My students need 20 copies of the award-winning novel "Gabi, A Girl in Pieces" by Mexican-American writer Isabel Quintero.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Borrus's classroom raised $275
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
The students at my school are as enthusiastic and capable as students anywhere, but face many challenges to academic achievement. This is an area that can be very dangerous. Gangs are an ever-present reality. Crime and poverty are high; unemployment is high. Many students work after school and some take care of younger siblings. The teenagers in my English Language Development class face an additional hurdle: they have grown up in homes where English is rarely spoken.
As English learners, many have struggled for years to read and write at grade level, which has a negative impact on their achievement in all subject areas.
And sadly, very few read for pleasure because reading English has proven so challenging for them throughout their school careers. Until they reclassify as English proficient, they get supplemental instruction in my class in reading fluency and comprehension, writing and oral communication skills.
Our school, with a strong interdisciplinary and performing arts focus, is only seven years old and now has a 90% graduation rate, with many students accepted to four-year universities. I know how truly capable my ELD students are and want all of them to be among those college-bound.
My Project
While it is important for English Learners to be exposed to literature by writers of all ethnicities, it is also essential that they be given the opportunity to read books that immediately engage them by reflecting their own culture and life experiences.
My ELD students need to read books they enjoy and find relevant if they are to become lifelong readers.
In the novel "Gabi, A Girl in Pieces" the protagonist chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: college applications, her best friend's pregnancy, another friend's coming out, her father's fatal meth habit, the food she craves, and best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity and get through it all. I read my students the first six entries aloud. They all loved them and commented on how much they identified with Gabi.
This novel is totally relatable, and it is also an excellent tool for teaching characterization, theme, story structure, and the power of language and poetry to heal and inspire. In addition, Gabi is a fantastic role model. Witty, strong and fiercely independent, she refuses to be defined by her ethnicity, class, weight or lifestyle.
I would love my students to participate in literature circles using this novel!
Nearly all 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 Ms. Borrus and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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