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.
I teach 1st Grade in a challenging college prep charter school in Los Angeles. My students are smart and love to work hard and be challenged. My children love to write and draw about their lives and what they see in the world around them. They especially like to write in special journals. Our school does not have the resources to provide us with all the materials we need and our families usually do not have the money to purchase educational materials for their children.
I love to teach writing to young children and have a seen tremendous improvement when they are given the chance to write everyday and are given positive feedback on their writing. My young students are ambitious and motivated and have so many stories and situations in their minds that they need to get down on paper. They would really benefit from these early writing experiences in all educational areas (English, Writing, Reading, etc.)
I would like the children to have two journals each to use this year. Lakeshore sells these journals, called "My Draw and Write Journal" and I have 20 students. One journal will be for students to write personal narratives which would consist of things in their daily lives. The other journal would be for the students to write creative fiction stories with made up characters, plots, and settings.
The children will write and draw each day and have their work neatly assembled in one book. The children will look through their journals daily and feel a sense of accomplishment when re-reading their work. They will also look back through their work with a teacher for revisions, feedback, and proofreading. The children do not tend to look back on their work when their work is on loose sheets of paper in a folder. They really take pride in seeing their work in book form and will treasure these books for years to come. Parents typically keep these journals whereas they will discard sheets of paper.
I am asking that this proposal be funded so that my students can experience the joy of writing and begin writing at an early age.
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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. McKinney and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.