Brightly colored murals, beautiful garb, fresh fruits, vegetables at the corner market, and the smell of delicious Indian food coming from the nearby kitchen: this is the environment my students live in.
We have a beautiful neighborhood that embodies Indian culture.
Unfortunately, my school is in a low-income neighborhood. My students, who are a diverse mix of cultures, attend a school that strives to give them an excellent education. Many of them are first-generation Americans and are excited to begin school.
My Project
I teach an amazing group of 3rd graders. I always have a discussion with my class about our love or dislike of reading. To my horror, I generally have discovered the majority of my students do not like to read. I am horrified because growing up and as an adult, I love getting "lost" in a book. Then I had a thought about how to develop a desire to read among my students.
To put it simply, children just need to choose the book they want to read and be able to keep it.
I have set up a PBIS reward system where a child is given the opportunity to earn Amazon Gift cards to use to buy a book. Children will be awarded by the number of hours and minutes they have read. By counting hours and minutes allows for all my students to have an equal chance to earn a gift card. I have some outrageously good readers that devour books, but I want my struggling readers to feel inspired.
Now that we are distance learning this powerful reward system has become a challenge. I still want my students to earn books, the system itself is still working, however, now the book they choose will simply be sent to their homes instead of the classroom.
I can hardly wait to invite the first child to earn an Amazon Gift card to the computer to shop for their book.
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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. Serio Sokol and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
