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.
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Writing is always a difficult subject for students to master. It is especially difficult for students who speak English as a second language. The pandemic only contributed to the learning gap and has made reading and writing even more difficult for my students to master. I am trying to find new and creative ways to engage my students through project-based learning.
The goal of this project is to conduct research on different ocean animals. It will help them develop an understanding of the similarities and differences of organisms’ life cycles. An understanding that organisms have different inherited traits, and that the environment can also affect the traits that an organism develops. This meet the following science standards: 3.LS3.1 & 3.LS3.2. After conducting their research, I will take them through the writing process where they will write an explanatory paper explaining their findings. This will meet the following reading & writing standards: 3.RI.10 & 3.W.2a-d. In addition, the students will use the modeling clay, paint and brushes to create examples of their ocean animals and their ecosystems. Lastly, the students will present their papers and their clay ecosystems to their class and other classes to showcase all that they learned. This will meet the following speaking and listening standards: SL.3.1a, SL.3.4 & SL.3.6.
Being away from the classroom for so long and being on the computer has caused my students to have shorter attention spans. They also lack self-motivation and interest in school. My goal is to not only help close the reading and writing gaps that they have, but to do it a fun and engaging way. By choosing a topic that interests them, allowing them to be creative and giving them the opportunity to interact with one another, will help ignite their love of school and learning once again.
About my class
Writing is always a difficult subject for students to master. It is especially difficult for students who speak English as a second language. The pandemic only contributed to the learning gap and has made reading and writing even more difficult for my students to master. I am trying to find new and creative ways to engage my students through project-based learning.
The goal of this project is to conduct research on different ocean animals. It will help them develop an understanding of the similarities and differences of organisms’ life cycles. An understanding that organisms have different inherited traits, and that the environment can also affect the traits that an organism develops. This meet the following science standards: 3.LS3.1 & 3.LS3.2. After conducting their research, I will take them through the writing process where they will write an explanatory paper explaining their findings. This will meet the following reading & writing standards: 3.RI.10 & 3.W.2a-d. In addition, the students will use the modeling clay, paint and brushes to create examples of their ocean animals and their ecosystems. Lastly, the students will present their papers and their clay ecosystems to their class and other classes to showcase all that they learned. This will meet the following speaking and listening standards: SL.3.1a, SL.3.4 & SL.3.6.
Being away from the classroom for so long and being on the computer has caused my students to have shorter attention spans. They also lack self-motivation and interest in school. My goal is to not only help close the reading and writing gaps that they have, but to do it a fun and engaging way. By choosing a topic that interests them, allowing them to be creative and giving them the opportunity to interact with one another, will help ignite their love of school and learning once again.