This grant supplies all Y5-2nd grade teachers with magnetic letters and boards to support
phonics and phonemic awareness instruction. Word building is one of the most powerful
activities that teachers can do in small group instruction to support student learning along with
spelling. In order to do that, students need access to magnetic letters and sound magnets so
they can be actively involved in the learning. This grant would allow Y5-2nd grade teachers to
have magnetic letters (and a magnetic base to hold the letters) to use with up to 6 students at a
time in small group instruction. In addition, it will give 1st and 2nd grade teachers the resources
to have sound magnets to use as well. Sound magnets are important in 1st and 2nd to show
that sometimes one sound is made up from multiple letters. (Ex. digraphs, silent e, dipthongs,
vowel teams, etc.
Y5-2nd grade teachers are currently working on including more phonics and phonological
awareness into their instruction. This has been the focus of our PD all year and is tied to our
building goals in early elementary. In order to differentiate and give students more practice, this
grant would support students in having more hands on practice with these skills.
