Help me give my students books like the "Lumberjane" series and David Leviathan's "Boy Meets Boy," so they can read books with diverse main characters.
$237 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating 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.
For six years, the library at our school was shuttered due to severe budget cuts. Five years ago the library reopened with funding for a Teacher Librarian position, but no budget to purchase books. Through donations and fundraising, I have slowly built an updated collection of books, and students are now coming to the library regularly to check out books. But we are still far short of the recommended number of books per student. That means there just aren't enough of the "good books" to go around.
My students attend a Title I, inner-city Los Angeles middle school with 590 students, of which 97.6 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
A quarter of the students are English Learners.
Reading scores are low at our school, but we are on a mission to change that, by giving every student a chance to find that "one good book" that will hook him or her on reading.
My Project
Students from non-status-quo backgrounds should see their own experiences reflected, and honored, in books. Equally important is that students read about a variety of experiences in order to develop understanding and respect for people who are different than themselves.
The books on this list would be added to our school library to provide our students, 99% of whom are minorities, with access to books with Latino, Black and LGBTQ main characters.
Our students are currently participating in the Read Woke challenge, which asks them to independently read four books with main characters from underrepresented groups. Our current books are flying off the shelves, especially the books with LGBTQ protagonists. We need more of these books, and all Read Woke qualifying books, so students find stories they are interested in and complete the challenge.
The books will be available to all students in the library. They can check out the books to read in class and at home. These books will support our efforts to improve reading scores and promote a love of reading in all of our students.
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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. Schlatter and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
