My students need 57 copies of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X".
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Wang's classroom raised $587
This project is fully funded
"In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there--I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I was not even functional...that was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary..." (The Autobiography of Malcolm X, pages 174-175)
I teach 9th and 10th grade English at a school where minority students and students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds are suffering from a shameful achievement gap--the same achievement gap that the rest of the state and the rest of this country are trying to eliminate. Without literacy, they will enter society as adults with a great disadvantage, just as Malcolm X did. Many of them will not have the good fortune that he did in terms of their ability to self-correct.
At my school, many students are not engaged by the provided texts. Another contributing factor of the achievement gap, I think, is the lack of collaboration between teachers. Our teachers do not agree on when their students should be reading which books or when they should be learning certain skills and at which times of the year. They do not share enough with each other, in a structured way, about how they engage students in reading, especially those students who are very behind in reading. They are not writing lesson plans together. If you walked from one English class to another, what could be happening is anyone's guess. In effect, teachers are losing out from learning about each other, and students are losing out because their teachers don't agree on how and what to teach. In response, I have tried to foster collaboration by working with a colleague. Last year, when students became aware that others students were engaged in the same inquiries and texts, they became much more invested in their work. Therefore, this summer, when we were both informed that we were teaching 10th grade, we were very excited and dove into the reading list. Both of us were greatly moved by The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
We were both crushed when we discovered recently that the department was 57 books short, considering that we have six 10th grade classes between the two of us.
If you can provide my colleague and me with 57 more books, we will use this text to engage up to 180 students in important conversations about race issues, identity, glass ceilings, and education, just to name a few; we can also show them the many powerful uses of language, including language as power, expression, art, and history. We will also demonstrate to our department how powerful a co-planned and co-executed unit can be and how much it can contribute to a positive student culture.
By helping to provide these books, you are supporting faculty collaboration, unified curricula, and the use of a very underused but very important and inspiring book. Two dedicated teachers and 180 students who can't tear their eyes away from this story and can't help but have their minds expanded and their literacy skills strengthened will all thank you.
More than half 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
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. Wang and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","showProjectRecommendations":true,"leadGenEnabled":true,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"CA","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":4,"name":"High School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/the-power-of-malcolm-x/303214/","mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":57,"isEquityFocusV1":false,"teacherScreenName":"Ms. Wang","isEquityFocus":true,"proposalHash":"856368344","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"shouldTrackEquityFocusV2":true,"schoolCity":"San Francisco","teachersOnPage":[264220],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"minimizedLeadGenEnabled":true,"proposalId":303214,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"schoolId":4403,"schoolName":"George Washington High School","authorIds":{"264220":{"owner":"Ms. Wang","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[303214],"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-1_272.png?auto=webp","teacherHasProfilePhoto":false,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":41590,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["MzQ0MjQ=","MzM4MTY=","MTI0MDI0","NDI1MTU5","NDE1MTIw","MTIyNTY2","MTg4Mjc1","MjYxNzA1","NDA2Mzgx","NDE5MDI4","Mjg4Njk3","MjYwNzcw","MTA1MDQ=","MTY3MjU=","MTA0ODc="],"teacherId":264220,"schoolCounty":"San Francisco","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"CA","name":"California"}}