My students need a document camera in the library to serve a variety of important functions.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Goldberg's classroom raised $750
This project is fully funded
My Students
I like to think of our school library as "The Little Library That Could." Housed in a converted classroom fitted with a circulation desk, air conditioner, and water fountain, the library provides a cozy, joyful retreat for students as they discover and explore the wide world of children's literature.
My school serves Pre-K through 5th grade students from East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Many of our families are first generation residents from the West Indies struggling to make ends meet. Eighty-seven percent of our students are eligible for free lunch.
The economic downturn has hit our school community particularly hard. Poverty and unemployment is unacceptably high, while our budget continues to tighten. Further, we must compete with new local charter schools possessing greater resources and more attractive, state-of-the-art facilities. Our dedicated teachers work tirelessly to engage students as these new schools aggressively market themselves to our best and brightest.
Too many of our students come from homes with few books to call their own, yet I am heartened by the tremendous enthusiasm and joy the children express as we explore a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction books together. Students beam as they leave my library with borrowed books to read and share with their families.
My Project
I serve over 400 students each week in the library, and while my book collection is adequate, I am sorely lacking in technology resources. I have an overhead projector, three desktop computers, and an LCD projector which I use with my personal laptop.
For read-alouds I gather students on the rug. This is problematic for my older students who seem to grow bigger each day. Also, many picture books are difficult to see from a distance, forcing students to cram together toward the front of the rug. I have a broad selection of magazines, but only a single copy of each. In order to share articles with classes, I must make a copy for each student--in drab black and white no less! This is time consuming, strains our limited resources, creates waste, and leaves me dependent upon a maddeningly unreliable copy machine.
Despite the challenges, my students (and I) remain enthusiastic about time spent in the library. I expect the advantages of a document camera will multiply this enthusiasm.
Having a document camera in my library will enable me to project picture and chapter books, as well as newspaper and magazine articles, on a large screen in full color.
Sharing excellent literature will be even more enjoyable for the children and me. A document camera will make it easier for me to conduct word study activities, and it will allow me to compose written pieces together with my students. Students will be able to share their work with, and get feedback from, their classmates.
More than three‑quarters 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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