Culturally Relevant Novels Needed-Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen
My students need to read books in which they can see themselves. They also need time at home to read and digest the literature, so each student needs his or her own copy of "Tree Girl."
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Clemson's classroom raised $558
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
Books are sometimes windows offering many views of world, but they can also be mirrors. Students seek identity, self-affirmation and new understandings of the world and their roles in it in books. When students can not find mirrors in books, it is hard to fall in love with reading.
My students are racially and culturally diverse, and economically poor.
93% of students receive free and reduced priced lunch. They are impoverished. About 40% of my students are Hispanic, and they struggle to engage in books that are not about them. It is important for me to show my students that I value their stories by giving them a book that serves as a mirror.
Reading Tree Girl as a whole class novel will simultaneously show the students that they are valued, that their history is worth studying, and will in all likelihood turn many students on to reading for the first time. Last year, I gave this book to a few students and it changed their lives. It is also important for my Caucasian, African American, Middle Eastern, and Asian students to read and appreciate the story and history presented in Tree Girl and recognize that it is a mirror for many of their peers. This book will show my students the world in a different light and allow them to understand each other on a deeper level.
My Project
Tree Girl is the true story of a young girl who miraculously survives the Civil War in Guatemala. The book changed my life and understanding of Central American history. When I gave it to five of my students to read last year, the result was show stopping. They were immediately engaged. They shared their own families' stories. They talked to their friends about the book, and physically clung to it. They told me that it was the first book they had read that they could relate to culturally on a personal level. They cried, they laughed, and they were truly thankful to have read the book. These students ranged from avid readers to a 15-year-old Mexican thug--it is the first book he ever read cover to cover.
I know that this book can change the lives of my students; I've seen it.
Please help me put a copy in every student's hands this year, and for many more to come. If reading is a matter life and death, being able to share this book could save lives. I am not being melodramatic. For my students, engaging in school means staying in school, and staying in school means staying alive. Help me give students a book that serves as a mirror; a book that will engage them and draw them in.
More than a third of 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
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. Clemson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
