My students need items in our classroom that will enable them to create, build, and think strategically, all while collaborating and cooperating with others.
$595 goal
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Watching my second graders during indoor recess over the years has revealed that when given the choice, they love to build and create. It is during these times that I found my students were growing as a community, learning to cooperate with others, and bringing their ideas to life. I love watching how their minds are working when they are building and creating. I love to see their thought processes when they are trying to strategize while playing a board game. I want to see more of it!
I have 19 amazing and thoughtful students in my classroom who come from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds.
Our school is made up of close to 400 students in a rural community. Many of my students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and some speak English as a second language. Their academic needs are as diverse as they are. I am hoping that by integrating more time for STEM activities where students are given a choice of what to make and with whom to work, they will develop their minds, confidence, and a sense of community that cannot be achieved through workbooks and traditional worksheets.
My Project
When my students enter the classroom in the morning, they are often eager to see their friends and share experiences with them. We have a period in the morning that, while most of my students are in the classroom, the school day has not yet officially begun.
Instead of trying to get my students to sit quietly during this time period, I have decided to use this time to build our classroom community by allowing my students to engage in activities that foster creativity, and require collaboration and thinking not otherwise demonstrated by completing a worksheet.
Students will be given the opportunity to choose activities and with whom they will work. The LEGOs, magnetic tiles, design and build engineering kits, K'NEX, Super Fun Marble Run, and create your own chain reaction sets will allow the students to use their imaginations and build freely, or follow directions to build a specific design which can help build working memory. I've found that students like to do these things collaboratively, so it creates an environment of cooperation and helps build friendships. Connect Four, Uno, and Sorry! teach children to think strategically so they can defeat their opponent. These games require a similar type of planning, analyzing, and problem solving as our math program, but in a much more engaging format. For example, in the game Sorry! when you roll a 7 on the dice you can split the amount between two pawns. That type of thinking can transfer over into how students approach mental math problems. Connect Four and Uno both require a player to plan ahead in order to be successful. All of the items requested will foster an environment where working together, many types of thinking, and problem solving skills are valued.
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 Mrs. Brown and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
