We Really Need An Easel!

As a third grade teacher working with students of poverty in East New York, Brooklyn, I am finding it very difficult to provide my students with the proper learning atmosphere they deserve. As you know, my salary alone can not provide them with all that they need and although both myself and the school do provide the majority of the items needed, there are several major items that are greatly needed but cannot be afforded. All of my students are very bright, each in their own way. But because of their environment, they are far behind most other third graders. It is a struggle to capture the attention of a child who has stayed up late the night before because he/she was taking care of their younger sibling or cooking their own meal. A child who doesn't have a parent pushing them to succeed or to read to them because the parent can't read themselves, or the ones who don't have a parent at all. These stories and even more heart wrenching ones are all too common at PS 260. I just want my children to have what they deserve. What every other child in school has. I want them to have basic classroom resources that provide them with the education they are entitled to. I am requesting The Baby Folding Wheasel with Tubs. I found this item on the web site for L.L. Weans, an educational products store (llweans.com). During the school year my class and I engage in many activities as a group such as Word Study, Guided Reading, Math, Author Studies, Science, Social Studies and much more. But most importantly we work as a group to prepare for the New York State English Language Arts Exam and The Mathematics Exam. I have been using a preschool easel that was not designed to hold books and chart paper and has broken because of it. The hands on approach to the easel and its versatility provide these children with something they can see, touch and interact with. That is how they understand and finally "get it". My students will use the easel to follow along, they will create words for their word wall, help create posters of grammar or math rules, they will be taught by teaching and showing their classmates . Not everything can be done on a black board. The children are spaced too far apart in their desks and we share and interact better on "the rug". Our beautiful posters cannot be created and shared on the floor anymore. I would like my students to have the Baby Folding Wheasel in their classroom so that interaction, learning and sharing will be a lot easier. Thank you for your consideration. I know they would love it and use it everyday!