Diverse Books: Mirrors and Windows For My Students

Funded Aug 5, 2019

I cannot fully express my gratitude for your kind and generous contributions to fund my first Donors Choose project. The unboxing day came at the beginning of the school year and was a highlight for me and my students! We circled up as I opened each box (there were many!). I read off each book title as students gasped and got excited about the books that interested them. Because of the lack of permission slips returned, I cannot share those pictures publically, but I can assure you that we were all very excited! Shortly after unboxing, I let students peruse and thumb through our new books while finding a comfortable spot around the room.

I use these books as weekly read alouds, focusing on the message that each book brings. There are some rich discussions as my first graders and I dive into these books. After I read the book aloud, it is placed in my "Teacher Favorites" book box so students can reread the book as many times as they choose. They love to read these books during Daily 5, where one of their rotations is Read to Self or Read to Someone.

I can feel that these books have helped change our classroom community in a positive, more inclusive way. For example, the book "Pink is For Boys," was a highly anticipated book. After I read it aloud to my class, I was hearing discussions among my students that revolved around gender stereotypes. It started out as colors that were "girl colors" or "boy colors." Then it turned into "girl toys" and "boy toys" and if it's okay for a girl to play with a toy that's marketed more towards boys and vise versa. It also transitioned into the Halloween season, where students naturally discussed their costumes. I overheard a few of my students at recess standing up for a boy who was being teased for wanting to dress up as Elsa, a character from the movie Frozen. These books are helping shape the future generation to be more kind, accepting, and inclusive people. Thank you for your help and support in getting more books into children's hands!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. McMurry