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Ms. Chisholm from Dorchester MA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Building a Racially Diverse Class Library

My students need a class library that includes books with many positive and diverse characters. The genres that are most essential are STEAM, family & friendship, social justice and holidays.

  • $544 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Celebrate Black Teachers and Students

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

Dorchester is the 8th most diverse neighborhood in the country. Our classroom shows that! In our classroom you will find students of West Indian, Cape Verdean, Irish, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Vietnamese origin. Our students also come from economically diverse backgrounds with 67% of students qualifying for federal school lunch programs.

First grade is truly a magical year in children's lives.

This is the year when they will learn how to read. Many our students are making tremendous growth. Many of our students start the year reading predictable-patterned storybooks. By the end of the year, they have progressed to chapter books. Students participate in small daily reading groups during school and they also have daily opportunities to read independently from their book boxes. Students are able to pick storybooks from our class library, which is leveled based on their reading levels and interests.

My Project

Even though the backgrounds of my students and the community that my school services are extremely diverse, our classroom library is not. Most of the storybooks in our class library have non-human main characters and there are very few main characters that represent the backgrounds of our students. My students have no representation in the literature in their own classroom.

In today’s diverse society it is important to have a truly multicultural curriculum that starts in the early grades.

A good place to start is to have quality, multicultural storybooks to read available to students. Storybooks are a powerful tool to utilize when educating young children. Literature can inform and enlighten children. It also has several psychological benefits, as well. Storybooks can help children identify with characters and events to make sense of their own beliefs, actions and emotions. They can also see what the world looks like through the eyes of another person, helping them make connections to the real world and other people. Multicultural literature benefits both children of color and white children as it acts a “mirror” to children of that culture and a “window” to the other children.

At NHCS, 81% of the students are children of color. Therefore, it is imperative that they have characters in stories that they can relate to. In modern culture, it is essential that white children find a way to relate to and understand others who do not look exactly like them. It has been proven that the best ways to diminish children’s prejudges is to acknowledge the similarities between cultures.

Ms. Chisholm
Grades PreK-2

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Welcome, Precious • Amazon Business $17.99 1 $17.99
The Family with Many Colors • Amazon Business $15.95 1 $15.95
The Nian Monster • Amazon Business $15.46 1 $15.46
Our Rights: How kids are changing the world • Amazon Business $14.73 1 $14.73
The Nutcracker in Harlem • Amazon Business $14.44 1 $14.44
Lola's Rules for Friendship • Amazon Business $14.11 1 $14.11
Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam • Amazon Business $13.25 1 $13.25
Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories • Amazon Business $13.10 1 $13.10
Happy in Our Skin • Amazon Business $13.02 1 $13.02
Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X • Amazon Business $12.85 1 $12.85
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist • Amazon Business $12.36 1 $12.36
Blue Sky White Stars • Amazon Business $12.19 1 $12.19
Ada Twist, Scientist • Amazon Business $12.10 1 $12.10
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions • Amazon Business $11.86 1 $11.86
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground • Amazon Business $11.76 1 $11.76
Why Am I Me? • Amazon Business $11.60 1 $11.60
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World • Amazon Business $11.55 1 $11.55
Nelson Mandela • Amazon Business $10.98 1 $10.98
My Kicks: A Sneaker Story! • Amazon Business $10.54 1 $10.54
Caleb and Kit • Amazon Business $10.43 1 $10.43
Doc Like Mommy • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
The Meteorologist In Me: Have you ever had a dream you thought was too big to share-boldly? Well, this book is for you! The Meteorologist In Me is an ... a big dream- to become a TV Meteorologist! • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Sleep Well, Siba and Saba • Amazon Business $9.40 1 $9.40
Stem Cells Are Everywhere • Amazon Business $8.99 1 $8.99
The Soda Bottle School: A True Story of Recycling, Teamwork, and One Crazy Idea • Amazon Business $8.95 1 $8.95
Roll, Slope, and Slide: A Book About Ramps (Amazing Science: Simple Machines) • Amazon Business $8.06 1 $8.06
Apple Pie Fourth of July • Amazon Business $7.97 1 $7.97
Move It!: Motion, Forces and You (Primary Physical Science) • Amazon Business $7.95 1 $7.95
Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art • Amazon Business $7.57 1 $7.57
The People Shall Continue • Amazon Business $7.38 1 $7.38
Mixed Me! • Amazon Business $7.36 1 $7.36
What Is Science? • Amazon Business $6.98 1 $6.98
The Eighth Menorah • Amazon Business $6.86 1 $6.86
Grandmother's Dreamcatcher • Amazon Business $6.83 1 $6.83
The Story of Kwanzaa (Trophy Picture Books (Paperback)) • Amazon Business $6.62 1 $6.62
Gone Crazy in Alabama • Amazon Business $6.48 1 $6.48
Sylvia & Aki • Amazon Business $6.09 1 $6.09
Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest Episode 1: The Quest for Screen Time (Volume 1) • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest Episode 2: The Ladek Invasion (Volume 2) • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Let's Talk About Race • Amazon Business $5.94 1 $5.94
What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors • Amazon Business $4.39 1 $4.39
Mae Jemison (You Should Meet) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
Together for Kwanzaa (Pictureback(R)) • Amazon Business $3.01 1 $3.01
Katherine Johnson (You Should Meet) • Amazon Business $2.31 1 $2.31

Materials cost

$425.36

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$6.38

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$461.74

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$81.48

Total project goal

$543.22

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $543.22

5 Donors

-$468.22

Donations toward project cost

-$397.99

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$70.23

match offer

-$75.00

Match offer toward project cost

-$63.75

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$11.25

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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. Chisholm and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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