My students need a rug to sit on for our morning meetings and picture books that develop social skills and build on our science and social studies learning objectives.
This 4th grade class will have about twenty-five students. Many of them I am getting the pleasure of working with twice. I had most of this group of kids when they were in kindergarten. It will be lovely to see how they have grown as learners and as people.
Since we are a small, rural school, I know these students are compassionate and helpful because I see them every day.
If you need something, they will volunteer to help you. They are hardworking and care about learning.
My Project
As a former Kindergarten teacher, I loved our morning calendar time. Last year, as a first year 4th grade teacher, I felt that something was missing. We focused a lot on kindness around our school and in our classroom, and I saw a lot of growth and thinking before speaking. However, my students still had groups that have formed since kindergarten that were not always kind to each other. So I did some reading this summer and discovered a morning meeting routine that would help develop our classroom community and build compassion and caring for each other.
A classroom rug helps delineate a space where we can focus on developing our social skills and creating a sense of community.
I'm requesting a Bright Colors Geometric Kids Cream Area Rug. Depending on our objective that day, we will either sit in a circle around it or with partners on it. We will be developing speaking and listening skills that will carry over, hopefully, for the rest of their lives.
With older students, I need higher level picture books that focus on skills I'd like them to work on, give them something to discuss and grow from, and just to find some humor together as a group. The books I have chosen come highly recommended by other upper level classroom teachers. Some requested titles include The Word Collector, Roller Coaster, The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School, Energy Island: How one community harnessed the wind and changed their world, What If Everybody Said That?, Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage To Be Who You Are, Mr. Peabody's Apples, and The Jelly Donut Difference: Sharing Kindness with the World.
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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. Schnuerle and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
