The students in my classroom come from a variety of economic backgrounds, but the majority of my students come from low income households. Because of the poverty in our district, our school has qualified for a program which provides free breakfast and lunch to all of the students in our entire district.
Our town is very dependent on migrant families due to the farming industry in our county.
Every year I have some migrant students in my classroom. Many of my students are English Language Learners, and some families do not speak any English at all. We work hard in our district to provide quality ELL and migrant services to meet the needs of these learners. Around 50% of the students in my second grade classroom are reading at or below a first grade level.
We have a new S.T.E.M. program at our school this year. My students are so excited about the projects and activities they have been doing so far, and they can't wait to dive in deeper!
My Project
Students will use collaboration and problem solving skills while organizing, setting up and maintaining our classroom garden. Gardening is not only a good project in the classroom, it will also be very applicable to my students’ lives outside of the classroom. My hope is that students will gain a sense of pride after going through the entire process of seeing a small seed grow into a fruit or vegetable. We have a "Plant Life" unit that is a part of our science curriculum. The hydroponic plant life system that I am requesting will be a perfect addition to this unit. In the past couple of years my students have grown small "Baggie Seed Gardens" in my room. This has proven to be a fun and successful experiment for my students, but this hydroponic garden will take it up to the next level!
A classroom garden will help build student confidence, increase critical thinking skills, and use hands on learning to truly get students involved with real world education.
Teaching students to grow healthy produce in a sustainable way fits perfectly within both our S.T.E.M. program and our community as a whole.
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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. Gorton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
