Help me give my students the book Born on the Water to examine the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the U.S.
$548 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! 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 are dreamers, writers, artists, mathematicians, and historians. I have students from Central America, Pakistan, Iraq, our local Durham community... they come together as one community even though they are from all over the world. They stand up for one another and support each other when they are struggling. They are curious about the world around them, always asking questions and sharing stories in class.
My students persevere in their learning even when there are roadblocks.
They work through the texts they are given to uncover the meaning and ask for help when they need it. Half of my students are learning English as a second language, and many have recently come to the U.S. Despite the challenge of being in a new country and learning a new language, they take on learning with courage and enthusiasm. They put in the effort and hard work, and excel even when the odds are stacked against them in a school system that was not built to support them.
My Project
After a successful reading of a picture book in Social Studies class a few weeks ago, I'm eager to bring another into the classroom. Books allow history to come alive for students, and they have requested that we do this again in our Social Studies class. I'm especially excited to be able to read "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water" by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson. This is a lyrical picture book in verse about the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States. This book will fit in perfectly with our history unit on the origins of the U.S.
My own reading of the 1619 Project helped me re-think the origin story of this country, and it is my hope that students will feel connected to the powerful reality shared in this book.
Historically and in many classrooms even today, the teaching of history has been whitewashed and lacks the voices of people of color. To some extent, histories have even been re-written to gloss over frightening events, especially in our country. I see the teaching of this book as a way to re-write the historical narratives that students are brought up with, to uplift the contributions of Black Americans in this nation, and to grapple with the reality of white supremacy and institutional racism.
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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. Gomez and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
