My students need a listening center with 8 headphones so students can listen to books together. I have also requested the CD player and one book set to get us started.
With the new Common Core standards, my first grade students are expected to read at a very high level by the end of the year. One way that can help us achieve that goal is to build listening skills and increase vocabulary, both skills that are aided by listening centers in the classroom.
We are a first grade class of 28 students in an under-served public school in Brooklyn.
My students are bright, energetic and in need of additional educational materials to foster a deep engagement with reading. Listening centers can provide children with a multi-sensory experience with books so that the frustration that often prevents students from becoming engaged with books is alleviated. They can hear a story acted out and can visualize the story and listen without interruption; this models what fluent reading can be for my students.
My students are all very close, and love to learn together. A listening center in the classroom can foster a vibrant learning community. When they listen together with friends and classmates there is the opportunity for them to creatively interpret the parts of the story that they had been listening to together. This builds common references and helps reinforce and strengthen the sense of our class as a learning community.
My Project
I am very excited about the opportunity to have a listening center for our classroom. Being able to listen to a book while following along helps students increase literacy on so many levels. A listening center can increase vocabulary, build listening skills, and emphasize reading as a source of pleasure. Listening centers are also very important in that they can balance the needs of students who are at different reading levels while fostering a shared experience through listening to stories together. All children love to listen to stories but are often frustrated when they are beginning to read. A listening center helps to alleviate some of this frustration where they can imagine the story without interruption while making connections between what they are hearing and the written words in the book.
Literacy is so important not only for a student's academic life, but to experience the most life has to offer.
My first grade students are at a very important point in their life, where a love of reading can be encouraged and fostered. This is the way we can make sure that they will be life-long readers. A listening center can help achieve this goal because it entertains students while developing important skills that will help them become strong readers.
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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. Sealey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.