My students need a recumbent exercise bike for classroom fitness activities and to encourage reading.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Smith's classroom raised $234
This project is fully funded
My Students
Two goals I have for my students seem to be at odds with each other. I want my students to be more active. I want my students to read. I think I have found a way to incorporate reading into a fitness activity, which will achieve both goals!
My students are typical American teenagers.
They eat too much unhealthy food, they do not exercise enough, they watch too much television, and they are in danger of becoming overweight. We live in a relatively rural area and students do not have easy access to gyms and other exercise venues. Our school offers basic physical education courses, but not any sort of comprehensive fitness program. A recumbent bike would show my students another way to fit exercise into their everyday life, which is one of my goals for them. Another goal I have for my students is for them to develop a love of reading. Not just reading to study for a test, or because it is required for a class, but reading for the entertainment, relaxation, and the pleasure it can give.
My Project
It sounds strange, but what I envision with this project is my students engaging in physical activity WHILE they are reading. With a recumbent bicycle, the students can comfortably ride while holding a book. I have a small kiddie swimming pool full of young adult fiction books and magazines in my classroom, and I plan to place the bike beside the pool with a sign that says "Read to Ride." Students will be instructed that in order to ride the recumbent bike (and they will want to--new equipment is very appealing), they must read! Students will earn a double benefit--they will be exercising and reading--both activities that most students don't experience enough!
Donations to this project will help improve students' health and fitness by giving them access to a new piece of exercise equipment.
It will improve students' academics by requiring extra reading. Any project that improves health and fitness and encourages reading will always have a spillover effect--healthier, more informed students always equals more productive citizens!
More than half of 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 Mrs. Smith and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
