Students in two classrooms at Martinson Elementary School in Marshfield are taking turns trying new standing desks, an innovation that began as a class research project.

Each of the two classrooms has two high desks that allow students to stand to do their work. Proponents of the idea say that for many students, the chance to stand helps them focus.

“Not everybody can sit the whole time,’’ the school’s principal, Leslie Scollins, said in an interview.

She said fifth-grade teacher Megan Holdgate and her students decided to research standing desks and how to fund the purchase. They wrote letters and raised money through donorschoose.org, a website where teachers request funds for specific projects.

The first two desks arrived in late 2015, and the children assembled them with the help of custodians, Scollins said.

She said she loved the way the project brought together writing, problem-solving, and other skills. The students also cooperate to share the desks, she said.

A second class across the hall, led by fourth-grade teacher Allie Bazzano, liked the idea and did its own research, raising money for similar standing desks that have an added attraction: a moving foot rest or “fidget bar’’ under the desk.

Jennette Barnes can be reached at jennettebarnes@yahoo.com.