Electronic games can have a "power"ful effect on children. I teach lower elementary special education in a small rural school district in southwest Michigan. As with the case in many rural districts in Michigan, there is no money in the school budget to purchase anything "extra" beyond curriculum specific materials.
In August our school suffered from a fire three weeks before we were to start the year. Nine classroom were damaged by fire, water, and smoke, loosing many of our "extra" teaching supplies; most of which were purchased from our own pockets and not covered fully by the school's insurance.
As a special education teacher in our small district, I have not had a supply budget for many years, and cannot afford to purchase a lot of extras beyond pencils, paper, scissors, glue, etc. My students have a variety of disabilities ranging from Autism, health impairments, ADHD, cognitive impairments and specific learning disabilities, but like all students, get excited about using electronic materials. They do not always understand that they are actually learning when using these materials; they just think they are having fun.
After being displaced for the first half of the school year to a portable classroom across the street with few "extra" materials to teach with, I would love to have something different and exciting for my students to enjoy using while learning.
I feel that the Power Pens and Phonics Fun activity cards I have requested will be just the ticket to keeping my students interested in learning and becoming better readers in the process. The extra pens also come with "hot" and "cold" dots so we can make our own cards specific to what we are studying at the moment.
You generous help will make it possible for my students to become better readers and enjoy the benefits of learning with electronic technology.
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