My students need an iPad to allow access to both enriching and supplemental materials. Students with disabilities will be able to more fairly interact with the content with this assistive technology.
In my classroom of 20 wonderful learners, most of them love to read and some, admittedly, do not. A typical day in our classroom consists of over an hour of reading workshop time.
My goal is to get these remaining few 4th graders to love reading by the end of the year, while highly engaging the rest.
Two of my students identify themselves as biracial and two as Hispanic. As readers, 75% of the class is reading above grade level, 15% is reading on grade level, and 5% (one student) is reading just 1/2 a year below grade level. Some of my students have Individualized Education Plans and would greatly benefit from the assistive technology within an iPad. Our school is a wonderfully peaceful school that serves a diverse population of very low socio-economic, to upper-middle class. We have wonderful educational programs in place and dedicated teachers and administrators.
My Project
My plan is to create engaging reading experiences by providing high-quality texts by using the iPad as an e-reader. Students will be able to interact with differentiated material by reading e-books at their instructional reading level. Students with lower reading levels and/or with special needs will be able to read and listen simultaneously to the same higher-level texts as their peers using the iPads's audio technology. This type of activity not only allows struggling students to access higher-level texts, but it also helps them build fluency as well. Students will also interact with one another using the shared literature and the iPad will access our classroom website. Students will expand vocabulary by utilizing the iPads Vocabulary Building applications. But most of all, students will be engaged in reading by accessing books with the iPad in a way that is relevant to technology-loving youth.
The donation of an iPad will improve my classroom by directly impacting how students learn to read.
It will be giving those struggling readers an extra benefit by reading the text aloud to them, while providing enriching activities. Additionally, many of my students have never used an e-reader due to socioeconomic factors. Putting this technology into their hands will allow them to be successful.
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 Mr. Dodson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.