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Goal

Providing literacy, language, and dramatic play materials in my self-contained Pre-K classroom will create meaningful, hands-on opportunities for students with disabilities to develop communication, language, early literacy, social-emotional, and pre-academic skills. The materials purchased through this grant will also allow students to practice skills related to their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals through engaging, developmentally appropriate play experiences. For many of my students, particularly those with autism and significant communication needs, play-based learning provides a natural and motivating context for practicing new skills repeatedly and across different settings. 

What will be done with my students

The materials will directly support student learning gains and progress toward their 2026-2027 IEP goals by increasing opportunities for students to communicate wants and needs, follow directions, participate in shared activities, imitate adults and peers, engage in pretend play, expand vocabulary, interact with peers, and demonstrate early literacy skills. Dramatic play centers will provide opportunities for students to use language for functional purposes, such as requesting an item, labeling objects, answering questions, taking turns, acting out familiar routines, and sharing an experience or interest. Literacy materials will support letter recognition, book awareness, listening comprehension, vocabulary development, phonological awareness, and understanding that print and pictures communicate meaning. 

Benefits to my Students

The project will support the following measurable objectives:

- Increase students' opportunities to use verbal, nonverbal, visual, and/or AAC-supported communication for functional purposes during play and classroom routines.
- Increase students' ability to participate in reciprocal interactions with adults and peers through structured and student-directed play.
- Increase students' engagement and sustained attention during literacy and play-based activities.
- Increase students' ability to demonstrate early literacy skills, including identifying letters, recognizing print and pictures, attending to books, and demonstrating emerging phonological awareness.
- Increase students' functional vocabulary by providing repeated opportunities to hear, identify, and use words related to familiar activities and experiences.
- Increase students' ability to imitate adult actions, sounds, words, and play routines.
- Increase students' ability to demonstrate IEP skills across multiple environments and activities rather than only during structured instruction.

The items purchased will not only benefit my current class, but also students for years to come. Student achievement will be monitored using existing IEP progress-monitoring data, Child Outcome Summary (COS) Progress Monitoring, classroom-based assessments, and teacher observation. 

Budget Narrative

The estimated cost of program supplies for this project is $1,000. The requested materials will directly support the project goal of increasing language, literacy, communication, engagement, and early academic achievement through meaningful, play-based learning experiences for my 3, 4, and 5 year-old students. Each item provides students with hands-on opportunities to practice skills aligned with their individual IEP goals while increasing independence, vocabulary, expressive and receptive language, early literacy skills, problem-solving, and social interaction. The materials will also provide multiple opportunities for students to practice and generalize skills across structured instruction, small groups, centers, and student-directed play.
Books with Story Props, Language Lotto Kit, Sensory Tubes and Comparing Size Kit:
Books paired with story props will make shared reading more interactive and accessible for students with varying communication and developmental needs. Props will encourage students to attend to stories, identify characters and objects, imitate actions and sounds, answer questions, sequence events, and retell familiar portions of a story. The language and comparing size kits will provide opportunities for students to build vocabulary and demonstrate understanding of categories and relationships between objects. I can then help expand student language by modeling descriptions and encouraging students to label, request, answer questions, and explain why items belong together. The sensory tubes will provide visual, auditory, and tactile learning opportunities to promote scientific language and exploration.
Alphabet Materials and the CVC kit will provide a multisensory approach that can benefit students who require repeated practice and concrete learning experiences. These activities will support IEP goals related to letter identification, early writing, phonological awareness, visual discrimination, and following multi-step directions.
Dramatic Play Toys will enhance dramatic play centers while providing meaningful opportunities to develop vocabulary, communication, sequencing, fine motor, mathematical skills, problem-solving skills, and social-emotional skills. These items will help me model language, encourage requesting and commenting, and create opportunities for turn-taking, following directions, imitation, and peer interaction. The materials will help students generalize communication skills beyond structured lessons and into functional play. 

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