Where am I...and how did I get here!? I am a 3rd grade teacher of 20 students, most of them immigrants from Mexico and Vietnam. The stories in our literature books, the word problems in our math book, and the lessons about immigrants in our social studies all mention different places in our country and the world around us. Our school is a Title 1 school; the majority of our students are bussed in daily and live in an impoverished environment. Their world is very small. Budget constraints have not allowed for me to have this valuable teaching tool for my classroom.
What? Washington D.C., where the President lives, isn't a state? And Alaska isn't connected to the rest of the United States? And, and,...the Pacific Ocean is really bigger than the Atlantic? And there's a Yellow Sea? Is there a Purple Sea? WE CAN'T SEE IT!!! WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU, MRS. T!!!
Wow! A large pull-down map of the United States and the World would allow my students to identify the settings of stories (Russia, Africa, Alaska, Death Valley in California). They would be able to identify physical features in our state, country, and the world (Monterey Bay, the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, the Himalayan Mountains) and to make comparisons of these features (Which is larger? The Pacific Ocean or Atlantic Ocean? Locate the Yellow Sea? The Mississippi River?) They would know their place in the world.
I would LOVE to receive a large pull-down map of the United States and the World for use in my class. This resource allows each and every child to find their very own place in the world, and then to relate that to where others are around them. Maps make places we may never go, accessible. We all need to know where we stand on this big, beautiful planet of ours. Please help my students find their place in this world.
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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. T. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.