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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. H. from is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Ms. H.'s classroom raised $352

Would They Eat Meatloaf if They Knew What it Was Made of?

My students need 30 copies of "Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff".

Classroom photo
Ms. H.
Grades 6-8

My Students

"Ms. H., what is meatloaf?" After a brief explanation of how I prepared meatloaf at home, I got the sound, "Ohhhh", from the group of youngsters in my class. No, my lesson was not on meatloaf. It was on drawing conclusions, a skill that 85% of my 6th graders struggle with in reading comprehension.

I feel like some days, my kids think they are the most misunderstood group of youngsters on the planet.

They are from very diverse backgrounds and many have no English speaking parents at home. Approximately 88% of them qualify for free/reduced lunch at our school. Teachers have been trying to remove the stereotypes that come from an underperforming school since I began teaching here 6 years ago. The children desire to play, take field trips, read books, and explore on computers but they are limited in experience because of the economy. I have to spend twenty minutes explaining a trip to the beach to the boys and girls because they have never left the city. This book opened up so many teachable moments for me to have with them. It allowed me to get to know them on a personal level, and build relationships with them as they discussed similarities between themselves and the middle schoolers in the book. It helped them to see that they really weren't as different as they thought they were.

My Project

Because of the high poverty level, in addition to numerous challenges with language barrier and cultural differences, our students have limited life experiences in comparison to more affluent neighborhoods. The book, 'Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf' is purposefully related to children in sixth grade to help encourage critical thinking skills. When using it as a tool for teaching, the educators in our school have to backtrack to build background knowledge for the children before they can even begin to practicing questioning skills. We have ESL learners who love reading this book because it is done completely in artwork. Our special education students build confidence in their reading because the level varies from easy, medium, and difficult throughout the novel. Our accelerated learners burst with excitement as they begin to model their own story and make connections within their lives. This is a great teaching tool to assist every learner in my diverse classroom.

I had one copy of 'Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf' and I shared 2-3 pages every day.

We answered critical thinking questions and practiced drawing conclusions. In my formative assessment, 100% of the students participated, and their drawing conclusion mastery level grew phenomenally. During IWT, the kids were begging (even the boys) to read the rest of the book, and I had only my one personal copy to read. I can only imagine the progress I could have made with a class set of these books!

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

70 students impacted 4 donors
Ms. H. Grades 6-8

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

70 students impacted 4donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff Jennifer L. Holm, Elicia Castaldi (Illustrator), Elicia Castaldi (Photographer) • Barnes and Noble $8.26 30 $247.80

Materials cost

$247.80

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $19.33

3rd party payment processing fee

$3.72

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$305.85

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$45.70

Total project goal

$351.55

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $351.55

2 Donors

-$101.00

Donations toward project cost

-$87.87

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$13.13

match offer

-$250.55

Match offer toward project cost

-$217.98

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$32.57

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

Project Activity
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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 Ms. H. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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