"Whoa! Look at that!" and "This is so awesome!" are just two of many phrases I hear when working with my students on various projects and activities. My students have a thirst for knowledge, and unfortunately at school is often the only time they get to explore learning. Our school houses Pre-K to 6th grade and all the teachers do what is necessary to help each student. Our goal is to prepare our students not only for high school and college, but to prepare them for the real world.
My class is made up of 25 amazing 4th graders, all from very different households and backgrounds.
Everyday I strive to ensure that my students have all that they need in order to thrive in my classroom. Our school offers free breakfast and lunch, as well as a free snack. We also offer free after school where students can get help with homework and learn enrichment activities such as sewing, archery, cooking, etc. Our school does as much as we possibly can to help our students so that they can be successful in whatever they choose to do.
My Project
Our class is in serious need of new dictionaries. Our school implemented a new phonics program and we used our old dictionaries a lot! By the end of the year two dictionaries were lost, two fell apart due to the binding being ripped off, and the others had multiple rips, tears, and folded pages.
My students want to learn how to spell a word correctly without the help of autocorrect.
We are focusing on phonics and the proper spelling of words. Our curriculum requires us to use dictionaries for part of it. It is so hard to teach spelling when each student doesn't have a book to refer to. Students will be able to use these new dictionaries in the classroom to look up how to spell words correctly as well as the syllable division that takes place. Having a reliable dictionary for every student also means increased writing skills! Students will be able to check the spelling of their own words instead of relying on autocorrect on the computer to spell it for them.
But we won't stop at just spelling the words. Students will also be using the dictionaries to learn the meaning of words. Students will be able to search for key words in social studies including topics in economics, geography, history, and government. Instead of being told the definition they will finally have the opportunity to dive into a dictionary and learn the meaning!
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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. Moore and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
