#RepresentationMatters: Seeing Ourselves in the Books We Read
Help me give my students a diverse selection of books so our classroom library is filled with books there serve as mirrors to reflect our students' lives rather than windows that look into others.
Our early childhood school is now in its eleventh year serving the community. In our Pre-K class, that means over 180 students will have come and gone from this Pre-K classroom. Along with that, many other students have called our room home for enrichment classes, after-school programs, and summer camp.
Families send their precious children to our class every day, for us to help them take those first steps towards accomplishing great feats.
Children make this room their home for however long they stay and miss it dearly when they move on. It's something we take pride in, and we hope to continue doing what we love to do and that nurtures their love of learning.
I've been teaching at my first and current school for seven years. No matter who enters through that door, they are part of our school family. I hope to provide them with the absolute best education we can offer.
My Project
Our students reside in the most diverse borough in New York City. There’s about 160 languages spoken in Queens, NY. The student population of our school reflects the diversity of in our community. However, the same cannot be said about the literature selection in many of our classroom libraries.
Representation Matters on big screen as well as in the books we read.
I know many adults who were overcome with emotions after watching Crazy Rich Asians because the actors, the story, the language, and the culture portrayed in the movie reflected their own life in one way or another. The power of representation can elicit that kind of emotion in adults because it was absent for majority of their life. Imagine how impactful representation can be for our youngest learners if the literature in our classrooms became mirrors that reflected their own life rather than windows looking into others.
I am requesting literature that is more diverse and representative of our community as well as books written and illustrated by authors and illustrators of color.
Imagine that young impressionable child looking through a book and it invokes the thought “That character looks like me!” or “That author has the same last name as I do!” That’s a powerful message to send to our ambitious children. It tells them that their stories are valuable and their voices want to be heard.
I hope to create an environment that is welcoming for all cultures. My families will walk into a classroom filled with diverse literature and feel like they are being represented racially and culturally in our community. As an educator, I want my students to grow and believe in themselves and that anything they set out to do is possible. These books will help them believe in themselves.
Diwali: Festival of Lights (Orca Origins)
• Amazon Business
$19.37
1
$19.37
Grandma and the Great Gourd: A Bengali Folktale
• Amazon Business
$17.60
1
$17.60
Chocolate Me!
• Amazon Business
$17.09
1
$17.09
Same, Same But Different
• Amazon Business
$17.09
1
$17.09
Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
• Amazon Business
$16.99
1
$16.99
Because
• Amazon Business
$16.19
1
$16.19
Islandborn
• Amazon Business
$16.19
1
$16.19
Dumpling Dreams: How Joyce Chen Brought the Dumpling from Beijing to Cambridge
• Amazon Business
$16.19
1
$16.19
This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World
• Amazon Business
$16.19
1
$16.19
All Are Welcome
• Amazon Business
$14.88
1
$14.88
Big Red Lollipop
• Amazon Business
$13.98
1
$13.98
Round Is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes
• Amazon Business
$13.59
1
$13.59
No Kimchi For Me!
• Amazon Business
$13.57
1
$13.57
Filipino Friends
• Amazon Business
$13.55
1
$13.55
Let the Children March
• Amazon Business
$13.44
1
$13.44
Henry's First-Moon Birthday
• Amazon Business
$13.29
1
$13.29
A Big Mooncake for Little Star
• Amazon Business
$12.99
1
$12.99
Windows
• Amazon Business
$12.95
1
$12.95
Los deseos de Carmela (Spanish Edition)
• Amazon Business
$12.75
1
$12.75
Carmela Full of Wishes
• Amazon Business
$12.75
1
$12.75
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk
• Amazon Business
$12.75
1
$12.75
Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community
• Amazon Business
$12.75
1
$12.75
All About the Philippines: Stories, Songs, Crafts and Games for Kids (All About...countries)
• Amazon Business
$12.02
1
$12.02
Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes
• Amazon Business
$12.01
1
$12.01
A, Z, and Things in Between: How to Eat an Empanada
• Amazon Business
$11.95
1
$11.95
Waiting for the Biblioburro
• Amazon Business
$11.89
1
$11.89
Listening to My Body: A guide to helping kids understand the connection between their sensations (what the heck are those?) and feelings so that they can get better at figuring out what they need.
• Amazon Business
$11.69
1
$11.69
Skin Again
• Amazon Business
$11.69
1
$11.69
A Different Pond
• Amazon Business
$11.16
1
$11.16
This Next New Year: (Korean-English Bilingual Edition) (Korean Edition)
• Amazon Business
$10.99
1
$10.99
Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding
• Amazon Business
$10.94
1
$10.94
Listening with My Heart: A story of kindness and self-compassion
• Amazon Business
$10.37
1
$10.37
Mixed Me!
• Amazon Business
$9.98
1
$9.98
Cora Cooks Pancit
• Amazon Business
$9.95
1
$9.95
The Red Pencil
• Amazon Business
$9.62
1
$9.62
Good Night India (Good Night Our World)
• Amazon Business
$8.95
1
$8.95
Bee-Bim Bop!
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Dad, Who Will I Be?
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
The Pumpkin Moon Empanadas
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Lin Yi's Lantern
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
The Day of the Dead / El Dia De Los Muertos: A Bilingual Celebration (Spanish Edition)
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Fortune Cookie Fortunes
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
The Green Frogs: A Korean Folktale
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Kite Flying
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Shades of People
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Beautiful Monuments Indian Culture Board Book for Kids
• Amazon Business
$7.99
1
$7.99
Homemade Love [Board Book]
• Amazon Business
$7.83
1
$7.83
A Is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World
• Amazon Business
$7.59
1
$7.59
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu
• Amazon Business
$7.50
1
$7.50
Marvelous Me: Inside and Out (All about Me)
• Amazon Business
$7.29
1
$7.29
Apple Pie Fourth of July
• Amazon Business
$7.00
1
$7.00
Bringing In the New Year
• Amazon Business
$6.99
1
$6.99
Dear Juno (Picture Puffins)
• Amazon Business
$6.99
1
$6.99
Sometimes I'm Bombaloo (Scholastic Bookshelf)
• Amazon Business
$6.99
1
$6.99
Dumpling Days (A Pacy Lin Novel)
• Amazon Business
$6.98
1
$6.98
My Face Book (Bengali/English) (Bengali and English Edition)
• Amazon Business
$5.99
1
$5.99
Meet Yasmin!
• Amazon Business
$4.99
1
$4.99
We're Different, We're the Same (Sesame Street) (Pictureback(R))
• Amazon Business
$4.99
1
$4.99
Día de los Muertos (Celebrate the World)
• Amazon Business
$4.04
1
$4.04
Materials cost
$644.42
Vendor shipping charges
FREE
Sales tax
$0.00
3rd party payment processing fee
$9.67
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$684.09
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$120.72
Total project goal
$804.81
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$804.81
17 Donors
-$644.00
Donations toward project cost
-$559.40
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
-$84.60
match offer
-$146.71
Match offer toward project cost
-$124.70
Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
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 Mr. Andy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"New York City","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[1529780],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"NY","teacherPossessivePronoun":"his","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":1,"name":"Early Education"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":3745295,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":4,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/representationmatters-seeing-ourselves/3745295/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":true,"numStudents":18,"teacherScreenName":"Mr. Andy","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"1529780":{"owner":"Mr. Andy","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[3745295],"proposalHash":"-1295459856","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp1529780_orig.png?crop=1:1,smart&width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1698503658512","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":252093,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":463,"proposalURL":"project/recess-renaissance-turning-the-playgrou/8310451/","matchingFund":{"name":"Young Sheldon on CBS","type":"AUTO_DONATION_MATCH","multipleForDisplay":"2X","donorSalutation":"Young Sheldon on CBS","ownerRegion":null,"matchingKey":"24TheChuLo","matchImpactMultiple":2.0,"amount":0.00},"proposalTitle":"Recess Renaissance: Turning the Playground to Creative Grounds","proposalId":8310451},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["MTAxNzIwNA==","MzcwMDY1Mw==","MTA2NDE3Mg==","MjYxMzEyMA==","Mzg5NDMzNw==","NjIzNDY0OQ==","MzM5MjU0Ng==","NjE2ODgwNA==","MjI2NzQ0OQ==","MTc0MzgxMw==","NDgzMzk2MQ==","NjIxNjIzMw==","MTUyOTc4MA==","MTg2MTg0Mw==","MTU3MTExNg==","NDg3NjQ4","NjI1NTU2OQ==","NTE1MTMzNQ=="],"teacherId":1529780,"schoolCounty":"Queens","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"NY","name":"New York"}}