This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Imagine searching through a classroom library only to find that the majority of the books have ripped covers, missing pages, and have been written in. This is the reality my students face whenever they try to check out books from our class library.
I teach seventh grade language arts at an inner-city school in Missouri.
Unfortunately, our school has fallen on hard times and does not have available funding to update our class libraries. Additionally, we are located in a high needs area where the local community does not have adequate resources to equip our students with the resources they need.
Many of my students entered seventh grade reading several years below grade level. However, over the course of the year they have been working really hard to increase their reading levels to get back to where they need to be. They strongly believe that hard work will pay off and have been practicing reading for two hours outside of class each week. I have never met a group of students that works so hard to improve their reading scores.
My Project
The problem we are faced with, however, is that we are running out of books for them to practice with. Our school librarian only works part time and between our outdated class library and the school library we do not have enough high interest books for the students to check out. Of the books we do have, many are falling apart from years and years of use.
My students are eager to increase their reading scores this year, but in order to make their dreams of academic achievement a possibility we desperately need to get additional materials for them to read. In order to meet my students' needs I am trying to build a classroom library that contains books that my students are actually interested in and will want to read. Currently, my students are in love with paranormal novels. They love reading about witches, ghosts, vampires, and futuristic worlds.
Since I encourage the students to read a book of their choice outside our classroom, my students are just now realizing that reading can actually be enjoyable.
By helping my students obtain the books they crave you will be empowering them to continue reading and working towards their reading goals this year. Without your help, it would be impossible for my students to have these materials and reach their goals.
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. Garcia-Sweeney and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
