I teach 4th and 5th grade gifted students at a school where the free & reduced lunch population is 43%. My students are learning to reach outside of themselves and to positively impact our community.
My students were fascinated with the personal hard cover photo books that I made of my summer vacation. They came up with the idea of making similar books -- but with an education twist. They made a color and number books for primary students. Now they are working on a book called "Geometry in My World" finding right angles, rays, obtuse angles and the like in their world and photographing what they find. We are limited by how many students can contribute to each book by the fact that I have only one digital camera for them to use. It is my personal camera, and it works fine, but it is only one camera.
We take pictures and use the photos illustrate math & science concepts. We have hard-covered books made of our projects and we then donate these books to the library so that other students can use them.If we had an additional 4 cameras more students could take pictures of their world. We could have several different books made on each topic. My students' work could impact additional children. Their books, once made, would be available for students not just this year, but for many years to come.
My students see that they can contribute to the education of other children. The pride they have in the work they have already accomplished is amazing. Their excitement at making the books is only surpassed by the excitement of the students who borrow the books. By providing 4 digital cameras to my classroom, hundreds of children will see math and literacy connected in a way that they have not experienced before.
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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. Foote and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
