If you walked by our classroom you’d see 20 five and six year olds spread out all over the room engaged in various activities. Partners might be making words out of Play Doh, building structures with blocks, listening to a story while laying on the carpet, working on computers or iPads, or sitting around the table reading with their teacher. We are loud and we are learning!
Each of my students has their own set of experiences that make them unique.
We have children who speak Chinese, Spanish, Arabic and Zomi. One third of my students are English Language Learners or come from dual language homes. Some of my little ones have never been away from their family before. Others spend hours after school in day care programs until their parents are done with work. I have children who are free and reduced due to family hardship. Some of my children are from single family homes, and others are from blended families or dual parent households. Together, no matter our personal experiences, we are learning how to become a school family, how to learn from and respect each other.
My Project
There has been a major push down of standards. Much of what kindergarteners are expected to learn used to be taught in first grade. Because of this, playtime has been pushed out of a kindergarten schedule.
Teachers have to get very creative to intertwine play throughout the learning.
The materials requested will help me include play in the daily learning for my five and six year olds. The beanbag learning center could cover a multitude of standards while involving eye-hand coordination and gross motor movement. It includes beanbags with letters, numbers, shapes and colors. The alphabet bowling has all 26 letters in uppercase form with a foam bowling ball. Imagine the excitement this would provide in learning letters while playing a bowling game! The knockdown number challenge is a carnival type game where the kids would toss beanbags at numbers to knock them over. This would be an engaging way to practice number identification or answer addition and subtraction problems. It can be difficult to make counting an exciting activity that children want to practice. The let’s get moving kit would provide a number of games to get kids counting while playing. Sight word steps would provide an active learning experience to help the children retain their sight words. All of these materials could greatly enhance the curriculum by providing the children with active play and learning!
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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. Smith and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
