My students need the"Life"series and the "Planet Earth/Blue Planet: Seas of Life" series on DVD.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Bencic's classroom raised $217
This project is fully funded
My Students
My fourth graders are amazed at the tiny striped caterpillars slowly and patiently gnawing tiny holes in the milkweed plant's leaves stationed at a learning area in my classroom. Peering through hand lenses, they comment about how only a day before, the caterpillar was still an egg!
My self-contained classroom is a place where my 4th graders describe as "cool" because of projects like our monarchs.
I believe a classroom shouldn't be a place that is dull, boring, oppressive, or uninteresting. My students enjoy learning stations where they can buddy read in bean bag chairs or sit on cushions and listen to a good book. Oftentimes they might play an educational game at one of our workstations. Going the extra mile to make learning interesting and fun is my favorite part of teaching because I realize many of my kids don't have the resources and opportunities at home that others take for granted. I teach in a wonderful K-8 school in rural middle Tennessee. Our school is economically disadvantaged; however, we have teachers, parents, and students who work very hard to make our school the best it can possibly be. We have approximately 120 students in our school...yes, that is VERY small, but I believe the small size contributes to our unique family atmosphere.
My Project
Yes, my students LOVE to see nature in action and in person...it inspires them! Bringing live animals into my classroom provides me with invaluable teaching moments, and I bring nature to my classroom as much as I can. Sometimes my goal is to simply encourage the kids outdoors to look at nature's mysteries for themselves. When the "Life" series on the Discovery Channel debuted in March, 2010, I was mesmerized, and I knew the series was perfect for my class. I was able to show some of the episodes to my class, and they absolutely LOVED them. Right now we are raising Monarch butterflies in our classroom...unfortunately, we can't travel to Mexico to see where the butterflies go for winter. "Life" takes us to the location! That's only one teachable moment from this series. Also, the "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" series has a plethora of subject matter that is relevant to our science curriculum. These are the items that I am requesting--I can bring science to life!
Please don't misunderstand my intentions for requesting these videos.
I realize some teachers show an overwhelming number of videos (cartoons, sometimes). That's not me. I need these videos for specific episodes that directly relate to what we learn in science. I will also show some of the videos that interest my students on special occasions (when they earn the privilege of eating lunch in the room, for instance). Thank you so much for your consideration and for caring about education.
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 Mrs. Bencic and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
