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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Musto from East Boston, MA is requesting other through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Musto is requesting

Igniting Creativity with an Inventors Unit

My students need books about inventors and inventions and K'nex to replicate and create inventions.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Musto's classroom raised $1,048

This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

Consider how different the world would be if many of the inventors we know and love today had lacked access to materials that helped ignite their imaginations. My colleagues and I have created an ELA unit on inventors and inventions for our third graders in order to inspire creativity and design.

The third grade is made up of 75 students.

They are enthusiastic, hard-working students who are eager to learn. They live in a very low income urban area and attend a Title I school where every student receives free breakfast and lunch. Many of my students do not have technology or books at home. Many of my students' parents are not literate and have not completed school so in most cases, the only reading, writing, and math supports my students receive are at school. More than half of my students are learning to speak English. My school does not have a budget to provide supports, tools, or technology for our classrooms.

My Project

With these books, the entire third grade will engage in a six-week long thematic unit that focuses on reading and writing about inventors and inventions. With the k'nex, students will replicate existing inventions and finally, create their own. They will engage in whole-class discussion about what it takes to become an inventor, focusing on common characteristics and the process of realizing imagined designs. Student will engage in small-group discussion at a wide variety of reading levels about many famous inventors (including female and African American inventors) with a focus on the impact these inventions have had on our society over time. Students will write biography reports on an inventor of his/her choice. They will use k'nex to replicate current inventions and learn about pulleys, axles, gears, and bridges. They will then draft and create their own inventions in the classroom.

My students need to feel encouraged and inspired to dream, create, and design, no matter how complex an idea may be.

They need to have tools that allow space for creativity. Only then, will students feel empowered and capable of producing meaningful work. These materials will help open many doors of creative possibilities for 75 students who will grow up to change the world around them.

Ms. Musto Mario Umana Academy Grades 3-5

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

East Boston, MA View local requests

More than three‑quarters 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

75 students impacted 21donors

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Incredible Inventions • Amazon Business $16.30 3 $48.90
Violet the Pilot • Amazon Business $14.65 3 $43.95
Anything Is Possible • Amazon Business $14.11 3 $42.33
Papa's Mechanical Fish • Amazon Business $12.81 3 $38.43
What Do You Do With an Idea? • Amazon Business $11.52 3 $34.56
What Do You Do With an Idea? • Amazon Business $11.52 3 $34.56
K'NEX Education - Intro To Simple Machines: Gears • Amazon Business $32.55 1 $32.55
K'NEX Education - Intro to Structures: Bridges • Amazon Business $30.49 1 $30.49
Rosie Revere, Engineer • Amazon Business $9.28 3 $27.84
K'NEX Education - Intro To Simple Machines: Levers and Pulleys • Amazon Business $25.99 1 $25.99
Samuel Morse and the Telegraph (Inventions and Discovery) • Amazon Business $8.10 3 $24.30
Henry Ford and the Model T (Inventions and Discovery) • Amazon Business $8.10 3 $24.30
Samuel Morse and the Telegraph (Inventions and Discovery) • Amazon Business $8.10 3 $24.30
World History Biographies: Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius Who Defined the Renaissance (National Geographic World History Biographies) • Amazon Business $7.99 3 $23.97
The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth • Amazon Business $7.50 3 $22.50
Marie Curie: Scientist Who Made Glowing Discoveries (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists) • Amazon Business $7.46 3 $22.38
Brainstorm!: The Stories of Twenty American Kid Inventors • Amazon Business $7.36 3 $22.08
Mistakes That Worked • Amazon Business $7.13 3 $21.39
Steve Jobs for Kids: A Biography of Steve Jobs Just for Kids! • Amazon Business $6.99 3 $20.97
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak: Geek Heroes Who Put the Personal in Computers (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
The Wright Brothers: Inventors Whose Ideas Really Took Flight (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
Thomas Edison: Inventor with a Lot of Bright Ideas (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
Albert Einstein: Universal Genius (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
Henry Ford: Big Wheel in the Auto Industry (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
Alexander Graham Bell: Setting the Tone for Communication (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors & Scientists) • Amazon Business $6.95 3 $20.85
An Illustrated Timeline of Inventions and Inventors (Visual Timelines in History) • Amazon Business $6.41 3 $19.23
What's So Great About Da Vinci?: A Guide to Leonardo Da Vinci Just For Kids! (Volume 1) • Amazon Business $5.99 3 $17.97
Who Were the Wright Brothers? (Who Was...?) • Amazon Business $4.79 3 $14.37
Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women • Amazon Business $6.00 2 $12.00
What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors • Amazon Business $5.99 2 $11.98
Listen Up!: Alexander Graham Bell's Talking Machine (Step into Reading) • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race (Step into Reading) • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
National Geographic Readers: Robots • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
National Geographic Readers: Alexander Graham Bell (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
National Geographic Readers: George Washington Carver (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
National Geographic Readers: Thomas Edison (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 3 $11.97
Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin • Amazon Business $8.99 1 $8.99

Materials cost

$847.25

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$12.71

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$889.96

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$157.05

Total project goal

$1,047.01

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,047.01

16 Donors

-$1,043.31

Donations toward project cost

-$889.96

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$153.35

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$3.70

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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. Musto and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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