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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Simms from Chicago, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Simms is requesting

Connecting with Positive African American Male Role Models

My students need high interest books for our classroom library that will address the interests and independent reading levels of the boys in the class to improve literacy.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Simms's classroom raised $631

This project is fully funded

My Students

My students are amazing readers. From the moment I stepped into my new classroom, students have been encouraged to allow reading to help them to explore the world and to set goals for themselves. This year I want them to learn how to seek out more of what excites them about reading.

I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade math to almost 100 students on the South Side of Chicago.

My students are an amazing mix of awesomeness and academics with the hormonal angst of a typical middle school student mixed in for a bit of excitement. My students love reading and devour books like some kids do candy. They love having the responsibility of being the class librarian and using technology to check out books. We are not fortunate enough to have a librarian at our school so our library isn't as functional as it should be. As teachers we try to supplement the library experience by having classroom libraries. This has been to the benefit of our middle school community because our students know that they have three libraries that they can visit in each of their core subject teacher's classrooms and each creates a different experience for our students.

My Project

With these books, I imagine the young men in my class being excited about what they are reading and not only being excited for themselves but having conversations with each other about what they are reading. I want for the young men in my class to be able to envision themselves in different situations and to also be able to think about the importance of the business, financial, and scientific parts of the sports that they enjoy playing.

The boys in my class have been working hard to increase the number of books that they are reading.

To this end they have become more comfortable making requests of the types of books that they would like to read. I would like to be able to show them that I am listening to their requests and I care and understand that when they enjoy reading they will read more and improve their reading. I would also like them to repeatedly be able to experience feeling excitement about reading.

Ms. Simms Ryder Math & Science Elementary School Grades 6-8

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Chicago, IL View local requests

Nearly all students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

97 students impacted 4donors

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball • Amazon $19.76 1 $19.76
The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Heads of Basketball's Best Players • Amazon $17.08 1 $17.08
Heroes of the Negro Leagues (with free DVD: Only the Ball Was White) • Amazon $16.84 1 $16.84
Still Running: The Autobiography of Kentucky's Nate Northington, the First African American Football Player in the Southeastern Conference • Amazon $16.16 1 $16.16
One Man Out: Curt Flood versus Baseball (Landmark Law Cases and American Society) • Amazon $16.10 1 $16.10
We Could Be Brothers • Amazon $15.86 1 $15.86
Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet • Amazon $14.63 1 $14.63
Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever • Amazon $14.56 1 $14.56
Looking Like Me • Amazon $14.50 1 $14.50
Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy • Amazon $14.32 1 $14.32
Black Boy White School • Amazon $14.18 1 $14.18
Wings • Amazon $13.96 1 $13.96
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy • Amazon $13.74 1 $13.74
When the Game Was Ours • Amazon $13.71 1 $13.71
Color Blind: The Forgotten Team That Broke Baseball's Color Line • Amazon $13.60 1 $13.60
The A-Z Basketball Book: What Every Player Needs to Know to Be Great at the Game! • Amazon $13.46 1 $13.46
There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan • Amazon $12.88 1 $12.88
Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big • Amazon $12.75 1 $12.75
Blackboard Strategies: Over 200 Favorite Plays From Successful Coaches For Nearly Every Possible Situation (Winning hoops) • Amazon $12.13 1 $12.13
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams • Amazon $11.79 1 $11.79
Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices • Amazon $11.72 1 $11.72
Heart Over Height • Amazon $10.67 1 $10.67
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race • Amazon $9.85 1 $9.85
Bad Boy: A Memoir • Amazon $9.52 1 $9.52
Ten Boys Who Changed the World (Lightkeepers) • Amazon $8.99 1 $8.99
Ten Boys Who Made History (Lightkeepers) • Amazon $8.99 1 $8.99
Counting by 7s • Amazon $8.89 1 $8.89
Dope Sick • Amazon $8.80 1 $8.80
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West • Amazon $8.68 1 $8.68
Streetball Crew Book One Sasquatch in the Paint • Amazon $7.99 1 $7.99
Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series (The Sports Beat, 4) • Amazon $7.99 1 $7.99
Football: The Math of the Game (Sports Math) • Amazon $7.95 1 $7.95
Basketball: The Math of the Game (Sports Math) • Amazon $7.95 1 $7.95
Baseball: The Math of the Game (Sports Math) • Amazon $7.95 1 $7.95
Basketball: How It Works (The Science of Sports (Sports Illustrated for Kids)) • Amazon $7.95 1 $7.95
Hockey: The Math of the Game (Sports Math) • Amazon $7.95 1 $7.95
Last Shot: Mystery at the Final Four (The Sports Beat, 1) • Amazon $7.65 1 $7.65
Cover-up: Mystery at the Super Bowl • Amazon $7.55 1 $7.55
How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy • Amazon $6.99 1 $6.99
Bucking the Sarge • Amazon $6.99 1 $6.99
STAT #5: Most Valuable (Stat: Standing Tall and Talented) • Amazon $5.99 1 $5.99
STAT #4: Schooled (Stat: Standing Tall and Talented) • Amazon $5.99 1 $5.99
STAT #3: Slam Dunk: Standing Tall and Talented • Amazon $5.99 1 $5.99
STAT: Standing Tall and Talented #2: Double Team • Amazon $5.99 1 $5.99
STAT: Standing Tall and Talented #1: Home Court • Amazon $5.99 1 $5.99
Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream • Amazon $5.78 1 $5.78

Materials cost

$498.76

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.48

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$536.24

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$94.63

Total project goal

$630.87

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $630.87

2 Donors

-$97.00

Donations toward project cost

-$82.45

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$14.55

match offer

-$533.87

Match offer toward project cost

-$453.79

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$80.08

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. Simms and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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