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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Palic from Newark, DE is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Fully Funded

Mrs. Palic's classroom raised $289

Darkness Before Dawn of Good Readers

My students need a set of "Darkness Before Dawn" by Sharon Draper to complete the trilogy of her Tears of a Tiger series.

Classroom photo
Mrs. Palic George V Kirk Middle School
Newark, DE Grades 6-8

My Students

I hear students admit they haven't read a book in years! Connecting to literature is one of the fundamentals of becoming a good reader. Without sharing experiences, emotions, and conflicts with literary characters, students struggle with reading and become disengaged with writing.

My 7th grade English classes are diverse in ethnicity, educational ability, background, family status, and school engagement.

Most students come from low-income and broken homes. Their families struggle to provide notebooks and pencils for their children, yet my students strive to be successful readers and writers. In a school where being smart and studious is not the norm, my 7th graders build their own categories to fit into. Most of them are interested in reading, but believe they are not strong readers or they are not "good" at English. They have not yet been exposed to literature as diverse as they are.

My Project

Author Sharon Draper wrote a trilogy of novels about urban high school students who struggle with family abuse, neglect, friendly and romantic relationships, drug abuse, and self-esteem. Our classroom was able to acquire the first two novels but have not completed the series. Draper writes in a meaningful way that engages and relates to students' lives, but also provides strong examples of essential literary elements and writing decisions. When students use these novels, reading outside of the traditional literary canon, they can relate to the struggles of the characters, which helps them better interpret and understand the author's choices in developing the novel. The trilogy of novels teach students not only how to deal with life situations, but also how to develop good reading strategies. The third novel, "Darkness Before Dawn" culminates the series with a final personal encounter of a character facing self-confidence and relationship issues.

My students need reading material they can connect to personally; they have to share the emotions and struggles of the characters.

In order to develop strong reading skills, students need to be engaged in their reading materials. They need to see strong examples of writing that mimics their lives. "Darkness Before Dawn" will complete the trilogy of books about students who look, sound, and struggle like my students do.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More than half of students from low‑income households

300 students impacted 2 donors
Mrs. Palic George V Kirk Middle School Grades 6-8

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Newark, DE View local requests

More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

300 students impacted 2donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Darkness Before Dawn • AKJ Books $5.17 40 $206.80

Materials cost

$206.80

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$3.10

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$244.90

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$43.22

Total project goal

$288.12

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $288.12

2 Donors

-$287.24

Donations toward project cost

-$244.90

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$42.34

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$0.88

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

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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. Palic and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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