My students need positive exposure to a variety of bugs and the life cycles of these creatures.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Maxey's classroom raised $225
This project is fully funded
My Students
BUG! BICHO! Those are the words my students scream when they even get close to a bug in the "wild outdoors". They immediately want to stomp, squish, and run away from anything that crawls or flies.
I teach students that are learning English.
That is who I work with every day; the English Language Learners. I work with students in FOUR different grade levels. We all live in an urban community that does not always hold reading and writing to the appropriate respect level. My students come from homes where English is not spoken or read.
Of my students, some are receiving Special Education services. Some are receiving Gifted Services. Some have a diagnosis of ADD and ADHD. They are all learning at different levels and in different ways.
I don't want my students to look at the language barrier as something they will never overcome. I want to fill them with motivation and determination to push full steam ahead with learning!
My Project
The most fun part of my job is building background knowledge for my students' knowledge (though this is most often the most difficult part as well). Life cycles are easy when my students look at humans, dogs, cats, and chickens; these are all creatures they are very familiar with. When we start looking at the life cycles of butterflies and other insects, the frustration level starts to rise in my students.
They can recite the words "pupa" and "metamorphosis" all day long, but will never true understand what that is. My students need the first hand experience with insects, caring for them and observing first hand the changes that they will go through. The colorful and detail posters will feed their desire to completely understand the insects' life cycle.
I want my students to approach insects and the various different insect life cycles with an intense curiosity.
It is hard to understand how a butterfly goes through a metamorphosis if you have never SEEN it. I want to set my student up to succeed, not just with life cycles, but with the idea that to completely understand something, one must experience it fully.
More than half of 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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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 Ms. Maxey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.