It is the nature of people to be heroes given the chance. Be a hero for us!
I teach 5th grade in a high poverty area. Many of our students receive free or reduced lunch. Many come from single parent homes and struggle financially. The school is the center of our community. It is their safe-haven.
We expect great things from our students and they seldom let us down. We have a high performing school. Many times our test scores are every bit as high as the highest performing school in the district. This is not an easy task. We keep our students motivated by providing them with a rich, meaningful curriculum.
The biggest obstacle that our students face is their environment. Many of them are on their own after school. Some have never known one of their parents or have lost their parent to drugs in one way or another.
Despite all of their troubles, they do love school, and are seldom absent. They love the fact that in the 5th grade a lot of the curriculum is linked to real life experiences.
Next year we are going to have a school-wide theme that centers around "Heroes." I will be incorporating this theme into my curriculum whereever I can. The obstacle for us is always that these special hands-on experiences usually require resources we do not have funding for. I have already seen the excitement in our students' faces when the theme was announced for next year.
I am not sure that my students have an understanding of what a "Hero" really is. I think they have a misconception that it is someone on T.V.or someone who is rich, unlike themselves. This in itself is an obstacle.
I need a camera, a printer/scanner with ink, and photo paper. I mentioned that I wanted to incorporate the theme into as much of my curriculum as possible. This project will be reinforced in Social Studies, Language Arts,
Art, Communications and help students reach into their community.
The idea is for students to develop a concept of who a Hero is. What makes a Hero, a Hero? We will begin by studying people that we consider heroes. Some of these are Jackie Robinson, Ghandi, Maria Tallchief, Anne Frank, etc. Then, we will discuss who in our community are heroes and invite them to our school. Each child will conduct an interview with their hero and take their picture. The student will then publish the interview along with a photo. When all students have completed their assignment we would have created our own book of heroes called, "Heroes Among Us."
This project will help build community. Our students will be inspired by the local firemen and women, police officers and many other community people they might consider to be heroes. Grandparents, former teachers, and others will also offer inspiration to my students. This is something that my students need. The academic benefits are endles.
I will end this with a quote:
"Trust men and they will be true to you,
treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great." Ralph Waldo Emerson
My students come into class everyday expecting me to be there. I am their one constant in their lives. That is quite a big burden on me, but it is true. If I am not there for some reason, it can be a pretty tough day for some of them. What I am saying is that they count on me, a lot.
Now I am counting on you to help me with this.
Show yourselves great, support us! Thank-you
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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 Mrs. Bonham and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.