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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Shields from Lakewood, OH is requesting supplies through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Building Bridges to Math Mastery

My students need 3 K'nex bridge building kits and 10 K'nex elementary math and geometry kits, so they can construct geometric shapes and bridges, enhancing their science, math, engineering & technology skills.

  • $728 goal

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Hooray! This project is fully funded

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My Students

The students in my classroom are not learning mathematics, they are doing mathematics. Each lesson has a hands-on component that allows the students to interact in a way that provides a concrete understanding.

Our school is a first ring suburb of a large metropolitan area.

More than half of our students live in poverty and receive free or reduced meals. We have the highest number of refugee students in our school district and over 40 languages are spoken in the district. The students are wonderful learners, who require more than the old paper/pencil model of instruction. They want to be engaged through hand-on lessons. They need lessons that require them to be collaborative while working in teams. Each day they ask me when we are going to do the part of the lesson where we 'construct our learning'. The level of math understanding increases dramatically when they 'do' the work with manipulatives, rather than just solve on paper. Their engagement in the lesson increases exponentially.

My Project

My students need 3 K'nex bridge building kits and 10 K'nex elementary math and geometry kits, so they can construct geometric shapes and bridges, enhancing their science, math, engineering & technology skills. The students will use the materials I have requested to construct 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. The assessments I will give will be project based. That is, the students can score just as well by constructing the shape, instead of labeling it on a paper worksheet. We will also make a digital picture portfolio for further review and studying. Our pictures will be made into a book using iAuthor that will be added to our school library. Each group will then take that knowledge to construct a replica of a bridge incorporating all the geometric concepts they have learned. The bridge construction will entail that each group member completes a section of the bridge, that when merged creates the final structure. Cooperative learning lesson will be taught alongside the geometry lessons.

A recent article from U.S.

News and World report states that, "A close look at American unemployment statistics reveals a contradiction: Even with unemployment at historically high levels, large numbers of jobs are going unfilled. Many of these jobs have one thing in common–-the need for an educational background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." My math project will help many children be better prepared for the engineering jobs of the future.

Mr. Shields Emerson Elementary School Grades 3-5

More about Mr. Shields

Lakewood, OH View local requests

More than a third 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

63 students impacted 18donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
K'NEX Education - Real Bridge Building • Amazon Business $111.89 3 $335.67
K'NEX Education - Elementary Math and Geometry • Amazon Business $24.39 10 $243.90

Materials cost

$579.57

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$8.69

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$618.26

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$109.10

Total project goal

$727.36

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $727.36

14 Donors

-$561.11

Donations toward project cost

-$476.95

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$84.16

Matching donations from our partners

-$166.25

Match offers toward project cost

-$141.31

Match offers to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$24.94

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$0.01

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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 Mr. Shields and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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