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.
My Students
Our children attend a middle school of 781 children, including 584 Blacks, 152 Hispanics, and 45 Asians, Multi-racial or Caucasians. Our Special Education program includes 120 students and 25 students whose first language is not English. The families in our community have an average income of less than $50,000. Our school is a Title I school, with over 95% of our students qualifying for free meals.
According to end of grade test scores in the spring, almost 70% of our students are not proficient in Language Arts skills, which include skills such as comprehension and reading for meaning.
In addition, 36% of our students read below grade level.
My Project
The Great American Read was a program aired on PBS that promoted literacy, by encouraging readers to vote for their favorite book from a list of 100 titles. As I set up a library display showing the results of voting, I realized that we either didn't have the books or the titles in our collection were old and in poor condition. Unfortunately, our library budget was cut in half this year, so purchasing or updating these titles was not a possibility.
As my students look at the books we do have on display they are intrigued that some of the titles were written in the early 1900's and are still well loved.
The list includes books for our students reading below grade level, such as Charlotte's Web, and titles for our advanced readers, such as Little Women and The Invisible Man.
We need these books to encourage our children to read excellent and timeless literature in various genres.
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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. Goff and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
