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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman from Waukegan, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman is requesting

Books Versus Movies: Which is Better? Let The Kids Decide

My students need a copy of "The City of Ember" for each of them (25), and an audio version of the book, to increase their reading skills.

  • $223 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

In a heartbeat, my students can tell me all about the movie they saw in the theater last weekend. When I ask about what they are reading, they often give me a one sentence answer or a shrug of their shoulders. The purpose of this project is to show the students how books are better than movies.

I teach reading and language arts to fifty three fifth graders on a daily basis.

Without a doubt, this is the most motivated group of students I have ever taught. They are very engaged in the learning process and are very vocal about what they need to succeed. They have a great way of getting me to reflect on how I teach and how to become a more effective teacher. My students and I are from a Title 1 school that houses our district's English as a Second Language program. Majority of my students speak another language at home, which include, Spanish, French, Tagalog, and Arabic.

My Project

Last year, I read the book "The City of Ember" to my students. I had one copy and they listened to me read it aloud everyday. I read this particular book because I feel that it is an action packed book with mysteries that keep the reader guessing all the way to the end. My whole book study was a bigger success than I could have ever imagined. They practically begged me to read to them, asked questions, made inferences and discussed the book during recess with their classmates. After we read the book, we watched the movie. My entire class (every single student) could not believe how much they disliked the movie, but loved the book. This came as a shock to them because they expected the movie to be just as magical as the book. I had my students write an essay about whether they liked the movie or the book better. My students wrote more for that essay than any other assignment I had given them all year. They had to back up their opinion with proof from both.

Your donation to this project will allow each student in my class to have a copy of the book to follow along with as we read it.

The audio book will come in handy when students are absent and need to catch up on the book. In the long run, my lesson to my students is that there are books that are better than movies out there. The trick is to find them by reading and spending time invested in books, not just at a movie theater.

Mrs. Pociecha-Sparkman
Grades 3-5

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
City of Ember (Random House Childrens Press) • AKJ Books $5.17 25 $129.25
City of Ember AudioBook • AKJ Books $22.20 1 $22.20

Materials cost

$151.45

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$2.27

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$188.72

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$33.30

Total project goal

$222.02

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $222.02

6 Donors

-$217.61

Donations toward project cost

-$188.72

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$28.89

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$4.41

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. Pociecha-Sparkman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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