The cost of the books, including Copper Sun, Like Sisters on the Homefront, Born Blue, Imani All Mine, Heaven, Life in Prison, Broken China, Blue Tights, Jason and Kyra, If You Come Softly, Indigo Summer and Simply Divine is $343, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
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.
As a new high school English teacher in rural Eastern North Carolina, I have been blessed with the beauty of finding high interest books for my students.
The title of my grant comes from the funniest and most rewarding phrase that has been said in my classroom. The greatest phenomenon of my young teaching career is the reality that my students are now eager to read. I could not be more excited that my students are beginning to crave our Silent Sustained Reading time and "fight" over who gets to read the "hot book" next.
It is also amazing that the chatter during SSR Journal Time has now transformed from the latest gossip into the buzz about who is reading the "most slamming" book and how students cannot believe what is happening next. My students are, on average, three to four years below their grade level and previously found reading intimidating and "stupid." With the discovery of a list of high-interest books, this has begun to rapidly change.
Through a previous grant and donations from friends and family, we have been able to muster up a scarce collection of some of our favorite reads. Although we are thankful, they are not enough to satiate the students' burgeoning desires for books that are contemporary and connect to their lives. Some of my students have gotten to the point where they have begged to "check out" their books and take them home, promising to bring them back because they share with a student in another period.
My third period class is currently lobbying to have a bake sale to raise funds for more books because some of the students have already read most of the selections. The skyrocketing number of books they are reading has blown my mind! In addition to their new desire to read, their comprehension skills are consequently on the rise. They are now increasingly able to engage in and understand the more difficult texts we read as a class.
My students and I have generated a list of the most "fly" books we have read and a few more we are yearning to have. We would appreciate any contribution to our goal of becoming amazing readers! Some of the begged-for books are Copper Sun, Like Sisters on the Homefront, Born Blue, Imani All Mine, Heaven, Life in Prison, Broken China, Blue Tights, Jason and Kyra, If You Come Softly, Indigo Summer and Simply Divine.
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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. Ewen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.