This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
I teach two classes (ICT and general education) of 4th grade math through our newly implemented departmentalization. Many students enter my class viewing math as a dreaded subject. They express many concerns: "It's boring," "I'm not good at it," "Math is too complicated," "When will I use this?" and "Nothing ever makes sense in math." My response? "That's only because you haven't experienced math with me!"
Through hands-on exploration and real life math connections, I am proud to say that I am able to create a classroom full of math lovers.
My little learners become eager to start a new week and see what engaging activities I have planned. By launching a variety of projects, I am able to reach the majority of the students in my classroom. Nothing brings a smile to my face like hearing my students cry out, "No way, math is over already?" after dedicating 120 minutes to study.
My school's mission is to educate the whole student by integrating strong academics with the arts. In working to address the needs of the at-risk, inner-city child, we strive to build self-esteem and self-confidence in every youngster.
My Project
The materials requested will provide my students with the opportunity to artistically express themselves while gaining a deeper understanding of difficult math concepts such as: fractions, area/perimeter, and interpreting data/graphing.
In today's age it is essential to provide students with concrete learning, vivid models, an opportunity to create, and a strong understanding of visualization.
Students will learn fraction equivalence and simplification by creating pool noodle art. Students will cut pool noodles apart to represent parts of a whole and find equivalent fractions. Using pizza boxes,full page labels, and construction paper students will create pizza pies with printed toppings of their choice. Students will then calculate what fraction and percent of their creation is covered with specific toppings. The requested Play Doh will also assist students in fraction sense as they break wholes into parts and calculate the degrees which each part represents in a circle.
When learning area and graphing, students will create "Dream Homes" using cardboard boxes and sticker graph paper. Students will create and place furniture within their dream home. Following, students will calculate the area of each furniture item placed. Using the requested poster board, construction paper, and glue sticks, students will create their own data gallery in which they record and plot data on a question of their choice. By the end of the year, my classes will be real life artistic math explorers!
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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. Lee and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.