I teach at a Title I school located in Riverview, Florida. 87% of our students life at or below the poverty level. My students are a mixture of all races. I have 190 eager students thirsting for knowledge about the world. We want to teach our students to love learning and to strive for lofty goals - reach for the moon and beyond. When you give a child knowledge they learn a fact, if you teach them to search for more knowledge you teach them to learn. I provide at least two to three hands on learning labs per week. Many are open ended and require the students to create a solution to a problem. I frequently hear that "I used to hate science and now I love it! Thank you!" This warms my heart to inspire children to reach for education in the math and science fields.
My Project
Moon Phase Garden will build a model of the earth and moon phases using the requested materials. Bringing the moon phases and space to life is a difficult task. Models are a must. Our fourth and fifth graders have difficulty understanding and retaining the information about the moon phases. Our moon garden will have a large circular Earth garden at the center and the 28 phases of the moon circling the Earth. Each of the 28 stepping stones will be painted to match the moon phase. Students will have access to various games that incorporate physical activity and knowledge about the moon phases. These games will be played during structured lessons, recess and teacher directed PE, parent - family events. This project will be used with the 180 plus students this year, but used for years at the school impacting thousands of students in the trek to gain knowledge and understand about our world and beyond.
Making learning fun and engaging is my primary goal as a teacher.
Who can remember a 4th grade lesson where they read a book and answered some questions? You can remember doing it, but do you remember specifically the content? Most memories from school are of a fun project or game that you played. You can remember the content and the fun. Help me bring learning to life for our students! Ignite a love of science and learning.
IES is located in Florida. The school is a Title I school - over 85% of our students live at or below the poverty level. The school is racially diverse and we stress the importance of learning, polite behavior and getting along with others. I appreciate your consideration of this project! Have a prosperous New Year!
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