The cost of a Storytelling Board, two storytelling kits, six different books, and three sets of puppets from Lakeshore Learning is $662, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
I am a language-arts teacher for kindergarten and first grade in a low-income area in Brooklyn. Our school consists of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first-grade students, 75% of whom are below poverty-level standards. These children are bussed daily to our school because their neighborhood school is overcrowded and has become a second-to-fifth-grade school, which our school leads into. I serve over 250 students per week in forty-five-minute intervals, encouraging student learning through the use of dramatic play and learning-center activities.
Last year I taught in a vacant hallway area. It was very difficult to teach Language Arts with so many distractions. I am very excited to be in a classroom setting this school year. Having a classroom to work in allows me to set up the students learning environment the way I feel a classroom should be set up, with different learning centers around the room. I want the children to enjoy learning and to be engaged in it. There is no better way to engage a child then to have them work in learning centers with hands-on activities.
Through this proposals I'd like to acquire a storyboard and some storytelling activities. I do not have the room for a puppet theatre, but I feel this is the next best thing. Allowing students to participate in dramatic play is very important, especially for children in the early childhood grades. Using hands-on puppets and allowing children to portray familiar story characters help to develop and improve a vast amount of skills. It gives children practice at retelling stories and recalling details. It expands vocabulary developmet. It gives students the opportunity to change story elements and endings. These are all important skills that will help to develop meaning in future independent reading activities.
Kindergarten and first grade are when children acquire most of the skills needed for future success. Early teaching of language arts helps to develop strong building blocks for all future reading and writing endeavors. I love teaching and I love watching children grow and learn. The materials I am asking for would improve this situation, heightening the response I get from the children and, in turn, increasing the learning that takes place.
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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 Mrs. C. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.