As the Chinese proverb says, "I see, I forget. I hear, I forget. I do, I remember." I want my students to be engaged in hands-on activities that correlate to what they have been taught across the curriculum.
My students are a great group of kids from a rural town in Pennsylvania.
Their backgrounds are diverse and students come from a broad range of social, economic, and academic backgrounds. Many of them are used to going to a classroom where the desks are in rows and drill and practice is the standard, and also now view school as a boring place and as something they "have to do."
This year, I want students to have a chance to experience creativity and inquiry in the classroom. I want them to see that what they are learning extends beyond the classroom walls and I want them to apply their learning to real life situations. I want them to wake up in the morning and say, "I can't wait to go to school today!" Incorporating Keva Planks is one way I hope to reach those goals!
My Project
Keva Planks are such a versatile way to incorporate STEM into the classroom and in addition to STEM concepts, the planks can be used in conjunction with other subjects like reading, social studies, and art too! For example, Keva Planks can be used as math manipulatives to model geometric concepts, during science to model concepts like force and motion, or as building blocks to create 3-D models of the Pyramids of Egypt or DNA. Students can create anything from works of art to crazy contraptions.
Keva Planks are the perfect resource to help promote critical thinking, problem solving skills, team work, focused engagement and creativity for my students who are 21st Century Learners.
Students are natural born explorers and the physical handling of the Keva Planks will appeal directly to those kinesthetic learners. Additionally, these planks may help inspire our next generation of architects and engineers and offer an opportunity to introduce these careers to students.
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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. Vollmer and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
