Little money, high need. I'm a fifth grade teacher in a low income area. Eighty percent of my school, either receives free or reduced lunch. With little money for food, school supplies are a luxury. Few, if any of my students, have dictionaries at home. The dictionaries within the fifth grade are below their level and shared among the other teachers. It's difficult to enhance their learning when we have to run across the hall to get the materials we need.
"That ain't a word." Unfortunately, this is a phrase I hear often in my class. I try to introduce my students to new vocabulary through high-interest stories, but often they have difficulty understanding the meaning. They've used context clues to help them form a definition, but they often want to double check to make sure they are correct. The dictionaries that are passed back and forth between the classes often do not have all the words they are curious about. Common words, such as "renown" and "candid," cannot be found within these dictionaries. I am unable to increase my children's vocabulary when I don't have the necessary materials.
I would like a class set of 25 student dictionaries. This will allow students to work independently to enhance their vocabulary. I also hope to play a game called Fictionary, which helps develop their writing skills and creativity, while improving vocabulary. When playing Fictionary, an unknown word is selected from the dictionary. One student writes down the real definition, while the remainder of the class creates other possible definitions. They need to make their definition sound as "accurate" as possible. When students have finished, all definitions are read aloud by the teacher. Every student chooses the definition they believe to be the correct one. A point is awarded to the students who select the right definition. Students also earn a point if their fake definition is selected. It's a very enjoyable way for student to increase their vocabulary.
With your help, my student will finally have the resources they need to be successful and, hopefully, realize that learning can be fun.
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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. Hendrix and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.