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This teacher needs your help!

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

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Fully Funded

Ms. Henley's classroom raised $272

Teaching Poetry Using Culturally Relevant Text

For My poetry unit my students each need a copy of Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes. This is a total of 35 copies of the book.

Classroom photo
Ms. Henley KIPP Ascend Middle School
Chicago, IL Grades 3-5

I teach reading to 100 fifth graders in a high needs community where the students come to fifth grade reading on a first grade level. Last year my students made four years of gains in reading in only one year by simply reading all of the time! They gained a love for reading by being exposed to texts that were culturally and socially relevant to them.

One of the most enjoyable subjects I teach to my students is poetry. I teach poetry using ideas from a book called "Hip Hop and Poetry." Some students, for the first time, are able to see the connection between art and life when they realize music is poetry! Bronx Masquerade is about a group of students who use poetry to express themselves and learn about each other. The book invests students in the idea of expressing themselves and believing in their own potential.

During this unit I will expose students to all different genres of poetry and many different poets. They will memorize, write and analyze poetry from different angles. By the end of the unit they will be able to explain and find examples of figurative language and have group discussions about what music is truly poetry and what is not. Bronx Masquerade is a novel that connects all that we are learning to their own lives and keeps students focused on reading!

In our country we are dealing with a education system where resources are distributed unequally. A system where many students are not reading literally because their schools do not have the financial resources to buy books for their students. By purchasing this class set of books you are quite literally investing in the future of 100 children. Just by finding a book they love with characters that look like them and live like them can change their attitude about reading forever.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Nearly all students from low‑income households

100 students impacted 1 donor
Ms. Henley KIPP Ascend Middle School Grades 3-5

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Chicago, IL View local requests

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

100 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Bronx Masquerade • AKJ Books $5.22 35 $182.70

Materials cost

$182.70

Vendor shipping charges

 $18.27

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$4.57

Fulfillment labor & materials

$17.00

Total project cost

$223.00

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$48.95

Total project goal

$271.95

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $271.95

1 Donor

-$262.35

Donations toward project cost

-$223.00

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$39.35

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$9.60

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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. Henley and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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