Cultivating Literacy and Compassion with Pumpkinheads!
Help me give my students a class set of Rainbow Rowell's Pumpkinheads for the first literature unit of 9th grade English.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Okamura's classroom raised $1,073
This project is fully funded
My Project
In order to learn how to become better readers, writers, and compassionate members of our communities, my students need a class set of Rainbow Rowell's graphic novel, Pumpkinheads, to kick off the school year.
By engaging with Pumpkinheads, students will learn about character development, healthy peer relationships, and how the different events in a story are structured to give meaning to a narrative arc.
Students will then engage in various socratic seminars around what makes friendships work, if the line from a friendship to a romantic partnership should ever be crossed, and how events in a person's life can change a static person into a dynamic one.
My students attend a low-income urban school in Philadelphia and hail from a variety of backgrounds, many of whom will be the first in their families to face the challenges of attending high school, college, and beyond. This first book is designed to get students excited about reading and the rich peer to peer conversations that can flow from a story that is easy to read, but complex enough to have a discussion about. Therefore, this project has two purposes - cultivate a love of reading, and build community at the same time.
Long-term social change is enacted not by catchy political slogans or through committed educators, but through our youth engaging in school, reading cool books, and building a compassionate learning community.
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
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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 Mr. Okamura and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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