Help me give my students books they want to read! This list was created by my students, and includes novels graphic novels, manga, a book of poetry (!) and non-fiction! They can't wait to read these books!
$287 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
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 are a wonderful, intelligent, and hard-working group of young men and women who never cease to impress me.
Many of them came to our school fleeing hardship.
Almost half the students are Haitian and came to Orlando following the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010. Most of the Hispanic students who make up the other 47.9% of the school are Puerto Rican and came to Orlando due to Puerto Rico's economic crisis and the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria. As a result, you are just as likely to hear Spanish or Haitian Creole spoken in the hallways as English.
Although many of my students struggle with the language barrier, they embrace our creed and are committed to getting their reading levels up through daily independent reading.
My Project
The difference between success and struggle in high school, college and beyond is a student's reading level. Although numerous studies have shown that the best way to increase reading level is to simply read as much as possible, my district's curriculum focuses on dissecting short excerpts in an effort to improve students' analytical skills.
The only way for students to have meaningful, extended reading practice is to have them read at home; which means giving them books that they're excited to read on their own!
For this project, students were given the opportunity to browse for books on Amazon. After some discussion and debate, the students settled on a final list that most of them were interested in reading. It's an eclectic mix of novels like "Turtles All the Way Down", and "What if it's us?", nonfiction books on topics like the making of "Stranger Things" ("The World Turned Upside Down") and "Fortnite" ("Get Good"), graphic novels based on the video game Minecraft ("Enter the Mine) and Lovecraft ("Locke & Key"), manga that inspired the anime they watch on Netflix ("Seraph of the End" and "No Game No Life") and even a book of poetry written by an Instagramer with 1.3 million followers named Atticus ("The Dark Between Stars").
Honestly, I hadn't heard of most of these books, which is what made this such an interesting project! The books I grew up loving are over 25 years-old, and I truly believe students should be reading the books they love, and not just the books their teacher loves.
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 Mr. Reynolds and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Orlando","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[486561],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"FL","teacherPossessivePronoun":"his","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":3,"name":"Middle School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":4577712,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":1,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/my-students-asked-me-to-get-these-books/4577712/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":true,"numStudents":144,"teacherScreenName":"Mr. Reynolds","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"486561":{"owner":"Mr. Reynolds","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[4577712],"proposalHash":"-186275611","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp486561_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1516376289710","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":101197,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":196,"proposalURL":"project/give-the-kids-what-they-want/8214149/","proposalTitle":"Give the Kids What They Want!","proposalId":8214149},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["NjcxMjc4OA==","MzgwNTcz"],"teacherId":486561,"schoolCounty":"Orange","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"FL","name":"Florida"}}
