We are a family. My students are 6 and 7 year olds at a charter school with a very diverse population. My class includes students from all socio-economic backgrounds, many different cultures, and a variety of family structures.
Our school community is founded on a set of 6 character building values, and all community members (students, staff, and parents) strive to exemplify those values every day.
One of those values is excellence. Another is respect. I need to show respect to my students by providing them with the tools they need to show the excellence that is inside them.
My Project
Mentor texts serve an important purpose in an elementary classroom. As a reader, students are invited in to the experience of the story. They become friends with the characters and visit the setting. They see different perspectives and learn lessons. As a writer, students learn the choices authors make to draw their reader in. They learn about word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation. They learn to tell the story part by part, and how to build suspense.
My students deserve the opportunity to experience books that are both windows and mirrors- windows into people and lives that are different from their own, and mirrors that reflect their own experiences.
There is something extremely powerful about reading a book about an experience you have also lived. This project will honor the diversity in my classroom, and the diversity in our society today.
Half of 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 Mrs. Buonacquisto and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.