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Mrs. Breen from Hamden CT is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Books for ALL Readers to Say I See Me

Help me give my students and colleagues books that represent the diverse population in our school so that we can cultivate empathy for all humans through a love of literature.

  • $2,187 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

Lucille Clifton put it best when she said this; “The literature of America should reflect the children of America.” The students in this building are a beautifully diverse population of learners.

Every child deserves to see themselves in a book.

Our readers crave high-interest books that serve as both mirrors and windows into the worlds of others. Additionally, colleagues are excited to share in professional learning through texts that will help us better understand and best educate our learners.

Student engagement is the ultimate goal of high-quality instruction, and it is easier to excite students with the texts that they need, to grow as individual learners.

My Project

In this day and age, books are not always the most exciting thing that a child can turn to for entertainment. Educators have an enormous responsibility to engage children in reading, and it is not an easy task! In addition, children need to feel that they are represented in the books in their hands. The characters should share similar personality traits, culture, or experiences to the reader in order to be considered a GREAT book that is relatable, and is more likely to become a "page-turner."

Ezra Highland points this out: "When you have children in school and the literature doesn’t look like them, it doesn’t sound like them, it does not deal with their issues, you’re pushing them out rather than inviting them in." The stories that we make available to engage children in the practices of a high-quality book club must be strategically picked as options to match the interests and background of the children in front of you.

Great books may be the strongest tool to turn a child into a lifelong reader!

High-quality books are important for ALL children, but particularly for those learners that require extra scaffolding to be successful. Children are much more likely to do the important work of a thorough reader when the books feel relatable. Children who are learning English as a second language will benefit from the images in the graphic novels chosen as well as bilingual picture books. Engagement in a text is a key factor in lighting a fire of excitement in a reluctant reader! Some of these novels feature a variety of diverse characters and social issues, while others are graphic novels that help to change the mindset of those children who do not think that reading is fun.

Mrs. Breen
Grades 3-5

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism • Amazon Business $10.68 10 $106.80
The Wizenard Series: Training Camp • Amazon Business $15.73 5 $78.65
The Giver (Graphic Novel) (Giver Quartet) • Amazon Business $15.31 5 $76.55
Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth (Bilingual) (Spanish Edition) • Amazon Business $14.99 5 $74.95
Hurricane Child • Amazon Business $12.59 5 $62.95
It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) • Amazon Business $12.32 5 $61.60
Opposite of Always • Amazon Business $11.99 5 $59.95
The Pants Project • Amazon Business $11.89 5 $59.45
Finding Langston • Amazon Business $11.89 5 $59.45
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer • Amazon Business $11.72 5 $58.60
Other Words for Home • Amazon Business $11.72 5 $58.60
Dragon Pearl (Rick Riordan Presents) • Amazon Business $11.72 5 $58.60
Notorious RBG Young Readers' Edition: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Amazon Business $11.48 5 $57.40
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir • Amazon Business $10.99 5 $54.95
Illegal • Amazon Business $10.49 5 $52.45
Mighty Jack and the Goblin King • Amazon Business $10.19 5 $50.95
Jupiter Storm (Seeds of Magic) • Amazon Business $9.99 5 $49.95
El Deafo • Amazon Business $8.99 5 $44.95
The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel • Amazon Business $8.87 5 $44.35
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race • Amazon Business $10.43 4 $41.72
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race • Amazon Business $10.43 4 $41.72
Phoebe and Her Unicorn (Phoebe and Her Unicorn Series Book 1) • Amazon Business $8.00 5 $40.00
Miles Morales: Spider-Man (A Marvel YA Novel) • Amazon Business $7.79 5 $38.95
Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card • Amazon Business $7.40 5 $37.00
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters • Amazon Business $6.99 5 $34.95
Mae and June and the Wonder Wheel • Amazon Business $6.99 5 $34.95
Double Scribble (Jake Maddox Graphic Novels) • Amazon Business $6.95 5 $34.75
Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Gold) • Amazon Business $6.66 5 $33.30
Enrique's Journey (The Young Adult Adaptation): The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother • Amazon Business $3.60 9 $32.40
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things • Amazon Business $6.29 5 $31.45
Nikki and Deja: Substitute Trouble (Nikki & Deja) • Amazon Business $5.99 5 $29.95
Hoop Hustle (Jake Maddox Sports Stories) • Amazon Business $5.95 5 $29.75
Nikki and Deja: Nikki and Deja, Book One • Amazon Business $5.79 5 $28.95
Ghosts • Amazon Business $5.10 5 $25.50
Gracefully Grayson • Amazon Business $5.06 5 $25.30
Inside Out and Back Again • Amazon Business $4.39 5 $21.95
The Write Thing: Kwame Alexander Engages Students in Writing Workshop (And You Can Too!) A Must-Have Resource for Teaching Writing Workshop in Grades K-12 (Professional Resources) • Amazon Business $19.39 1 $19.39
Game Changer! Book Access for All Kids • Amazon Business $14.55 1 $14.55
The Undefeated • Amazon Business $12.75 1 $12.75
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
Refugees and Migrants (Children in Our World) • Amazon Business $8.52 1 $8.52

Materials cost

$1,801.54

Vendor shipping charges

FREE

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$27.02

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$1,858.56

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$327.98

Total project goal

$2,186.54

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$2,186.54

22 Donors

-$1,064.60

Donations toward project cost

-$964.55

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$100.05

match offer

-$1,051.78

Match offer toward project cost

-$894.01

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$157.77

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$70.16

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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