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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Thom from Hartford, CT is requesting supplies through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Thom is requesting

Talking Buildings: A Unit On Historic Preservation

My students need books about architecture and engineering to build background knowledge and expertise, and hands-on building kits to practice and apply this new information.

  • $883 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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Help Ms. Thom

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

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.

My Students

Help us preserve our community's rich structural history and bring awareness to the importance of preservation. Every day, significant historical places are being destroyed in the name of progress. Our students want to take action by bringing some of the local rich building history to life.

My 4th, 5th, and 6th graders are highly inquisitive students who care about the world around them.

They come from all over the inner city to attend our school for high potential children (which is part of the public school system). Our school vision includes exposing children to authentic experiences and rich content. Some of the most important aspects of our philosophy include the ideas that learning should be meaningful, joyful, and applied to making positive changes in the world. Although the challenges many of the students face in their personal/home lives cause distractions and at times create roadblocks to their success, they are provided with a school experience that allows them to see how much more is available to them if they work hard and stay positive. One of the main goals of the school is that the students become creative producers so that they will make positive differences in their school, community, and world.

My Project

The materials that have been requested will be added to a unit on historical preservation that began 2 years ago. The books and hands-on materials will add to students' prior knowledge of local history and provide new connections between the worlds of designers, builders, historians, and preservationists. Prior to the historical preservation unit, many of our students had not had ample opportunities to travel to our historical downtown area, and were unable to identify buildings of historical and architectural significance. However, over the past 2 years, students have begun to gain an appreciation and understanding of the historical significance of such buildings. The hands-on materials such as the clay, Legos, and building kits will allow students to create models of these important buildings in their city, as well as help create tangible products with a potential to foster widespread enthusiasm for the development and preservation of buildings within their own community and beyond.

The potential impact of these resources surpasses our classroom and even our school, but extends to the entire school district and city.

With the resources this project would supply, our class will create both models and multimedia projects about important and unique buildings that will be seen by students across the district, as well as by influential people and organizations who are in a position to facilitate change. As a result, students will become empowered to preserve their local history.

Ms. Thom Dr Joseph S Renzulli G&T Academy Grades 3-5

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Thom

Hartford, CT View local requests

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

60 students impacted 11donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
LEGO Bricks & More Builders of Tomorrow Set 6177 • Amazon $29.99 4 $119.96
T.S. Shure Introduction to Architecture • Amazon $14.50 4 $58.00
3-D Home Kit: All You Need to Construct a Model of Your Own Home or Addition (with Booklet "Architecture & Math Workshop Notes") • Amazon $27.62 2 $55.24
LEGO Ultimate Building Set - 405 Pieces (6166) • Amazon $25.49 2 $50.98
Structures 200 Plank Set • Amazon $40.99 1 $40.99
Non-Drying Modeling Clay 13oz - 20 Colors • Amazon $6.32 6 $37.92
LEGO Architecture White House (21006) • Amazon $37.73 1 $37.73
Under Every Roof: A Kid's Style and Field Guide to the Architecture of American Houses • Amazon $31.50 1 $31.50
The LEGO Ideas Book • Teachers' School Supply $24.99 1 $24.99
LEGO Green Building Plate (10" x 10") • Amazon $4.99 5 $24.95
LEGO Bricks & more Blue Building Plate - 32 x 32 Studs (10" x 10") • Amazon $4.99 5 $24.95
LEGO Architecture Empire State Building (21002) • Amazon $17.99 1 $17.99
LEGO Architecture Seattle Space Needle (21003) • Amazon $17.64 1 $17.64
HANGING STRIPS MEDIUM WHITE COMMAND PACK OF 6 • School Specialty $7.03 2 $14.06
WOOD GLUE 8 OZ. ELMER'S CARPENETER'S • School Specialty $3.51 4 $14.04
Greenscreen Made Easy: Keying and Compositing Techniques for Indie Filmmakers • Amazon $13.96 1 $13.96
13 Buildings Children Should Know • Amazon $12.78 1 $12.78
Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture • Amazon $12.12 1 $12.12
The Art of Construction: Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers & Architects (Ziggurat Book) • Amazon $11.62 1 $11.62
Why Buildings Fall Down: Why Structures Fail • Amazon $11.46 1 $11.46
Janice VanCleave's Engineering for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Science Fun • Amazon $11.16 1 $11.16
To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design • Amazon $10.74 1 $10.74
Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design, Build & Test (Kaleidoscope Kids) • Amazon $10.26 1 $10.26
Draw 50 Buildings and Other Structures: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Castles and Cathedrals, Skyscrapers and Bridges, and So Much More... • Amazon $8.99 1 $8.99
GLUE DOTS PERMANENT DOT N' GO DISPENSER • School Specialty $4.27 2 $8.54
Architecture Shapes (Preservation Press) • Amazon $7.26 1 $7.26
HOOKS GRID CEILING HANGERS PACK OF 10 • School Specialty $6.64 1 $6.64
Discover America's Favorite Architects (Preservation Press Series) • Amazon $6.08 1 $6.08

Materials cost

$702.55

Vendor shipping charges

$7.08

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$10.54

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$750.17

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$132.38

Total project goal

$882.55

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$882.55

9 Donors

-$441.27

Donations toward project cost

-$375.08

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$66.19

match offer

-$441.28

Match offer toward project cost

-$375.09

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$66.19

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

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

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Project Activity

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