Our school is a neighborhood school with mostly low income and some middle class and some upper class families. We have about 58 third graders, and I teach half of those students Reading, Language Arts, and Spelling. About 35% of my students are Hispanic with English being their second language. Due to the low income families needing to work the parental involvement is very low in the classroom as far as volunteering. I have several families who help provide things needed for the classroom for celebrations and needed supplies.
My Project
Relax While reading came about last year when my mother passed away. She was also a teacher and her retirement gift from her school was a rocking chair. So I brought this chair from her house and told my students it was my mom’s rocking chair. I then found a tall stool in the school to use as well. So it became a reward to see in these two chairs. I started noticing the chairs were not so comfortable so I began looking for other seats to use. So I used some instructional supply money with a grant that I received in my school to purchase these comfy chairs. The students loved them right away. So we called it our relax while reading time. It is an incentive to relax and read in these comfy floor seats. If you complete your homework from the night before and your parents sign your folder then your name goes in a cup. I have a tall stool, a rocking chair, and four comfy floor seats that I draw names for. With having four additional chairs I will be able to invite more friends to use them. This incentive has increased my homework getting completed and parents signing of the folder.
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