My students come from a wide variety of learning situations, from struggling to striving. The school is set within a suburban community near military housing. Even though my school is within a large metropolitan city, it feels like a small community and sheltered, an "island in the hills." Within these hills, we have a variety of ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as several families who have moved here from other countries. Many of our students are also grappling with parents being deployed or on active duty.
Project-based, STEAM exploration is engaging and motivating to all my students, and a tool to building a growth mindset, regardless of their academic level.
My students are exuberant and creative, and I am constantly challenged to investigate new opportunities for them to test the waters in STEM/STEAM learning for all grade levels in TK-5th grade. We also make a concerted effort to incorporate NGSS standards and make them relevant to the students' world and interests. The curriculum is student-driven and ever-morphing to meet their needs in a problem-based learning environment.
My Project
I am collecting STEM or STEAM-based read aloud picture books to use with my students to introduce STEM/STEAM concepts. Most of the books in this collection coordinate with the Eureka! STEM series.
Picture books help to pique student engagement and prepare us to dive into explorations, whether in science or engineering.
They help connect the students to their learning and experiences and provide another layer to their understanding, especially with concepts that are more difficult to recreate in the classroom.
In order to incorporate picture books into my lessons, I need to start gathering a full library of STEM-focused books as well as the teacher instruction books. The books in this project will add to my current collection so that I can rotate lessons in a way that they won't be repeated and will build on each other.
More than a third 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
Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds
• Amazon Business
$21.54
1
$21.54
How Dinosaurs Took Flight (Direct Mail Edition): The Fossils, the Science, What We Think We Know, and Mysteries Yet Unsolved (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12)
• Amazon Business
$17.95
1
$17.95
The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: A True Story About an Accidental Invention (Really!)
• Amazon Business
$16.99
1
$16.99
Up the Creek (Life in the Wild)
• Amazon Business
$16.99
1
$16.99
The The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins (Caldecott Honor Book)
• Amazon Business
$16.31
1
$16.31
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle
• Amazon Business
$14.89
1
$14.89
Look at That Building!: A First Book of Structures (Exploring Our Community)
• Amazon Business
$14.73
1
$14.73
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian
• Amazon Business
$14.49
1
$14.49
The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest
• Amazon Business
$13.99
1
$13.99
Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
• Amazon Business
$13.99
1
$13.99
STEM & STEAM Next-Gen Program: Lesson Plans, STEM Career Focus, Engineering Design Process, Next Generation Science Standards, Strategies and Activities for K-5 Teachers
• Amazon Business
Marie Curie (Little People, BIG DREAMS, 6)
• Amazon Business
$9.39
1
$9.39
The Art Teacher is Weird
• Amazon Business
$8.99
1
$8.99
Violet the Pilot
• Amazon Business
$8.99
1
$8.99
Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell
• Amazon Business
$8.87
1
$8.87
Ice Cream: The Full Scoop
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein Book for Kids, Books About Scientists for Kids, Biographies for Kids, Kids Science Books)
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Materials cost
$238.07
Vendor shipping charges
FREE
Sales tax
$21.78
3rd party payment processing fee
$3.57
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$293.42
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$51.78
Total project goal
$345.20
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$345.20
2 Donors
-$161.39
Donations toward project cost
-$154.05
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
-$7.34
match offer
-$163.97
Match offer toward project cost
-$139.37
Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Allard's STEAM Lab and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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