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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Keffeler from Missoula, MT is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Keffeler is requesting

Touching Spirit Bear, Touching Hearts and Touching Minds

Help me give my students access to (a class set of 65 books for my two ELA classes) this daring and clever culturally relevant novel.

  • $671 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Project

"Can a mythical bear help a boy beyond human reach?" "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen, is a daring, bold, and gripping survival story about a troubled boy, Cole Matthews, who is forced to an island in Alaska for exile after his anger erupts into violence. The exile is part of Cole's alternative sentencing based on the Native American practice of Circle Justice, which focuses on healing rather than punishment. An encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes Cole's life, and sets him on a journey toward forgiveness.

This culturally relevant novel is full of rich figurative language, and emphasizes dealing with anger and abuse, responsibility for one's actions, and healing and forgiveness.

The novel study that I have created for this book includes non-fiction close readings about the Tlingit Native American Tribe, Spirit Bears, Circle Justice, and totem poles. Students are given opportunities to identify and explain different types of conflicts, make connections, create mental images, and analyze character transformation. The final project is an Arts Integration activity in which students research and create their own totem pole.

Having my own class set of these books will ensure that I can consistently provide this engaging and rich learning experience, for my ELA classes, for many years to come. I currently have to borrow books from other schools, and I fear that they won't always be available. "Touching Spirit Bear" also allows me opportunities to integrate ELA and Social Studies when we do our Native Tribes of Montana Unit, as part of the Indian Education for All Initiative.

Mrs. Keffeler Washington Middle School Grades 6-8

More about Mrs. Keffeler

Missoula, MT View local requests 60 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Touching Spirit Bear • Amazon Business $8.19 65 $532.35

Materials cost

$532.35

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.99

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$570.34

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$100.65

Total project goal

$670.99

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $670.99

1 Donor

-$570.34

Donations toward project cost

-$570.34

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$0.00

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$100.65

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 Mrs. Keffeler and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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