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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Surma from Berwyn, IL is requesting other through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Surma is requesting

Tools for Reading Comprehension and Fine Motor Skills

My students need manipulative building and play materials (magna tiles, log builders) for gross and fine motor skills, plus books and story character puppets to build reading comprehension.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Surma's classroom raised $528

This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

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

At the age of five and six, my students are constantly developing their fine and gross motor skills as well as learning to play and share with other children. In addition to these fundamental skills, they are also learning to read and understand stories. Puppets help students re-tell what they read.

I have 25 energetic and diverse kindergarten students.

15 of my students are English Language Learners, most of them hearing and/or speaking Spanish at home, but receiving school instruction in English. They are eager to learn to read and write and devour any new reading material I put in our classroom library. They are extremely imaginative and love to reenact stories they have read or heard through dramatic play. My students are energetic, playful, and social. As five and six-year-olds, they are constantly developing their fine and gross motor skills by building and creating things. They love to work with other children, but are in the process of learning how to empathize, share, and take turns.

My Project

My students need manipulative building and play materials for gross and fine motor skills and story character puppets to build reading comprehension.The building and manipulative materials will provide ample opportunities for my students to develop their fine and gross motor skills through the planning and creation of building projects. Because students will work together with these materials, they will also be practicing social skills including sharing, working together, listening, and taking turns. Students at this age are just developing story comprehension skills and need repetitive and diverse exposure to stories to retain their meaning. Story puppets are an engaging way for students to re-tell a story they have read or heard. They can re-read the book or look through the pictures and reenact what happened in the story with the puppets. The students will be practicing reading skills including story sequencing, comprehension, and re-telling. The best part about puppets is that students are learning, but feel as though they are just playing.

This project will provide my students with engaging opportunities to develop fundamental skills including fine and gross motor skills, social skills, and reading comprehension.

It is important that students find an early joy in learning, and this requires engaging, age-appropriate materials and manipulatives. I currently have a very limited supply of these materials in my classroom, but this project would vastly increase the resources available to my students.

Ms. Surma Hiawatha Elementary School Grades PreK-2

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Berwyn, IL View local requests

Nearly all 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

25 students impacted 5donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Surma is requesting.

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
BB293 - The Three Billy Goats Gruff Hardcover Book • Lakeshore Learning $15.99 1 $15.99
GG168 - The Three Billy Goats Gruff Storytelling Puppet Set • Lakeshore Learning $39.95 1 $39.95
BB292 - The Three Little Pigs Hardcover Book • Lakeshore Learning $15.99 1 $15.99
GG167 - The Three Little Pigs Storytelling Puppet Set • Lakeshore Learning $39.95 1 $39.95
BB291 - The Three Bears Hardcover Book • Lakeshore Learning $15.99 1 $15.99
GG166 - Goldilocks & the Three Bears Storytelling Puppet Set • Lakeshore Learning $39.95 1 $39.95
DG546 - Magna-Tiles • Lakeshore Learning $49.95 1 $49.95
BT751 - Bristle Builders - Class Set • Lakeshore Learning $39.95 1 $39.95
NR30 - Log Builders - Class Set • Lakeshore Learning $49.95 1 $49.95
Duck Puppet • Kaplan Early Learning Company $8.56 1 $8.56
If You Give A Pig A Pancake Story Props • Kaplan Early Learning Company $30.06 1 $30.06
Diary of a Worm Story Set • Kaplan Early Learning Company $26.62 1 $26.62
Napping House Storytelling Set • Kaplan Early Learning Company $34.36 1 $34.36

Materials cost

$407.27

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$6.11

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$448.38

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$79.13

Total project goal

$527.51

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $527.51

3 Donors

-$527.51

Donations toward project cost

-$448.38

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$79.13

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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. Surma and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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