The little children who enter my classroom each year come from families who are new to this country and the English language. They come from all over the world -Mexico, Ecuador, Bangladesh, and Morocco. Their families are diverse in their backgrounds, languages, religions and cultures but they are united in one key aspect. They desire to make the American Dream their family's story and they are happily willing to invest the time and work that is needed.
My children and their families approach school each day with the attitudes that are deeply rooted in their hopes for their lives in their new country.
They are bright eyed, happy, respectful and most of all appreciative. They take advantage of every opportunity that is given-public libraries, meetings. They do everything they can to help themselves.
However, life in a new country can be hard. There is often barely enough money for food and housing let alone books or technology. When no one in the house speaks or reads English fluently, reading to your child is not a possibility even when the teacher sends home books. How wonderful it would be to provide them with technology that could help them hear stories!
My Project
Hearing English spoken and connecting it to the written words is probably the most important activity I can plan for my little 4/5-year-olds. The Kindle Fire ratchets up my ability to do so. During independent reading in the classroom, children will listen to stories on the Kindle with their partners. They will see and hear English! During Literacy Centers, they can practice their letters and sight words using different apps - hearing the sounds and letters. During Math Centers, they can hear the number names. During each of these times, I will use the Kindles to help differentiate instruction based on the needs and language proficiency levels of my students.
Most importantly, once a week they can take the Kindle home and learn English together with their families -listening to stories, practicing letters, counting, identifying objects.
I already have a system set up so that the families will know which night the Kindle will be coming home. In addition to books available on the Kindle, I will record stories and shared reading pieces that we have done in school so the children can share them with their parents and practice them at home.
The Kindles will delight my students, increase engagement, provide opportunities for differentiation, advance language skills for their whole families and help them start their educational careers with the support they need to succeed.
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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. P. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.