I have the privilege of teaching social studies to 52 thoughtful, creative 5th graders each day. Many of my students face personal struggles outside of the classroom, but they come to school each day ready to learn. Most are being raised by a single parent or another guardian, and many live below the poverty line. Their world view is limited to what they see at home, at school, in their community and in the media.
My students need more access to the world behind the social studies standards they are expected to master.
While we have textbooks, I want to create a library of books that correlate to the big ideas taught in 5th grade to give my students additional resources that will help them develop a deeper understanding and visual reference of these tough concepts they are expected to comprehend and eventually master.
My Project
As a teacher, I continually reflect on my lessons and teaching. I love researching and finding new ways to make learning engaging and fun. This is only my second year in 5th grade. While I slowly have been building my library by adding more high-interest nonfiction and historical fiction books that relate to the 5th-grade social studies standards, I am hoping through this DonorsChoose.org project to be able to add even more books to share with my students. I also often use picture books to teach reading standards, so picture books geared toward social studies will help me integrate the two subjects.
My students always have so many questions about the social studies content we've studied; I want to give them more options to further their own learning and interests.
Books like They Called Her Molly Pitcher, The American Revolution, Pioneer Trails along with other books will help my students dive even deeper and learn even more about the 5th-grade social studies and beyond. I can guarantee these books will be read and loved by my 5th grade students for many years to come.
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. Hall and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
