Help me give my students a joyful, kinesthetic learning experience with Legos that will allow my students to make amazing, creative 3-D creations while developing their imaginations, problem solving and encourage cooperation as they build together.
As an elementary art teacher, I teach Kindergarten through 5th grade. I also teach two self-contained classes of students with disabilities ranging from autism to down syndrome. All of my students are creative, passionate and curious. Over 70% of my school qualifies for free or reduced lunch. My school is dedicated to providing wrap-around services for students and their families, and we focus on the whole child.
My students are amazing and deserve access to all of the tools that will allow their creativity to thrive and provide them with the 21st century skills they need to be successful.
My Project
Rarely are students allowed to experiment and play. In my elementary art room all students lead their learning, choosing their projects and materials. Since switching from a teacher-led experience to student-led, engagement is up and behavior is improving. One of the most popular stations, for all students no matter the grade, is the architecture station. It's amazing to see the cooperation that occurs at this station, even among students that don't always get along, as they work to share the small supply of materials we have to build castles, game boards, landscapes and geometric designs.
Working in 3-D is a different skill set than sitting and drawing or painting on paper, and my kinesthetic learners that have difficulty in other scenarios thrive in the architecture station.
My architecture station is currently poorly stocked with a small random assortment of legos, donated jenga blocks and math manipulatives. I would like to offer more supplies so more students can work at the station, and to help them build the creatures, buildings and abstract art they see in their mind. These Lego starter kits and bases are a highly engaging tool that will allow all of my students to learn through imaginative play, building spatial awareness and developing their burgeoning problem-solving skills.
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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. Lehman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.