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This teacher needs your help!

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

See what Ms. DelDotto is requesting

Urban Based Novels for an Urban Student Population

Help me give my students books that have characters and settings that are similar to themselves and the world they see around them.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. DelDotto's classroom raised $638

This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate 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

We are a school on the far northeast side of Chicago where 100% of the students receive free lunch. Due to the lack of funding, I am not able to buy any new books for my 6th grade Language Arts classroom. We are trying to improve test scores and prepare for the new Common Core assessments, but we do not have the resources we need. Our students are wonderful and work extremely hard. They often comment on our lack of quality reading materials, and it is easy to see their disappointment. As I add more high-interest books to our library, I'm finding my high-level readers are complaining they don't have anything to read

My students need books with characters who look like them and live in urban neighborhoods like they do.

It is hard for my students to relate to most novels and my goal is to get them to read more not less! I want them to see themselves in the characters they are reading about.

My Project

I encourage my students to read whenever they have time, whether in school or at home. I want them to have access to as much variety of books as possible. My students should know that the lives they have as diverse urban students is normal, that they can relate to books. I encourage my students to look through my classroom library to find books and I hear from them time and time again "I don't like these books! I want to read about someone like me!" We researched together and found this list of books.

As a teacher, I try to teach students the love of reading.

Many students need a story that they can relate to in order to motivate them to read. I believe that if I have more books about diverse characters I can better encourage my students to read independently in their free time.

Ms. DelDotto Jordan Community School Grades 6-8

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

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

70 students impacted 4donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. DelDotto is requesting.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
The Lunar Chronicles Boxed Set: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Stars Above, Winter • Amazon Business $50.11 1 $50.11
The Legend Trilogy • Amazon Business $36.71 1 $36.71
Persepolis Box Set (Pantheon Graphic Library) • Amazon Business $18.74 1 $18.74
The To All the Boys I've Loved Before Paperback Collection: To All the Boys I've Loved Before; P.S. I Still Love You; Always and Forever, Lara Jean • Amazon Business $18.17 1 $18.17
We Contain Multitudes • Amazon Business $15.83 1 $15.83
My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich • Amazon Business $15.29 1 $15.29
Other Words for Home • Amazon Business $15.29 1 $15.29
The Hate U Give • Amazon Business $13.98 1 $13.98
Count Me In • Amazon Business $13.59 1 $13.59
The Music of What Happens • Amazon Business $13.50 1 $13.50
I Wish You All the Best • Amazon Business $13.43 1 $13.43
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe • Amazon Business $12.94 1 $12.94
Running with Lions • Amazon Business $12.83 1 $12.83
Let Me Hear a Rhyme • Amazon Business $12.77 1 $12.77
The Infinite Noise: A Bright Sessions Novel (The Bright Sessions) • Amazon Business $12.29 1 $12.29
For Black Girls Like Me • Amazon Business $12.29 1 $12.29
We're Not from Here • Amazon Business $12.16 1 $12.16
Joe Brainard: I Remember • Amazon Business $11.61 1 $11.61
What If It's Us • Amazon Business $11.60 1 $11.60
Still I Rise: The Persistence of Phenomenal Women • Amazon Business $11.59 1 $11.59
The Poet X • Amazon Business $10.99 1 $10.99
They Come in All Colors: A Novel • Amazon Business $10.96 1 $10.96
The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes and Female Firsts • Amazon Business $10.89 1 $10.89
Opposite of Always • Amazon Business $10.87 1 $10.87
Watch Us Rise • Amazon Business $10.79 1 $10.79
Just As You Are: A Teen’s Guide to Self-Acceptance and Lasting Self-Esteem (The Instant Help Solutions Series) • Amazon Business $10.49 1 $10.49
The V Girl: A coming of age story • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Us, in Progress: Short Stories About Young Latinos • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Be Confident in Who You Are (Middle School Confidential Series) (Bk. 1) • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Real Friends vs. the Other Kind (Middle School Confidential) • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
American Born Chinese • Amazon Business $9.89 1 $9.89
Monday's Not Coming • Amazon Business $9.31 1 $9.31
What's Up with My Family? (Middle School Confidential) • Amazon Business $8.51 1 $8.51
Some Places More Than Others • Amazon Business $8.49 1 $8.49
THE SKIN I'M IN (20th Anniversary Edition) • Amazon Business $7.99 1 $7.99
You Asked for Perfect • Amazon Business $7.89 1 $7.89
Ghost Boys • Amazon Business $7.49 1 $7.49
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda • Amazon Business $5.49 1 $5.49

Materials cost

$504.73

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.57

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$542.30

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$95.70

Total project goal

$638.00

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $638.00

3 Donors

-$538.20

Donations toward project cost

-$457.47

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$80.73

match offer

-$99.80

Match offer toward project cost

-$84.83

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$14.97

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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Project Activity

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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. DelDotto and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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