This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
As a teacher who teaches first grade students at a school with predominantly English Language Learners (ELLs) and students who come from low-income families, it is difficult to have the same expectations of those who are native English speakers and come from middle class families. This being a fact, it doesn't mean that my students shouldn't be exposed to all other academic subjects besides English and Math in my classroom.
There is a great amount of focus on Language Arts and Mathematics in public school because of the fact that the students get assessed every 6-8 weeks to determine how much progress they've made. Because of this, it gives us only a little bit of time to focus on other subjects such as Health, Social Studies, Science and the different Arts.
I have decided to choose some standards that go along with Science and teach it to my students so that they can get the exposure like all other kids their age do in other schools. Therefore, I have chosen to focus on Life Science during the spring. This is mainly because plants start to grow, the weather changes and because spring resembles the beginning of life. In order to do this I have requested a butterfly garden kit, ladybug lantern kit, live frog habitat, and hermit crab cove so that my students get to see how these animals grow and reach their adult form. All of these include a certificate to get the animals in the mail. This also directly ties into a unit that we teach towards the end of spring, which is about "Animal Habitats".
I have also requested materials to help my students learn about insects during the spring. To do so, I have asked for a bug watch kit, models of different insects and a little ant farm for the students to see how the tunnels are made. These things will take learning about insects and animal habitats above and beyond the student’s imaginations.
Having these resources would help my class to better learn the Science standards that they are supposed to learn and take it to a whole new level. You can help my students become more interested in learning and allow them to learn things that they have never been exposed to before. So please be part of my class and make this possible for my first graders.
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. Karapetian and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
