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Mrs. Martinez from Jersey City NJ is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Pinning Down a Good Book: Inspiring Readers and Leaders

Help me give my students contemporary novels that are culturally relevant, highlight diversity, and that are high-interest to get them excited about reading. The button maker will be to make book pins to show off their reading accomplishments!

  • $610 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate 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

As a teacher in a culturally diverse, low-income school, my students are faced with several challenges both in and out of the classroom. Despite the many challenges they often face, these students come in everyday eager to learn and explore a wide range of topics in the field of Social Studies i.e. World Civilizations, US History, Civics, and current events.

These inquisitive students are explorers, dreamers, and thinkers filled with unlimited potential to one day shape the world they are learning about today.

Each student comes from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, with 100% receiving both free breakfast and lunch. In this fast-paced, ever changing world it is imperative that we as educators provide every opportunity to help our students develop both academically and socially. They enjoy engaging in meaningful conversations but we often lack sufficient resources and reading materials for and that is a why I would like to increase their access to culturally relevant books and promote a love of reading in our classroom & school community.

My Project

Reading is an exercise for the mind. Studies have shown the benefits such as helping students calm down and relax, while opening doors of new knowledge to enlighten their minds. Additionally, students who read for leisure grow up to have better cognitive skills.

Increasing access to culturally relevant books and promoting a love of reading in our classroom will have a huge impact on my students' lives.

"Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books." —Rudine Sims Bishop, "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" from Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom. vol. 6, no. 3. Summer 1990

Representation matters in literature and why introducing new, contemporary, culturally inclusive novels to my students is so important. They will also be able to show off their accomplishments with pins of every novel they select and read from our "First Chapter Friday" initiative. First Chapter Friday is simply a way to introduce students to books that they may not otherwise pick. I read the first chapter of a novel every Friday, then display the book and the students are able to sign-up and check it out. It has been very successful and by adding the pins as a reward, it will excite them more!

Mrs. Martinez
Grades 6-8

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Mrs. Martinez is requesting.

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
BEAMNOVA Button Badge Maker Machine 1-1/4 inch with 1000 Button Parts and Circle Cutter • Amazon Business $115.99 1 $115.99
White Bird: A Wonder Story • Amazon Business $16.59 3 $49.77
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks • Amazon Business $13.19 3 $39.57
The Seeds of America Trilogy: Chains; Forge; Ashes • Amazon Business $12.39 3 $37.17
The Poet X • Amazon Business $10.99 3 $32.97
Other Words for Home • Amazon Business $10.99 3 $32.97
The Benefits of Being an Octopus • Amazon Business $9.99 3 $29.97
With the Fire on High • Amazon Business $8.99 3 $26.97
New Kid • Amazon Business $7.79 3 $23.37
El Deafo • Amazon Business $7.44 3 $22.32
Fever 1793 • Amazon Business $7.19 3 $21.57
The Crossover (Graphic Novel) (The Crossover Series) • Amazon Business $6.49 3 $19.47
Ghost (1) (Track) • Amazon Business $5.99 3 $17.97
EK Tools Circle Punch, 1.25-Inch, New Package • Amazon Business $10.88 1 $10.88

Materials cost

$480.96

Vendor shipping charges

FREE

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.21

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$518.17

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$91.44

Total project goal

$609.61

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$609.61

11 Donors

-$609.61

Donations toward project cost

-$518.17

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$91.44

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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