When you were in school did you ever ask, "When am I EVER going to need this?" The students in my class have great questions and interest in math, but they don't see the connection between our classroom and the real-world. The students LOVE science, but find it hard to grasp things that need model
My students are from a rural community of a poor area, and most have had it tough.
Many of the students in my class are inclusion special education students, so learning is difficult for them. However, despite all odds, this year we decided to participate in the science fair (the first time it has been done at our school in a long time) and 5 out of 11 categories of students are going to state!
They want to learn, have great questions, and are very interested. They want to work hard and understand, but concepts like cells, body systems, and the universe are very abstract and hard for them to understand. Visuals, models, and experiments are key to helping them to really understand and grasp the ideas.
Math is the same struggle. How am I going to use this is a question I am constantly having to address. Real world solving helps students to apply what they've learned and helps them to apply problem solving skills.
Both the students and I would be very gracious for your help!
My Project
These materials would be used throughout the year as we are covering different topics.
Each science tub has models, experiments, books for students to read (to integrate science and language arts), and other activities. These would be awesome to use as the key to building my science units for the students. We could go much deeper into each topic.
The math would be great as a center that would be used daily to encourage them to use their problem solving skills and revisit things we have talked about together in class. That way the students don't forget the information and lose the math skills.
These materials will help make learning fun and real.
It will also require my students to use their problem solving and really think about real world issues that have to be solved using the information they have.
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. Cleary and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.