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
My school is located in a high poverty area in Baltimore City. It is a Title I school with over 400 students in grades pre-k to five. My students love to read. They get excited about new books I introduce. Unfortunately, engaging books are not easy to come by.
Many of my students do not have books in their home.
Checking out books from our school library each week provides students with greater access to books. They deserve a school library filled with high quality books that meet their needs and their interests. Unfortunately, the average age of the books in our school library is over 30 years old. We also don't have many books. The recommended amount of books for an elementary school library is 10,000 books, our school library has less than 5,000 books. Less than half the recommended number. The students deserve better than that!
My Project
At the start of last school year, the school library did not have any graphic novels. When I asked students to list books they would like to see added to the library, graphic novels were the most requested item by 3rd-5th grade boys. I added 6 graphic novels to the library during the year and they instantly became favorites of boys and girls in 2nd-5th grade. The popularity of these books made it impossible to keep them on the shelves. This is great, but with over 400 students, 6 books are not enough. It is hard to tell students that they can't get the books they want to read because they are already checked out. I am hoping to add several graphic novels to the library in order to meet the wants and needs of my students. I am requesting books at various reading levels and topics in order to appeal to a large amount of students. The Baby Mouse and Squish series will appeal to younger students and struggling readers while the Amulet and March series will appeal more to older students and higher level readers.
Graphic novels are wonderful tools for reluctant readers!
They provide images that help tell the story, are typically fast paced, and have clear dialogue. They are also extremely popular with students. In addition to helping struggling or reluctant readers, graphic novels can be wonderful teaching tools. They can be used to teach dialogue, onomatopoeia, sequencing, and transition words. Some can also be used to teach content! The March series I requested is a wonderful set of graphic novels that can be used to teach students about the civil rights movement.
In addition to the graphic novels, I am also requesting labels and a scanner so the books can be added to the shelves.
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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. Guidera and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.