My students need 25 books, including "Up the Learning Tree," "Astronomy" and "Moonshot," to have access to historical fiction, science, and other informational text.
If a book is yellowing and has a rumpled cover, you might hesitate to pick it up. This is the condition of most of the used books in our class library. It's much more enticing to have a new book without ragged edges. And who wants to read a book that isn't of interest?
My students are from the low income neighborhood surrounding the school.
Generations of families have attended our school. We have many very good readers who enjoy learning. Many English Learners attend our school so there are varying levels of reading comprehension skills.
My Project
Since my students read at different grade levels, we need a variety of books that offer students text that matches their current reading ability while still providing informational text or fiction. The books may be taken home for nightly reading.
Many are excellent readers who need fiction or non-fiction that challenges them beyond their grade level. If the library is updated with new books, my students are more likely to take them home at night. Many reread their favorite books at home that might not challenge their reading development.
These new books will help teach history, geography, and social studies in a format and style that will capture their attention with graphics and a variety of reading levels. Science books will provide information that is relevant to the required curriculum, in addition to more choices for independent reading. If the students have new books, and ones that are of interest to them, they will be more likely to read more each night.
Many students can't get to the public library.
From the classroom library, they will have access to books that are increasingly more challenging as the year goes by. New books will tempt them more than the old books currently on the shelves.
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 Ms. Walsh and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.