This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
I work with Pre-K students during day school and Pre-K to 5th grade during after school. My students are ALL curious explorers.
No matter the subject, I am committed to the socio-emotional development of my students.
I want to ensure that my lessons and equipment are able to enrich them in various ways.
The younger students ask, "When are we going to pretend again, Ms. Lewis?" For my after-school work, Pre-K and K do performing arts.The goal is that they are so focused on fun that they learn "by accident. They work really hard to convey stories (emotions, events, and characters) through pretending (acting), song, and dance. My students really look forward to hearing new stories and making up their own series of events.
Everyday, I am met with questions about what will be doing next from my older students (STEAM). We have been focusing on our environment and engineering projects. They have been so excited to go on community walks, where they discovered that littering is a big problem for them. One asked me, "Why do people even get dogs if they aren't going to pick up after them?" Great question but I had no answer for him.
My Project
Primarily these will be used for my early childhood group learning Theatre Arts. These 3-6 year olds in Harlem will be learning to express themselves through performing arts. Puppets allow students to admit to feelings that they may hide otherwise. They allow people (even little ones) to try things that ordinarily they would be scared.
While there are many ways to puppets in Theatre Arts, they can be used for other activities as well including meditation.
Breathing Buddies is a system where young people lay down with a Stuffed animal or plushie of any sort on their chest and just watch it as they breathe. This allows them to focus on and control their breathing. That is a valuable skill in many situations where they may have an elevated heart rate (arguments, not getting their way, being flustered, etc.).
I know this would be an asset for my programs and the children would be immensely appreciative. They love to express themselves creatively. One of my girls said she would use puppets to make someone feel happy. Another student said he would enjoy playing with them. Please help us out!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Lewis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
