A Diverse Library, for Diverse Learners

Funded Jun 16, 2020

Thank you so much for donating to my project. Over the summer, I realized that the majority of the books I was teaching featured a white main character, from the US. These characters were only reflecting a small portion of the students in my classroom. I have students whose families are Hispanic, African American, Portuguese, and European. The books that you donated feature characters who begin to more accurately reflect the population of students in the classroom.

We began the year by reading "School's First Day of School" and "This is How We Go to School". These stories explain how students from around the world go to school. The Students had a blast comparing and contrasting how they go to school with the characters in the books.

As the year has progressed, we have begun small reading groups where students of similar reading levels read the same book. Students are reading the books "The Key Collection" and "Yang the Youngest and the Terrible Ear". These stories both feature Asian American main characters who are experiencing school in the US for the first time. The books that you donated not only allow students to see themselves in the characters, but also, to explore different cultures and ideas.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Hannon