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
My school has some of the lowest scores in the Kansas City School District. Unfortunately, we have no budget for leisure-reading novels, which is the most important and significant way children learn to love reading. I am the Instructional Coach, challenged to improve their reading scores!
My students are 100% free and reduced lunch children.
Our school is located in the urban core, where children do not have access all the time to books at home, unlike their counterparts in the suburbs. My goal is to help these children have a home with books, where books are considered something fun and entertaining. and something that kids WANT to do. This is hard to accomplish just through teaching a curriculum. Students need to read for FUN! I have tried to poll the students and ask them what books they would love to have to read at home when making my wish list. These are books they have told me they would like to read.
My Project
My students like series such as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," "Twilight" and "Baby Mouse." I have created a reading log for the whole school. Each student who reads 20 minutes per day and has a parent sign their reading log each week will receive a book to take home of their own. Children who do this all year could end up with more than 10-15 books at home of their very own! I think this could change the whole culture of our school, which at this time is not as focused on reading as they should be, thus the low test scores.
I think that reading has ALWAYS proved itself to change people's lives.
In my students' case, I think having an outlet to learn about the world outside of where they live and being able to escape the harsh realities of the world in which they live will be a step in the right direction. Reading opens up a world of opportunity to these children. In the paraphrased words of Malcolm X, "Even in jail, I never knew how free I was until I learned to read."
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. Kilgore and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
