classes are small, ranging from 5-15 students total. Because of this, we are lucky enough to have the ability to try many different activities that are individually tailored to the student's ability and performance levels. They are between the ages of 16-18 years old.
We are a large public high school in Southern California whose population is 60% African American and 40% Latino. We qualify for Title I funding due to the high level of poverty and because the majority of our students receive free or reduced lunches.
My Project
We are requesting an eclectic bounty of desperately needed supplies for our interactive classroom! The majority of my students are very low readers and have a difficult time decoding words. The reading pen would allow my struggling readers to identify unknown words and gain independence.
The highlighter strips/reading tools allow students with dyslexia and other reading hindrances to successfully read one line of a book at a time.
When my students have a particularly successful week, I like to reward them with challenging, yet fun activities. Scrabble is one of the best word games available and is one that nearly every one of my students say they benefit from.
Due to the nature of learning and attention disabilities, we do many interactive activities in the classroom to make our learning as multi-modal as possible. I place students in mixed ability level groups and have them compete against each other. The Wireless Eggspert is one of the best tools for group activities available.
My students are on the verge of graduating from high school and are about to embark on their adult lives.
Despite this, very few of them are prepared to succeed in a post-school setting. My goal is to maximize learning in their last year(s) so that when they graduate they will be as prepared as possible.
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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. Conner and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.