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.
I teach 7th grade English Language Arts at middle school in the South Bronx. The school is located in a high-need community, where common issues for residents include poverty, drugs and gang-related activities.
Back in September, many of my students came to school and stated, "Miss, I hate reading." They said they would rather do the dishes, clean their rooms, take out the garbage, ANYTHING instead of reading. That information helped me form one of my early teaching goals for the year - I was going to figure out how to engage even the most reluctant reader, and show students the joy, the sense of accomplishment and the wealth of power that reading can enable them. Through much thought and creative planning, I have slowly worked toward that goal as the year has progressed. Over the past months, my students have laughed at the antics of Stanley Yelnats in "Holes", have connected to the concerns and emotions of Ponyboy and the other Greasers in "The Outsiders", bumped to the poetic beat of Tyrone Bittings and his friends in "Bronx Masquerade"; they are now learning that the utopian society in which Jonas resides in "The Giver" perhaps is not so perfect after all.
From the wear and tear of continual use at the hands of sixty-five students, my books have fallen on hard times! Many are missing covers and pages, many have broken spines and some have completely broken in two. Seeing the change in so many of my students, for some a newly discovered love for reading, for others a new-found willingness to give reading a try, makes me desperately want to continue offering engaging and personable literature for my students. I have realized that in order to do so, all my class sets must be updated.
The set of books in most need of replacement at this moment is "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. Introducing the unit of science fiction, of which very few students were familiar or interested, was challenging. Watching students slowly became engrossed in Jonas's life within his community over past weeks has been exhilirating. I want to be able to offer this same opportunity to the new group of students coming to me next year; your generous donation of new books will extend this experience to those students. Help them discover their own love for reading!
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. Williams and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
