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Mrs. Cuevas from Bakersfield CA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Engaging Books Create Engaged Readers

Help me give my students access to high interest books written to engage reluctant readers.

  • $765 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

My pioneering school district is revamping our English Language Arts curriculum and schedule in order to address the needs of all students from the high-achieving to those who have fallen behind. My students belong to the latter group. All of my seventh and eighth graders are reading at a level below their grade level. My students will receive intensive intervention to address the gaps in their reading and writing skills.

The majority of my students absolutely hate reading!

Throughout their lives, they have struggled with it. Embarrassment and thinking they are "bad at reading" has turned reading into an unpleasant (and strongly avoided) activity. I want to convince my students of two things: reading can be fun, engaging and rewarding and EVERY SINGLE ONE of them can be a good reader. I will build a community of reading through student choice of reading material and access to a variety of high interest books.

My Project

I teach reading intervention classes at the junior high level. My students will readily admit they HATE reading. I've been unrelenting since the first day of school, espousing the importance of reading and hyping up book after book. I've made a lot of progress getting my students interested in reading. But I need more books!

My classes have an average reading level equivalent to 4th grade--even though I teach 7th and 8th graders.

The books they might actually want to read, the books their friends are reading, are so challenging for them, they get overwhelmed, frustrated, and eventually give up. OR they pretend to read it, just to save face. So they should just read books written for 4th graders, right? Try interesting an 8th grade boy in a book written for elementary students.

Luckily, authors and publishers like Orca have begun to address this desperate need. The materials I'm requesting are written at a lower reading level, but are geared toward the maturity and interests of teens! I've received some books like these in a previous Donor's Choose project. They are the most popular books in my classroom! I need more options to keep the momentum going and keep my reluctant readers reading.

Mrs. Cuevas
Grades 6-8

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
A Terrible Secret • AKJ Education $12.37 1 $12.37
Taken • AKJ Education $10.91 1 $10.91
She Said/She Saw • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
The World Without Us • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
Five Minutes More • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
Punch Like a Girl • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
About That Night • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
Teeny Little Grief Machines • AKJ Education $7.99 1 $7.99
Daredevil Club • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Cuts Like a Knife • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Spiral • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
The Most Beautiful Bully • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Bull's Eye • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Fallout • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Something Girl • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Caught in the Act • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Breaking Point 1 vol. • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Homecoming • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Knifepoint • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Responsible • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Rise of the Zombie Scarecrows • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Juice • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Breathless • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
No More Pranks • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Kicked Out • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Snowball Effect, the • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Sudden Impact • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Grind • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Benched • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Kicker • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Stuffed • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Truth • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Haze • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Bang • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Tell • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Chat Room • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Down • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Fastback Beach • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Home Invasion • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Impact • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Crossbow • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Unchained • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Three Good Things • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Beyond Repair • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Shatterproof • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Chill • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Nine Doors • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
House Party • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Self. Destructed • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Viral • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Shade • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Death Drop • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Shallow Grave • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Last Ride • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Cellular • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Rat • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Picture This • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Back • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Hardball • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Jacked • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Scratch n' Snitch • AKJ Education $6.53 1 $6.53
Rebel • AKJ Education $6.53 1 $6.53
Emoji of Doom • AKJ Education $6.53 1 $6.53
Twister • AKJ Education $5.80 1 $5.80
Ransom • AKJ Education $5.80 1 $5.80
Creature • AKJ Education $5.80 1 $5.80
Blizzard • AKJ Education $5.80 1 $5.80
Hannah's Touch • AKJ Education $5.47 1 $5.47
The Fallen • AKJ Education $5.00 1 $5.00
The Gun • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Search for Safety • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Brothers in Arms • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Bluford High #17: Pretty Ugly • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
A Matter of Trust • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Schooled - Bluford Series #15 (Townsend) • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Someone to Love Me • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Summer of Secrets • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Secrets in the Shadows • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
Blood is Thicker • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61
Breaking Point Blueford Hight #16 • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61
Lost and Found • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61
The Bully • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61
Until We Meet Again • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61

Materials cost

$560.20

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $51.26

3rd party payment processing fee

$8.40

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$649.86

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$114.68

Total project goal

$764.54

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $764.54

1 Donor

-$764.54

Donations toward project cost

-$649.86

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$114.68

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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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 Mrs. Cuevas and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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