I am the literacy coach in a Title one middle school. I am currently responsible for grade level 6th, 7th and 8th. We have one distinction that separates us from the other schools in our county. We are labeled inner city. Our school serves a population of students that is 75% free or reduced lunch. Our school has very little parent support and most of the parents' education level is very low.
It is part of my responsibility as the literacy coach to provide my students with the opportunity to improve their reading and comprehension skills. I have noticed while working with the students that many of them prefer to read out loud to themselves. This is not good however when you have a class of 30 students that all need to hear themselves it gets very noisy. I was given a whisper phone at the International Reading Teachers Convention this past May and I took it upon myself to introduce it to the students that I pull just to see if it helped. Every one of them loved it and asked if they could use it in class. I was very pleased that they recognized it would help them however, I only had one whisper phone and over 30 students that wanted to use them.
The resource that my students would like to have is called the Whispy. It is a whisper phone that would allow them to read to themselves in a whisper and hear their own spoken word. I can't say enough about the benefits. This tool will give the students the opportunity to increase their phonemic awareness as well as improve their comprehension level.
I know this tool will work because my son is using it and his teacher and I have seen a tremendous improvement in his fluency and his comprehension. My students are aware of the tool's importance and ask me everyday "do you think we will get any of the whisper phones to use in class?" Your donations will truly make a difference.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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