During the school day, I remind the students of a quote in our classroom: "In this classroom, we don't do easy. We make easy happen through hard work and learning." Many students give up when things get hard. It is my job to help bridge gaps so my students don't feel like giving up is an option.
My students are interested in learning, however, many of them lack the stamina to push themselves.
I do a lot of coaching and reminding my students that they have the power to learn; they are in charge of their education. I need to be creative and engaging, so that students feel like they can accomplish the tasks at hand. My school is located in an unsafe, but supportive neighborhood. Many students hear about the local situations, which distracts from their learning. However, people in the neighborhood are trying to step up and create a safe place for our students to learn and grow. In our school, we do our very best to create a safe, supporting learning environment so our students can be kids.
My Project
We have a geometry unit in our curriculum like most 5th grade classrooms. However, our curriculum does not include any manipulatives. We have tried teaching the unit without hands-on objects, but students lack the ability to visualize the shapes. We also have tried to scrounge up shapes from other grades, but we only have two or three examples. When we try to fold nets, many students struggle since they did not see a strong model first. My goal is to have two teacher sets of 3-D shapes since we have two adults in the room every day during math. These translucent 3-D shapes will allow students to count vertices, edges, and faces with ease. I also want to have student sets so my students can share and actively participate in the lesson. Lastly, I want to challenge students, so the Common Core text will be a great asset.
Donations to my project will directly impact student learning.
By providing hands-on materials, students can manipulate the 3-D shapes to build background knowledge about the attributes of the shapes. This scaffold is missing in our current situation, and we would truly appreciate your support!
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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. Lynch and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
