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Ms. Gardner from Jacksonville FL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Read Like Your Life Depends On It!

My students need books and a little motivation to read as much as you can!

  • $596 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

If you've ever seen a child's eyes light up when they finally "get it," then you know why I teach. Students at my school are two or more years overage for their grade, and most of them have been retained at least once. I have a high percentage of students who are homeless or have unstable housing, which increases their absenteeism rate as well as their access to supports outside of school. Despite being overage, most of them read at least two grade levels behind and even up to five or six years behind grade level. School has been a discouraging place for them. My job is to show them a different way, to make those connections for them they haven't been able to make. Even though it's difficult, it's still possible and I help them work their way through. I want to make reading enjoyable for them, not just another thing someone is making them do. When stories come alive for them, so do their faces and their engagement level. In my classroom, every student is a success. For many of them, it's the first time they've had that feeling.

My Project

Low literacy skills are plaguing our district. Since my school serves students who are overage and have been retained, this is especially true for my students. They have struggled with reading for years, and many just hate the thought of picking up a book. About 30% of my students are homeless or have unstable housing. Many don't know where they will be sleeping three days from now; they certainly don't have books to take with them from couch to couch or shelter to shelter. However, I know that improving their reading skills will greatly improve their lives and their chances for success. I want to make sure they have books they will truly enjoy as well as a truly motivating reason to read them.

You can make that possible!

By supporting Read Like Your Life Depends On It, you will provide a wide variety of books that my students can read in class as well as at home. For my homeless students, I will even provide them with a book to keep toward the end of the year. We will have a class contest for who can read the most, and I will provide the top reader with an Amazon Fire that is loaded with an Overdrive app so they can check out e-books for free at the library. We all know the difference reading makes. For my students who already bear the weight of poverty, homelessness, and lack of resources, they really are reading because their life depends on it.

Ms. Gardner
Grades 6-8

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

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Amazon - Fire - 7'- Tablet - 8GB 7th Generation, 2017 Release - Black • Best Buy Education $53.05 1 $53.05
Amazon - Cover Case for Amazon Fire 7 (7th Generation, 2017 Release) - Punch Red • Best Buy Education $21.77 1 $21.77
Fangirl A Novel • AKJ Education $13.86 1 $13.86
Remember My Name My Story from First Pitch to Game Changer • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
The Crossover • AKJ Education $12.28 1 $12.28
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates • AKJ Education $11.68 1 $11.68
Open Mic Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices • AKJ Education $11.67 1 $11.67
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian • AKJ Education $11.67 1 $11.67
The Hate U Give • AKJ Education $11.38 1 $11.38
Wonder • AKJ Education $10.69 1 $10.69
Dork Diaries 11 • AKJ Education $10.21 1 $10.21
Middle School: Big Fat Liar • AKJ Education $10.21 1 $10.21
Dork Diaries 9 Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen • AKJ Education $10.21 1 $10.21
Dork Diaries 1 Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life • AKJ Education $10.21 1 $10.21
Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 1 • AKJ Education $10.18 1 $10.18
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier • AKJ Education $9.49 1 $9.49
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition) • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Stick Dog • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Sugar Changed the World A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science • AKJ Education $8.02 1 $8.02
Drama • AKJ Education $8.02 1 $8.02
Monster • AKJ Education $8.02 1 $8.02
Brown Girl Dreaming • AKJ Education $8.02 1 $8.02
The Hunger Games • AKJ Education $7.54 1 $7.54
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets • AKJ Education $7.38 1 $7.38
Small Steps • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Out of My Mind • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Lord of the Flies • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
The Maze Runner (Book One) • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
I'm Just Me • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Speak • AKJ Education $7.13 1 $7.13
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone • AKJ Education $6.98 1 $6.98
The Skin I'm In • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
You Don't Even Know Me Stories and Poems About Boys • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
Hatchet • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
Sugar • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
One Crazy Summer • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Becoming Naomi Leon • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: The Lightning Thief • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Holes • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Ninth Ward • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda • AKJ Education $5.80 1 $5.80
Boys Without Names • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
Chains: Seeds of America • AKJ Education $4.98 1 $4.98
Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition • AKJ Education $4.85 1 $4.85
The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants #1) • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
Who Is Sonia Sotomayor? • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
Who Was Rosa Parks? • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
What Was the March on Washington? • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
Last Summer with Maizon • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
Who Was John F. Kennedy? • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
What Is the Declaration of Independence? • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37

Materials cost

$468.74

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.03

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$505.77

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$89.25

Total project goal

$595.02

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $595.02

7 Donors

-$291.88

Donations toward project cost

-$252.88

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$39.00

match offer

-$297.52

Match offer toward project cost

-$252.89

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$44.63

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$5.63

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. Gardner and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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