My students need EverBlock Modular Building Blocks for the purpose of enhancing their experience in our Engineering Design Unit, creating flexible seating options, and to transform my room into an educational "Break Out" room!
My school is located in suburban Minnesota, and the range of students' socioeconomic statuses is truly astounding. Many of my students receive free and reduced lunch and face a great number of difficulties outside of the classroom. Because of this I strive to create a fun, safe, positive learning environment where all of my students feel safe to succeed! My students come to my classroom to truly experience science. We build, we create, we experiment. We accept and learn from failure, and we courageously succeed together. It is my goal to reach and support even the most struggling of learners and truly inspire them to engage in a lifetime of learning.
My 8th graders are comprised of a beautiful blend of diverse backgrounds, abilities and cultures with one thing in common: They all come excited to learn!
My students love to move, to talk, to get their hands dirty, to make a huge mess and I love to facilitate that. As a younger teacher, I am striving to constantly develop and add several lessons each year that will create lasting memorable learning experiences for my students!
My Project
I am requesting funding for a set of EverBlock Modular Building Blocks. The EverBlocks are essentially over-sized plastic blocks (similar in design, but not size, to Legos) that facilitates the construction of all types of objects. The EverBlocks will be used primarily to serve as a way to facilitate and enhance the teaching of engineering standards through a unit called Engineering Design.
The engineering challenges available using the blocks are endless and the student engagement level throughout these challenges are through the roof!
The first priority of the blocks is to serve as the essential building material during our Engineering Design unit where students are presented with engineering design challenges that they solve through collaboration. This year I had students build bridges, construct pyramids and develop "Lego Houses" all while working their way through the Engineering Design Process.
The second priority of these EverBlocks is to create full scale escape rooms! In a previous grant I was able to purchase EverBlock doorways and enough blocks to build a small wall to encompass the doorways. With a few more funded grants like this I will be able to transform my classroom into a fully separated 4 room escape room where the students will find sets of clues to explore and work through that are tied to my curriculum standards. The students would then work to progress from room to room, problem solving and learning their way through the 4 room course.
The final priority of the EverBlocks is to build them into stand up desks for flexible seating options when they are not being used for a challenge. This added option of allowing students to move around and break their routines of sitting all day is proven to enhance student engagement during even the slowest of lessons!
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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 Mr. Hennessey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
