Our 4K-5th grade school has approximately 400 students with half our population from low-income families. Our school is becoming a leader in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. In collaboration with educators and community partners in business, industry and post-secondary education we are creating a best-practice model. Here we have designed a hands-on, project-based STEM environment to enhance our students’ education experience.
Serving low-income families can be a challenge that needs to be met with resources that will help "level the playing field", so everyone has a chance to move toward the goal of being community, college and career ready.
Students in my classroom are curious, work well together in groups, and have that sense of wonder that all teachers like to see! We work together in partners or groups for most of our projects. Exploration and hands-on learning is so important to expand their world.
It is time for something fresh for student learning. My students love to be active, play games with an educational purpose, and are ready to be creatively in control of their own learning. The supplies will allow me to incorporate this into my classroom, while also covering the content and skills my students need. It is an engaging learning game in which students work together to solve logic puzzles and clues in order to unlock a series locks and lock boxes using, among other things, invisible ink and flashlights. These games can incorporate any subject area as well as help students practice applied problem solving in real world contexts.
My students love to be active, play educational games with real world problem solving, and are ready to be creatively in control of their own learning.
Students will use critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity to reach their goal of solving the puzzle and unlocking the final box. They will be actively engaged in learning from their work partners and feel the satisfaction of working together to overcome challenges along the way, which gives practice to being persistent. To beat the game, students may need to solve math problems, recall vocabulary words, discuss a recent read aloud, research new information, and scour the room for invisible ink clues. Possibilities seem endless! I am excited to see how my students work together and feel their sense of accomplishment when they finally crack the code!
If you donated to this project, you can sign in to leave a comment for Mrs. FitzGerald.
DonorsChoose is the #1 classroom funding site for teachers.
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. FitzGerald and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America create classroom project requests, and you can give any amount to the project that inspires you.