Planting the Seeds Of STEM Learning with Lakeshore Learning
My students need hands on STEM learning materials such as magnets, ramps, and three dimensional shapes, to increase their understanding of science and math concepts.
"You want children to learn their academic skills in the service of their intellect so when they come and say, show me how to measure this or show me how to write that because they are doing an investigation " Lillian Katz
My students deserve every opportunity possible to investigate their world.
We are so grateful to teach 12, wonderful, curious, charming students in two half day sessions of early childhood special education classes.
Our classroom is in a public elementary school on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and next to a beautiful forest preserve. Our district is in a rural area and many of our parents are in agricultural related professions. Our students have been identified as having factors that make them at-risk for school success. Our students constantly amaze us with their ability to see through these differences and become a community of learners
My Project
Children learn best by doing, playing, exploring, imagining, getting their hands and bodies into it. These STEM materials will help our students do just that.
I am requesting a magnet centers to increase my students understanding magnets. It will be exciting to watch them test if items are magnetic or not and use words like "attraction".
We would also like to play, I mean learn, with ramps. Investigate what rolls, what rolls faster, how can we make items roll even faster, and what happens when things roll too far. That is definitely not something you can learn about with just a book, or a pencil and paper.
We have been hatching chicks and learning about birds in our classroom for four years. The bird specimen center will increase our opportunities for investigating birds inside the classroom.
I have many resources for teaching about two dimensional shapes, but our classroom is lacking spheres, cones and pyramids. The foam shapes and tape will take shapes to a new dimension.
The budget for our preschool program has decreased every year for the last five years.
The parents in our program have stepped up and helped provide snacks, school supplies, and cooking materials. There has not been any money in our budget to replace or update the essential equipment used daily by 10-20 energetic preschoolers. Our curriculum is based on the premise children learn best through play. We need these materials to provide our students with the best learning environment.
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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. Griffith and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.