My students need a light table and accompanying materials (i.e. Magnatiles) to help promote learning in preschool academics and to support their IEP goals.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Riccio's classroom raised $586
This project is fully funded
My Students
“If they can’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn." - Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas
Our students learn in a variety of ways & we must differentiate our instructional methods to meet the needs of each student. Implementing unique & motivating lesson plans can encourage and promote learning.
We are a public school in the Boston area that services children at the elementary school level.
My classroom is made up of eight 3-5 year olds with a diagnosis of autism. I have two wonderful paraprofessionals in the classroom, as well. Each child is unique in their needs and how we service them. We are lucky to be housed in a school with a large special education community, servicing 17 ASD classrooms. We are a Title One school system that represents over 130 countries. Every student has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that outlines their goals and service needs for the school year. As teachers, we must target each skill by differentiating our lesson plans by adapting materials and motivating and reinforcing our students based on their unique learning styles.
My Project
Many of my students benefit from a sensory-approach to learning. Hands-on activities tend to be more motivating and allows us to target a variety of skills with a seemingly simple task. We have utilized a homemade light table using a plastic bin and string lights, along with a few manipulatives. The students absolutely loved the makeshift light table and we were able to teach them preschool skills such as number sense, colors and color blending, shape identification as well as more challenging tasks such as addition and copying and extending patterns. In addition, the children show how creative they can be using blocks to build all sorts of elaborate objects! We feel that having a real light table with more sustainable and appropriate light table materials would allow us to create more detailed lessons for our students who lack attention skills.
As a new teacher to this school, I started with a fairly empty classroom.
My coworkers and I have put a lot of time and money into creating a developmentally appropriate classroom that allows the children to learn and grow. As the year has progressed, our students have also progressed. We feel that these new, exciting materials would provide the opportunity for further growth and help the students meet their IEP objectives in a more meaningful way. We want the best for these children!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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 Ms. Riccio and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.