My students need 14 multi-copy sets of books to read in literature circles and for whole class instruction.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Cooper's classroom raised $782
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 good news? My district is encouraging us to move away from the state mandated, highly scripted curriculum, and improve our teaching practices with the use of high interest literature. The not so good news? The shelves are (nearly) bare! Class sets of books are scarce, and outdated.
My students live in a low socioeconomic northern California city, in a neighborhood with many challenges and few opportunities.
That said, they are hard-working, curious and capable fourth graders who want to learn. Our school strives to provide a quality education, but with the state of the California budget, cuts are rampant and dollars are short. Librarians are being cut, computers are outdated, and resources are stretched thin. We need support from programs like this one to survive and to thrive.
My Project
This year, I'm being given the golden opportunity to use good literature of my own choosing to excite and inspire my students to read. I plan to run literature circles this year, in which small groups of 4-6 students work as a learning team to read a novel, while each student completes their job: question asker, summarizer, word searcher, connection maker, and awesome artist. In order to ensure their success, I will need to use a whole class novel to model the procedure. By self-choosing their book, reading it with classmates and completing a final project, my hope is that students will take ownership of their own learning, while fostering a love of reading that will last a lifetime.
Are you a reader?
If so, you know the power of books. You have experienced the desire to read just one more chapter. You know the doors that a well-developed vocabulary gained by reading will open. I want my students to experience the joy of reading and to leave fourth grade with a commitment and a desire to read, read, read!
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 Mrs. Cooper and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
