My students need to start the year out with everything they need to write, diagram, label and even play! Help me get pencils, highlighters, colored pencils, and playground balls to them!
We serve 600 fifth and sixth graders at a rural school in Western North Carolina. About 50% are eligible for free or reduced price lunch. About a fourth of them report reading for fun. Most would be the first in their families to attend college. I am the language arts and social studies teacher for a team of 56 sixth graders at this school.
My students respond to texts that have fresh, engaging layouts and content that excites them!
They are energized by projects that engage them socially, creatively, and kinesthetically. Every unit has an art component, a food component, and a collaborative presentation component. This year, I plan to increase my emphasis on service learning and mindfulness.
My Project
Many of my families struggle with school supplies. Kids come in after a summer of growing, so they need new clothes and shoes. Everyone needs a binder and folder that they can identify as theirs. I want to level the playing field a little bit (and relieve my struggling families) by having a stash of pencils, crayons, colored pencils, highlighters, erasers, and something to play with at recess that they all can use. I am requesting a class pack of colored pencils, wooden pencils, crayons, erasers, and high lighters. Additionally, we need a kickball and a basketball for recess.
Kids feel embarrassed if they walk in empty handed.
I'd like to save them the anxiety of not having the right things: pencils, colored pencils, and highlighters kids need every day. If we have a supply that everyone uses, nobody will feel weird asking for what they need. It will build community for everyone to share. Kids will be more responsible for their room if they all have to put colors back neatly. They will focus on learning, not who has what or which friend they can borrow from today. Finally, they will also know that some person out there - you - loves them and wants them to do well.
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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. Tarantino and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
