Help Newcomers Publish Their Personal Immigration Stories
My students need 85 real books that are blank canvases for their stories, 5 computers to type and help translate their words, and a printer to print their final narratives.
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
My students are newcomers, which means that they have all recently immigrated to the United States. They came from China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Myanmar, the Philippines, Peru, Russia, Thailand, and Yemen, and are working hard here to learn to read and write in English.
These newcomers attend a middle school in the diverse Mission District of San Francisco.
This urban school went from being one of the lowest-ranked public schools in SF to the middle school with the highest growth rate. This is due to the dedication and commitment of highly qualified staff and to the grit and love of learning characterized by our students.
My Project
My students have been studying narrative stories, specifically those with themes of immigration. As a culmination of our first unit, each student is going to write a personal narrative story about his or her journey from home country to the United States. We are doing this because I want my students to know that their life experiences are valued, their stories are powerful, and their voices need to be heard. My vision is that each student will be able to “publish” his or her own book using these blank books, computers and printers and then give a book reading to their classmates, families, and members of our school community, before adding theirs books to our classroom library.
This project will help my students develop their identities as readers and writers, and challenge them with an authentic reason to work on their English.
Supporting my students to share their stories will give a voice to children who are often silenced by the hegemonic structures of our society, as well as serve to promote empathy and courage, and to build shared connections in our diverse and multicultural classroom 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 Ms. Bartkowski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
