The students at my school are from a rural farm community. We have a small school at the edge of a large corporation. Our students come from all socioeconomic backgrounds. We are lucky to have great families that work hard and are involved in our school events, but we don't get a lot of extra funding from the state. This is due to our school not qualifying as a Title I school. Title I schools have a higher level of free and reduced-price lunches than we currently have.
My sweet kiddos are hard workers, but they have lots of extra energy and thrive during hands-on activities.
We try to keep moving around our classroom several times throughout the day to help with this. I also have tried to incorporate a flexible seating environment to keep their little bodies wiggling, while engaged in learning, while at our seats. We have had a lot of success when we use hands-on manipulatives and activities.
I love to provide learning opportunities that will get my students moving, thinking, and stimulating their learning by creating.
My Project
My students love to actually find books that they can read in our classroom library! It truly builds up their confidence level when they realize they CAN read, even if it is just a simple book. I LOVE our Reading Leveled Book Bins that are stored on a special cart in our classroom that we recently added. It makes it easy for my students to grab a Book Bin at their level and read on their own. These new Reading Books will help fill up our most popular bins and give my students some much needed new titles to explore.
Once my students know their reading level then they know they can grab that Book Bin and read any of those stories with confidence and ease which builds up their reading confidence.
They get so proud of themselves and are excited to share with their friends or an adult in our classroom that excitement! It makes my heart happy to see that light bulb come on and see them realize what I already know about them that they are becoming great little readers!
More than half 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 Mrs. Kastigar and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
