My students need a comfortable place to fall in love with reading with a carpet, beanbags and rocking chairs. No one chooses to read in hard, straight back chairs... why should they have to?
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
"You cannot open a book without learning something." Confucius.
My students are stuck in a system that settles on mediocrity. In order to reach their potential and push through the system, my students need to embrace their own power to learn. This will be done through reading as much as possible.
My class is incredibly diverse, both racially and economically.
Students come to school with a wide variety of experiences and exposure and the one thing that can bring us together is a comfortable place to settle in with a good book. They come together each day to use their own experiences to analyze and internalize the morals and themes of exciting and inspiring text. They need to read.
Additionally, our school is fortunate to have many special education programs. As a result, approximately 25% of our class is struggling with any range of learning, social, and/or physical disabilities. For these students especially, having a comfortable environment in which they learn is vital.
My Project
Literacy is the great equalizer in education and in life; that these students have continued through the system for 4 years and are still years behind, is evidence that more needs to be done. Success for my students is in their own little hands; I, as their teacher, cannot give it to them. I can point the way, hand them a book, and, with your help, give them a comfortable place to enjoy it, but they have to love it if it is going to be a lasting skill.
I am requesting a comfortable carpet to be the center of our reading center, allowing students to sit on the floor or lay with a pillow and enjoy a book. In addition, we would love to add some bean bag chairs and rocking reading chairs to build a complete and comfortable space for many students to enjoy. Reading should never be a privilege. Reading should be a passion, something that keeps kids up late into the night because they can't put a book down. Sitting in a hard backed chair boxes reading in as a task, a chore, or an assignment.
We are fortunate to have many books.
My extensive childhood library has been arranged in our classroom for their use (thanks mom). I fell in love with many of those characters and their stories. My students need the opportunity to team up with Harriett the Spy and feel the suspense of The Westing Game. Please help us build these friendships. To this day, one of my favorite things is to curl up with a book; the passion was planted when I was their age during silent reading.
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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. Hansen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.