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
I work in an outstanding school with highly motivated students in Memphis, TN. We are a public school where students have to maintain high academic standards, display integrity, learn to become a community, and become academic leaders who provide service to others.
It is a small Title I school within the Shelby County school system.
I love the enthusiasm and goal-driven nature of these students. They take opportunities to grow seriously and keep me motivated as an educator to keep finding new goals for us to pursue together.
My Project
Each year, I teach students how to sew via commands in French. We make teddy bears using a pattern, needle and thread, stuffing and buttons. This is a real-world skill that always is a hit. Students are always impressed by their own abilities. I was so lucky that my own mother taught me how to sew and it is so fun to pass this on to students each year. In the spring, we will embark on this project again. We need these materials (fabric, stuffing, buttons, needles, thread, pins) to walk through this activity together so that my students can learn the vocabulary involved in the task, how to formulate commands in the target language thereby providing a vehicle for students to receive comprehensible input in a real-world experience they can take with them beyond the classroom.
Learning to sew while speaking the target language (French) improves listening comprehension and gives students a tangible product to represent their growth and understanding.
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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. Floch and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
