I teach Kindergarten in a rural school where a majority of the students would qualify for free breakfast and lunch were it not for a grant that we've had for the past few years. This grant allows all of our student body to get free breakfast and lunch.
I teach a group of 19 hardworking kindergartners!
Most of my students begin Kindergarten with little to no preschool experience. But they come to school every day ready to learn and want as much knowledge as will fit in their heads. Kindergarten is a huge year - my students are transforming into little scholars right in front of my eyes. It is has been an exciting year of learning about themselves, about academics, and about the world around them.
I have never seen one of my kids give up because something seems hard. They have big aspirations in life. I want to be able to continue to foster their growth mindset by providing them with the tools and materials to meet any challenges that arise in their learning.
My Project
It can be expensive to come up with hands-on activities to use in small groups and centers. These hands on math activities will help the students master the many academic standards in kindergarten and prepare them to move on to first grade.
When students get to hold a representation of numbers and shapes in their hands, it helps foster a mental understanding of math.
Place value blocks can be used to represent numbers in many ways, and to show the magnitude of a number compared to another. Students will use the blocks independently and within a small group setting to represent numbers. Rekenreks will help to foster a growing knowledge of addition and subtraction problem solving skills and offer a tangible object to count to help build a foundation for students who still struggle with basic counting skills.
These hands-on math materials will help my students build strong foundations in numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, and measurement.
I want my students to become confident mathematicians and use all of their senses to explore numbers. I want those abstract mathematical ideas to become tangible in their little hands! It is much more effective to have hands-on experiences, especially when a lot of them do not have the resources elsewhere.
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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. SOTO and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.