Incentives for Newcomer Scientists: Colored Pencils and Audobon Birds
Help me give my students distance learning incentives - Audobon birds to adopt and quality colored pencils.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Young's classroom raised $820
This project is fully funded
Celebrating 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
Last year, my school started a science and math program for recently arrived immigrants with limited or interrupted formal education. I teach science to students from Guatemala and El Salvador who are primarily Mam speakers. Most of them are in their first year or second year in the US -- what a year to arrive.
COVID-19 has my students learning from home in a zip code with the highest rate of infection in the county, and with new stress and responsibilities as they help hold together households with family members who have lost employment or been directly affected by COVID-19.
Distance learning is a particularly difficult challenge for students who are still learning to read and write for the first time in their second or even third language, and who have limited access to computers and high-speed Internet. Usually, the hands-on wonder of science is something that can transcend barriers of language and experience, but this year, they’re off-limits, and virtual field trips are not enough. I want to give my students the experience of doing science, even if it requires some out-of-the-box thinking.
My Project
To meet the challenges of distance learning and get students curious about science, I have been delivering "science kits" to my students, and these deliveries have become one of the things my students and I look forward to the most. I have also created a rewards based points system for class participation to help motivate Newcomer students struggling with the challenges of distance learning.
I am requesting incentives that my students have requested, are excited about, and that are related to future science projects - quality colored pencils for nature journaling and Audobon plushes of birds found in the Bay Area with realistic bird calls that students can "adopt" for our birding project.
In addition to providing an incentive for student participation, I hope that these materials will also get students excited for future science activities and projects, and will be a gateway to future artistic and scientific exploration. I hope that these rewards will build not only my students' confidence, but their curiosity as well - one of the most important things I can do as a teacher.
Nearly all 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
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 Ms. Young and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
