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Ms. Rocuant from Chicago, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Rocuant is requesting

Shake Hands with History: Genre Study Project Part One

My students need multiple copies of 13 high-quality biographies based on the lives of fascinating people.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Rocuant's classroom raised $437

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.

The best teachers are the ones that bring their passions into the classroom and excite us to become curious about something that we may never have noticed before. This is the starting place for my proposal, Shake Hands with History. After teaching at a low-income school for five years, I have learned the importance of bringing these passions to the forefront of the curriculum. This project helps bring reading and history to life with a special focus on the genre of biography. My third-graders will not only get a chance to "meet" different people from a variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences, but they will also learn more about reading through the use of gorgeous picture books and literature.

This will be my first year teaching third graders, and although I am excited about working with this younger group of children, I am also apprehensive about the lack of a classroom library. I believe that I have the ability to "trick" kids into loving reading, but I need books to get them going! Although we face the challenge of teaching low-income students at our school, I have seen enormous gains in my students in previous years by building an extensive classroom library that covers a variety of readers.

We need biography picture books that cover a variety of important figures from different walks of life and passions. These books will either be read out loud to the children or will be read by the children themselves independently. Having a rich selection for the children to choose from helps increase their motivation and enthusiasm about learning. The project will also help accomplish several goals I have for my third graders: first and foremost, the crux of this project is to help create life-long readers and learners. Besides that over-arching goal, this project is actually part of a series of proposals that I have designed to teach my children about a variety of genres; this one particular project focuses on biographies. This means while I am hooking children on to important historical events and people from many different backgrounds, I am also teaching my children strategies to use as readers with non-fiction, biographical books.

You will make it possible for my students to find real-life characters that they identify with. The people that are featured in the biographies I have chosen mirror my students' lives in many ways: they were told they couldn't succeed because they were a certain gender or race, they faced obstacles that many of my students face: poverty, illness, neglect. Each of these characters represents many of my third-graders if not in the obstacles that they face, then the passions that fueled their success. This project will not only pique students' curiosity and interest, but will also help to create life-long readers. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, and help make these goals a reality.

Ms. Rocuant Gray Elementary School Grades 3-5

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Chicago, IL View local requests

More than three‑quarters of 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

30 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Abe's Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln Doreen Rappaport, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $13.59 1 $13.59
Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini Sid Fleischman • Barnes and Noble $8.09 1 $8.09
Who Was Harry Houdini? Tui T. Sutherland, John O'Brien (Illustrator), Nancy Harrison (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $4.49 5 $22.45
Reaching for the Moon Buzz Aldrin, Wendell Minor (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $6.29 5 $31.45
One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong Don Brown, Don Brown (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $6.25 1 $6.25
Joan of Arc Josephine Poole, Angela Barrett (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $16.15 1 $16.15
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins Barbara Kerley, Brian Selznick (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $8.09 1 $8.09
26 Fairmount Avenue Tomie dePaola, Tomie dePaola (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $6.29 5 $31.45
Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Doreen Rappaport, Bryan Collier (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $6.29 5 $31.45
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez Kathleen Krull, Yuyi Morales (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $13.60 5 $68.00
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $5.39 5 $26.95
Story of Ruby Bridges Robert Coles, George Ford (Illustrator) • Barnes and Noble $6.29 5 $31.45
Baseball's Best: Five True Stories (Step into Reading Books Series: A Step 5 Book) Andrew Gutelle • Barnes and Noble $3.59 5 $17.95

Materials cost

$313.32

Vendor shipping charges

 $31.33

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$4.70

Fulfillment labor & materials

$9.00

Total project cost

$358.34

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$78.66

Total project goal

$437.00

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $437.00

1 Donor

-$437.00

Donations toward project cost

-$358.34

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$78.66

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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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. Rocuant and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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