This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
"My pencil broke again!" This is the cry I hear in my classroom endless numbers of times throughout the day. Unfortunately, with recent budget cuts, and more on the way, our school has had to stretch its money. Regrettably, pencil sharpeners and colored pencils do not fit into the quota.
I work at a Title I School where a large majority of the students receive free and/or reduced lunch based on family income.
At this school I teach the cluster of 2nd grade English Language Learners. Since English is not the primary language for much of my class, reading, writing, and speaking are areas of weakness for them.
In order to help with this, I like to do a lot of hands-on and visual activities, which more often than not include some type of art or drawing. The hands-on aspect helps students become more engaged in the activity and the visual allows them to retain the knowledge. Both approaches are successful methods for teaching, especially when dealing with non-native speakers. For these reasons, I am asking for a class set of colored pencils so that students have a choice of media when working.
My Project
In order to do these art activities, or any activity at all, students need pencils and a pencil sharpener. Since my students are in 2nd grade, they are transitioning between the use of fat pencils to skinny pencils. This being said, our pencil sharpener not only has to be able to handle heavy use throughout the year, but also needs to have the capacity to handle pencils of varying thicknesses. Sharp pencils are important because they help to make writing legible for both the reader and the student trying to convey their thoughts on to paper. Good penmanship also happens to be another skill that students at this age are still working on, but who can write neatly with a dull pencil?
As teachers we are here to guide and teach our students, but we need the correct tools in order to be able to do so.
This is where you come in. You can help by making a donation towards what I consider to be "essential materials" in not only my classroom but any classroom.
Thank you in advance for your help!
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Diaz-Duran and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
