My project needs books that are written by minority authors and that are related to the cultures of the student population that we serve.(ie.African American, Asian, Portuguese, Spanish. Haiti,Jamaican and other cultures represented nationally).
YOU are the CONNECTION that will help my students "Make the connection". I teach sixth grade at an inner city school. My goal is to empower my students by teaching them to read independently to gain knowledge and for the enjoyment of it.
Many of my students do not have an interest in reading beyond their classroom assignments. In most cases, reading for pleasure was not modeled in the home so,students must be trained to do so. That is my task.
A large part of training students to read for pleasure is providing them with books that is of interest to them. I believe that students will read books about their culture and books written by author that share their heritage. Currently, my class and school library is limited in its resources of ethnic books and 90% of the schools population has an Asian, Hispanic,or Black, background. I find that students have a difficult time making a connection to classic and other fiction books.
I hated to read until my sixth grade teacher handed me a book entitled "Little girl Lost" by Donald Goines. It was about an African American girl in an urban city who was forced to make tough decisions just to survive. Unfortunately, her decisions lead her to an early grave was intrigued with the book and have had a fascination with reading ever since that day. My teacher helped me to make a connection the day she handed me that book. I'd like to help my students "Make that connection" also. You are my connection because you can make it happen. Will you help me?
DonorsChoose is the most trusted 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. A. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.