This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
I work in a school that serves approximately 470 students in grades PK-5 where almost 80% of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Approximately 80% of the students at my school identify as African-American, 15% identify as white, and the other 5% are either bi-racial or of Hispanic descent. I teach math, science, and health.
With funding for public education being limited, teacher classroom budgets are slim.
My class needs paper and markers to engage in more hands on activities to increase student engagement which ultimately positively impacts achievement.
My Project
As a fifth grade math and science teacher, I find it challenging to maintain student engagement at times. With the use of interactive journals, students are able to be active participants in their learning which, in my opinion leads to deeper learning and the ability to apply that learning across situations. Students are required to demonstrate higher level thinking skills on high stakes tests which forces teachers to continually search for engaging methods to maintain interest in grade level content. I try to use a variety of color, as well as foldable and creative journal entries to increase my students' engagement in my lessons. My students need construction paper to do more hands on projects that will lead to higher engagement. They also need colored copy paper to make foldable and other interactive journal entries. The use of color makes the entries more appealing to the eye and will encourage my students to interact with the material. I use cardstock to print a variety of cards and games that make studying rote skills more appealing to my students. We need dry erase markers to allow the students to solve problems and demonstrate their thinking on the white board in the classroom.
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. Healey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
