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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Grande from New Haven, CT is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Grande is requesting

Challenging Books for Challenging Times

My students need books...from classics to graphic novel adaptations of the classics in order to build on their pursuit of literacy.

  • $1,062 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Grande for her next project!

Help Ms. Grande

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Grande for her next project!

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

I have the pleasure of teaching a group of 8th graders that vary in reading levels. Some read at college level, and I was not prepared with books for them so I happily share my own books from my college days. Others are growing readers, and they are slowly realizing the urgency behind literacy. They are interested in the graphic novels that were donated earlier this year, but these are running out and they need new materials.

I know my students are engaged because of their reading logs, and the feedback I have received from parents and other teachers.

They have realized that reading is more meaningful than they had known. We have talked about Frederick Douglas and the illegality of reading in American history.

I have students who can clearly tell me about their characters, their countries and how society is affecting their character positively or negatively.

I enjoy curating reading experiences, and I think I'm onto something here. Just because my students may not own books, does not mean they should not have access to quality literature.

My Project

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

― Jorge Luis Borges

The books I have conscientiously selected to curate reading experiences would give all my students an opportunity to transcend their literacy levels. Some will go beyond, while others will reach their grade level this year. I have never been more confident about a teaching strategy than ever before. It's about building their interests with literary conversations.

Some of my struggling students have written research projects about the Detroit Literacy crisis, others about the prison industrial complex and literacy levels. Ultimately their self driven inquiries have transformed their attitudes towards access to education. After reading about the Brown v.s Board of education case many realized the importance of access to quality education.

By providing books as if they were tools, my students will use them to build their own knowledge.

Ms. Grande Conte - West Hills Magnet School Grades 6-8

Equity Focus

At this school, more than 50% of students are Black, Latino, and/or Native American, and more than 50% come from low-income households. Learn how your donation to this school supports a more equitable education.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Grande

New Haven, CT View local requests

More than three‑quarters 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

75 students impacted 16donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Grande is requesting.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
10 Prize-Winning TOON Graphics for Middle Grade • AKJ Education $126.66 1 $126.66
Graphic Novel Favorites (7 Bk Set) • AKJ Education $97.16 1 $97.16
The Complete Hush, Hush Saga Hush, Hush; Crescendo; Silence; Finale • AKJ Education $35.03 1 $35.03
Looking Out, Looking In: Anthology of Latino Poetry • AKJ Education $27.95 1 $27.95
Boxers & Saints Boxed Set • AKJ Education $25.54 1 $25.54
March 2 • AKJ Education $17.96 1 $17.96
Life Doesn't Frighten Me • AKJ Education $14.56 1 $14.56
The Girl from Chimel • AKJ Education $13.83 1 $13.83
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents • AKJ Education $13.46 1 $13.46
Monster: A Graphic Novel • AKJ Education $13.13 1 $13.13
Voices in First Person Reflections on Latino Identity • AKJ Education $13.13 1 $13.13
Darius & Twig • AKJ Education $13.13 1 $13.13
Kick • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
Same Difference • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
Lockdown • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
To Die for the People The Writings of Huey P. Newton • AKJ Education $12.37 1 $12.37
Buck A Memoir • AKJ Education $11.68 1 $11.68
Haroun and the Sea of Stories • AKJ Education $11.68 1 $11.68
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes • AKJ Education $11.68 1 $11.68
Native Son • AKJ Education $11.67 1 $11.67
Moby Dick • AKJ Education $11.67 1 $11.67
In the Time of the Butterflies (Common Core Exemplar) • AKJ Education $11.64 1 $11.64
Caramelo • AKJ Education $11.64 1 $11.64
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing ... and Then Again When I A • AKJ Education $11.64 1 $11.64
Now Is Your Time!: The African-American Struggle for Freedom • AKJ Education $10.94 1 $10.94
Bordering Fires The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/A Literature • AKJ Education $10.18 1 $10.18
Kindred • AKJ Education $9.49 1 $9.49
The Merchant of Venice • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Stickman Odyssey, Book 1 An Epic Doodle • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Beowulf • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Shay's Story • AKJ Education $9.48 1 $9.48
Manga Shakespeare Hamlet • AKJ Education $9.45 1 $9.45
The Things They Carried • AKJ Education $9.18 1 $9.18
Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel • AKJ Education $8.91 1 $8.91
The Metamorphosis • AKJ Education $8.75 1 $8.75
The Plain Janes • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Bad Boy A Memoir • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Hoops • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
The New York Four • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Shooter • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
On a Clear Day • AKJ Education $7.29 1 $7.29
Overcoming Speechlessness • AKJ Education $7.26 1 $7.26
Been There, Done That: Writing Stories from Real Life • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
Street Love • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
Fallen Angels • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
Somewhere in the Darkness • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
The Skin I'm In • AKJ Education $6.56 1 $6.56
1984 • AKJ Education $5.98 1 $5.98
Bless Me, Ultima • AKJ Education $5.84 1 $5.84
The Autobiography of Malcolm X • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Just Write Here's How! • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Baseball In April And Other Stories • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Facts of Life Stories • AKJ Education $5.83 1 $5.83
Neighborhood Odes • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
Petty Crimes • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
It Ain't All for Nothin' • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
The Young Landlords • AKJ Education $5.10 1 $5.10
Accidental Love • AKJ Education $5.07 1 $5.07
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know • AKJ Education $5.07 1 $5.07
Help Wanted Stories • AKJ Education $5.07 1 $5.07
Oliver Twist • AKJ Education $4.49 1 $4.49
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer • AKJ Education $4.37 1 $4.37
The Jungle • AKJ Education $3.65 1 $3.65
The Scarlet Letter • AKJ Education $3.61 1 $3.61

Materials cost

$859.06

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$12.89

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$901.95

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$159.17

Total project goal

$1,061.12

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,061.12

16 Donors

-$1,056.71

Donations toward project cost

-$901.95

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$154.76

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 Ms. Grande and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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