This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My students are curious to learn about various scientific concepts but desperately need an avenue for such learning that is meaningful to their own interests and daily lives!
I am a high school Biology and Chemistry teacher in a high-poverty urban community that is earnestly rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
My students have faced more than their fair share of obstacles. Two of these are particularly noteworthy. My students return, daily, to a school that is lacking basic resources, including books. They know that despite their teachers' best interests, access to the ideas that books contain will move them towards greater successes. Second, my students are not given enough literacy-based instruction when, on average, they read at the level of students who are two grades below them. Poor literacy is not a just an obstacle to their academic success, it will sharply impair their ability to perform in the working world.
Starting a class library will be a small but important step in the right direction, alleviating the two obstacles listed above. Having a classroom library will give students access to an important resource: books! Students will be able, and encouraged, to consult the library on a daily basis. Additionally, one class period every week will be devoted to reading. Students will choose a book of their liking (to be completed in the course of the semester), and will report on it as they make their way to the end! They will learn science and practice reading, increasing their literacy skills as a result!
Your help in building this classroom library will certainly give my students access to valuable resources which will heighten their literacy skills. Please know that, in addition, you will empower them to be engaged and motivated learners who are excited about what they are doing in school!
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Michael Shermer, Foreword by Stephen Jay Gould
• Barnes and Noble
$13.60
1
$13.60
Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology Bernd Heinrich
• Barnes and Noble
$5.99
1
$5.99
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Jared Diamond
• Barnes and Noble
$11.66
1
$11.66
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time Jonathan Weiner
• Barnes and Noble
$12.76
1
$12.76
The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA James D. Watson
• Barnes and Noble
$12.76
1
$12.76
Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body Neil Shubin
• Barnes and Noble
$11.16
1
$11.16
Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug Diarmuid Jeffreys
• Barnes and Noble
$14.35
1
$14.35
Lavoisier in the Year One: The Birth of a New Science in an Age of Revolution (Great Discoveries Series) Madison Smartt Bell
• Barnes and Noble
$12.55
1
$12.55
The Periodic Table Primo Levi, Raymond Rosenthal (Translator)
• Barnes and Noble
$10.36
1
$10.36
Poison Paradox: How and When Chemicals Are Toxic John A. Timbrell
• Barnes and Noble
$49.50
1
$49.50
The Physics of Superheroes James Kakalios
• Barnes and Noble
$3.99
1
$3.99
Venomous Earth: How Arsenic Caused the World's Worst Mass Poisoning Andrew Meharg
• Barnes and Noble
$34.15
1
$34.15
Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality Ronald L. Mallett Dr., Bruce Henderson
• Barnes and Noble
$15.25
1
$15.25
E = mc : A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation David Bodanis
• Barnes and Noble
$13.50
1
$13.50
Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity Andrew Robinson (Editor)
• Barnes and Noble
$9.98
1
$9.98
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes Stephen Hawking, Foreword by Stephen Hawking
• Barnes and Noble
$14.40
1
$14.40
Climate Change Begins At Home Dave Reay, Preface by Mark Lynas
• Barnes and Noble
$13.45
1
$13.45
The Rough Guide to Climate Change Robert Henson, Rough Guides
• Barnes and Noble
$15.29
1
$15.29
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet Mark Lynas
• Barnes and Noble
$5.99
1
$5.99
Surviving Armageddon: Solutions for a Threatened Planet Bill McGuire
• Barnes and Noble
$22.50
1
$22.50
The World Without Us Alan Weisman
• Barnes and Noble
$12.00
1
$12.00
13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time Michael Brooks
• Barnes and Noble
$21.55
1
$21.55
Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day Peter J. Bentley
• Barnes and Noble
$13.56
1
$13.56
A Brief History of Science Thomas Crump
• Barnes and Noble
$10.80
1
$10.80
Materials cost
$361.10
Vendor shipping charges
$36.11
Sales tax
$14.44
3rd party payment processing fee
$5.42
Fulfillment labor & materials
$9.00
Total project cost
$426.00
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$93.51
Total project goal
$519.51
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$519.51
10 Donors
-$508.54
Donations toward project cost
-$426.00
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
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. Mirakhur and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.