Help me give my students these amazing art supplies so that they can transform our classroom into a museum to teach others what they have learned in science and social studies!
I work with a small group of children who need creative, specialized instruction to help them learn. They are the 4th-6th graders that I provide specialized instruction to every day. My students struggle to manage their emotions and need to practice strategies that will help them get along with others. They are also intelligent and resilient. They have a hard time functioning in large classrooms with many students, but one thing is certain, they all have the desire to be successful and want to be happy. Class projects teach my students valuable skills needed to be successful and boost their confidence.
Class projects are a great way to get my students to work together, develop coping skills and enjoy learning.
My students enter school with challenges they had no part in creating. I have kids who are in foster care and are often uncertain of where they will be sleeping each night. Some don't have basic needs met and come to school unprepared from the start. Each of my students have faced some sort of trauma and are working hard to deal with pain, fear and disappointing circumstances. They need extra support. I love their unique personalities.
My Project
For two years I participated in a project based learning grant project. We had the pleasure of working with the author of "Learning On Display", Linda D'Aquisto. We learned how to incorporate art (and artifacts!) into the learning process. I'm going to take all that I learned to guide my students as they build museums to show what they've learned in science and social studies. We will spend our afternoons researching topics aligned to the curriculum in both subjects.
Making a museum is a fluid process, moving back and forth between learning, researching, designing and constructing to create a museum filled with information to teach others in the school and community.
The students lead the charge. It's up to them to decide how their museum will look and what story they want to tell. Of course, I will be there to guide them! I did select art materials that I can use with the whole group to do specific projects. I want them to have the chance to use materials they haven't used before.
I have enough supplies to do a few wood burning projects. I asked for fabric, tissue paper, jewels to make collages and decoupage frames. I also asked for kits to make sand art. We'll also have enough poster boards, markers and pencils to make exciting displays. I almost forgot about the wax sticks, pipe cleaners and craft sticks to make sculptures.
Some projects will be done with the purpose of displaying information. Other projects will be designed to let the students express their feelings about the topics being studied. They'll be able to reflect on the process and create works of art to emphasis key themes, events, people, and anything else they think is important to represent artistically.
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
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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. Niedzialkowski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
