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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Ray from Seward, AK is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Ray is requesting

A Deep Reading Program

My students need a reading program (Junior Great Books Series 2) that is highly engaging while also aligned to the common core standards. This program uses rich, diverse stories to teach reading.

  • $1,087 goal

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Hooray! This project is fully funded

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Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Mrs. Ray for her next project!

My Students

I've witnessed it first hand. I've seen non-readers become readers when the right books are placed in their hands. I've seen the light go on in their eyes. I've heard their imaginations come to life. And I've seen their writing flourish. Good books create life-long learners. Help my kids get there!

Our school is in a rural Alaskan town that has no movie theater, no mall, no fast food restaurants, no bowling alley--well, basically, none of the recreational outlets available to students in the Lower 48 states.

As a result, our youngsters play outside a lot. They ride 4-wheelers and snow machines. They fish and camp, and many of them are hunters from a young age. But many come to school without a lot of academic experiences, so we fill in the gaps with whatever magic we can weave. Last year, my students received many, many new books. Before that, my classroom library contained books from the 1970s that were tattered, irrelevant to students' lives, and just plain boring. After we received new books for our classroom library, within weeks my students changed from disengaged readers to voracious readers! Many of my students come from homes that do not have books, so their only exposure comes from school. Truly, they deserve the best, most engaging literature we can bring to them.

My Project

The Jr. Great Books Program is one of the best programs I have reviewed. Their mission statement is "to advance the critical, reflective thinking and social and civic engagement of readers of all ages through shared inquiry discussion of works and ideas of enduring value." This fantastic program doesn't just teach children how to read, it also teaches them how to collaboratively discuss, analyze, and evaluate what they've read. It appeals to students of all backgrounds because the stories in the program are diverse, colorful, and interesting. If my students had the opportunity to use this reading program, I would expect the following outcomes: 1) their enjoyment of reading will increase, 2) they'll be more prepared to meet the rigor of the new state assessments, 3) they'll have learned lifelong teamwork skills, and 4) foundational skills such as phonics and grammar will be learned in context (as opposed to learning those as isolated skills). I deeply wish to teach reading in this way.

Can you imagine learning to read from a program that asks you to fill out worksheet after worksheet and to read contrived stories written not to engage or entertain, but to teach a specific skill?

That has been a hard sell year after year for my second graders. What I want for my students is quality literature that completely engages them because only then will they begin to see books as alive. Then they'll be awake enough to learn the grammar and phonics skills within the good book in hand!

Mrs. Ray Seward Elementary School Grades PreK-2

More about Mrs. Ray

Seward, AK View local requests

More than a third of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

25 students impacted 3donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Junior Great Books Series 2, Student Anthology • Great Books $17.95 30 $538.50
Junior Great Books Series 2, Teacher's Edition • Great Books $129.95 1 $129.95
Starting Off Strong: Early Elementary, Classroom Set • Great Books $59.95 1 $59.95
Junior Great Books Series 2, Common Core Correlation Booklet, Print Edition • Great Books $12.95 1 $12.95

Materials cost

$741.35

Vendor shipping charges

 $74.13

Sales tax

 $67.28

3rd party payment processing fee

$11.12

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$923.88

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$163.04

Total project goal

$1,086.92

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,086.92

3 Donors

-$998.68

Donations toward project cost

-$923.88

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$74.80

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$88.24

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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 Mrs. Ray and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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