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Ms. Deuel from Seattle WA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Hey! This Character Looks Like ME!

Help me give my students the books that they selected as we fill our classroom library with characters who represent the diversity of our world.

  • $573 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

My students come to my multi-age classroom representing a huge range of reading abilities. I have students reading below grade level, at grade level and far above grade level.

My students, ages six to eight, are at the very beginning of developing their lives as readers.

Some came into my classroom already identifying as readers, while others have not yet developed this identity. Research shows that third grade is a critical year for reading development. Once they are past that grade, it can be difficult for struggling readers to get to standard. My goal as a teacher of first and second grade students is to get them hooked on reading early, so that they will become lifelong readers who not only read at standard, but above all, read for enjoyment!

My Project

Literature is a powerful tool that communicates what is valued in society. Messages of beauty, power, and value are implicitly communicated through the racial identities of the characters.

I am aware that my classroom library does not match the racial diversity of our world, but instead of quietly adjusting our book selections, I wanted to leverage the opportunity to involve my students in a study examining racial bias in children's literature.

My students conducted an inventory of our classroom library. They examined the racial representation of our books and found that there were far more characters who were white than characters of color.

After a powerful discussion about how important it is for us all to see ourselves reflected in the stories that surround us, we set to work creating a wish list of books that look like the students in our classroom.

These titles were all selected by my first- and second-grade students.

Ms. Deuel
Grades PreK-2

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants and Refugees Who Make America Great • Amazon Business $13.29 2 $26.58
Zoey and Sassafras Books 1-6 Pack • Amazon Business $19.36 1 $19.36
Thank You, Omu! • Amazon Business $17.09 1 $17.09
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race • Amazon Business $16.19 1 $16.19
Say Something • Amazon Business $14.61 1 $14.61
Ron's Big Mission • Amazon Business $14.57 1 $14.57
The Word Collector • Amazon Business $14.16 1 $14.16
Mixed: A Colorful Story • Amazon Business $13.81 1 $13.81
The Skin You Live In • Amazon Business $13.15 1 $13.15
I am Gandhi (Ordinary People Change the World) • Amazon Business $13.02 1 $13.02
Princess Hair • Amazon Business $12.92 1 $12.92
Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott • Amazon Business $12.75 1 $12.75
Remarkably You • Amazon Business $12.75 1 $12.75
Under My Hijab • Amazon Business $12.73 1 $12.73
Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World (Vashti Harrison) • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Vashti Harrison) • Amazon Business $11.89 1 $11.89
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist • Amazon Business $11.56 1 $11.56
Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You • Amazon Business $11.48 1 $11.48
I am Harriet Tubman (Ordinary People Change the World) • Amazon Business $10.20 1 $10.20
Look What Brown Can Do! • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Festival of Colors • Amazon Business $9.98 1 $9.98
Mixed Me! • Amazon Business $9.98 1 $9.98
Love Your Hair • Amazon Business $9.13 1 $9.13
Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets • Amazon Business $8.49 1 $8.49
This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer • Amazon Business $7.48 1 $7.48
Sign Language: My First 100 Words • Amazon Business $6.99 1 $6.99
A Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver • Amazon Business $6.48 1 $6.48
Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence • Amazon Business $6.36 1 $6.36
Malala Yousafzai (She Dared) • Amazon Business $5.61 1 $5.61
National Geographic Readers: Frederick Douglass (Level 2) (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $4.99 1 $4.99
I Am Smart (Rodale Kids Curious Readers/Level 2) • Amazon Business $4.99 1 $4.99
World of Reading: This is Miles Morales • Amazon Business $4.99 1 $4.99
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Meet the New Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Passport to Reading) • Amazon Business $4.99 1 $4.99
World of Reading: Black Panther: This is Black Panther (Level 1) • Amazon Business $4.99 1 $4.99
MARVEL's Black Panther: Meet Black Panther (Passport to Reading Level 2) • Amazon Business $4.74 1 $4.74
Dream Big, Little One (Vashti Harrison) • Amazon Business $4.49 1 $4.49
Great Black Heroes: Five Notable Inventors (level 4) (Hello Reader) • Amazon Business $4.03 1 $4.03
Scholastic Reader Level 4: Great Black Heroes: Five Brilliant Scientists: Five Brilliant Scientists (level 4) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
National Geographic Readers: George Washington Carver (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
National Geographic Readers: Barack Obama (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
My First Book Of Sign Language • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
Great Black Heroes: Five Brave Explorers (Scholastic Reader, Level 4) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99
National Geographic Readers: Rosa Parks (Readers Bios) • Amazon Business $3.99 1 $3.99

Materials cost

$414.05

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $36.23

3rd party payment processing fee

$6.21

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$486.49

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$85.85

Total project goal

$572.34

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $572.34

5 Donors

-$572.34

Donations toward project cost

-$486.49

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$85.85

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 Ms. Deuel and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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