The cost of 14 animal books from Barnes & Noble and 3 Minature Zoos from School Specialty is $257, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
In first grade, students investigate the needs (air, water, food, shelter and space) of variety of different animals. They also discuss the wide variety of living things on Earth. By providing students with non-fiction books on animals, the students can investigate and become aware of the needs of animals before they visit them at a local zoo.
Each year in the spring, the first grade classes at my school visit a local zoo. The first grade teachers also require the students to choose an animal from the zoo and complete a report prior to visiting the zoo. The problem we have encountered is the outdated resource books the children have to use. The library has books on zoo animals, but the accelerated reading books are very popular, so they are usually checked out when we need to use them. It would be more useful to our first grade classrooms to have our own set of non-fiction books on animals to use when we start our zoo unit of study. Another problem we tend to find with books from the library, are the books are too hard for the first grade students to read while they are gathering information for their reports. The books I have selected are within their reading ranges which will make finding information easier for them. They will also be able to take accelerated reading tests on these books I have selected. Lastly, I do not have any hands-on animals for the children to see and use within the classroom. I have requested an animal set for the students to use to role play being a zookeeper.
Approximately 69 students will be affected by this project. The items purchased from this grant will be shared by three first grade teachers. Each class will be completing the same assignments and visiting the zoo.
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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. M. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.