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
I am teaching AP Language and Composition this year, and while we have some resources, the students have expressed interest in reading Howard Zinn's "A Young People's History of the United States." I need 12 copies, which is beyond my personal budget for this year. The school district has not allocated any funds for new books for AP Lang, so if I don't raise the money myself, we'll have to read something that the students are less interested in.
We are in a small underfunded, under privileged district in Southern Arkansas, and new books are hard to come by.
I do what I can with my own personal funds, but I simply can't afford this one. In a more affluent district, the students might buy the books themselves, but this district is over 90% below poverty level, and a $15 book is just not possible for most of them.
My Project
My AP Language and Composition class wants to read this book. They actually requested it as a class! It's always easier to study a book that they have chosen themselves, and since most of them are also taking AP US History this year. It's a win for both classes! I am glad that they are aware that there may be history that they need to know about beyond the standard state endorsed textbook! They are a really great group of kids and I want them to have everything they need to succeed, but most of them come from impoverished single parent households where buying their own books is not possible. We've been able to borrow some non-fiction texts and we've had some donated by local bibliophiles in support of building up our program, but they need to know that people are willing to invest in their success. We looked at book reviews of several non-fiction works, including some good biographies and autobiographies, but the class voted, and they unanimously agreed that this book by Howard Zinn would give them the most information.
We plan on spending an entire quarter digging into the Zinn text and comparing his work to other history textbooks and sources for maximum understanding.
The students, of course, will be writing extensively about the topics covered. My hope is to not only improve their literacy and writing skills, but also to help them see that history is often interpreted with an agenda involved. This book study should make the issues with history textbooks abundantly clear and help deepen their understanding of American history overall.
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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. Oliver and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.