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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Riordan from Chicago, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Riordan is requesting

Diverse Readers Improve Literacy with Literature Circles

My students need 8-13 copies of 7 books, including "Life of Pi" and "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier".

  • $800 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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

Help Ms. Riordan

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

My Students

Remember when you really connected with a character of literature? You felt as though you weren't alone, like your experiences weren't as weird and crazy as you thought they were. My students struggle daily to find their place, and literature can be the key to making them feel like they have one.

I teach a diverse group of low-income students in Chicago.

Some are born and raised in Chicago, while many are seeking a new life after leaving their home countries of Sudan, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Congo just to name a few. 95% of the students that attend our school receive free and reduced lunches. My students are hungry for knowledge. Although at this point most of them wouldn't pick up a book on their own, they do love to read and love to find connections in the stories we read together. There excitement over "The Crucible" or "I Hear America Singing" makes me smile every night and encourages me to push them further in their learning. They want to go to college, but have no parents, grandparent, aunts or uncles that have been. Their college role models are teachers. That is why I need to show them what it is like in college. They need to practice reading books on their own, finding the words they don't know, analyzing the meaning, and engage in thoughtful discussions.

My Project

I am ordering a variety of high interest novels for students to read in a literature circle style setting. My students aspire to go to college and literature circles offer a college style classroom. The students must engage with the text on their own accord. We have worked all year on how to do so, so they are prepared. Now it is time to let them go and do it with the support of their fellow literature circle members. These books will belong to the students. As they read they will be required to "mark up the text" just as a college student does. Our students are unable to purchase their own books, so the simple fact that they are receiving their own book will encourage buy in to the novel. The final reason this will benefit my students is that it will allow them to make a choice on what they read. There are seven different books to choose from, each on a variety of topics. Each student is bound to find a topic and a level that is appropriate.

Our students need to know that they we care about them.

They have been shoved to the wayside for too long. They have the brains to succeed, but they need to be treated as the first class citizens that they are. Citizens that can buy a book, underline his or her favorite passages, and discuss those passages with a friend. Literature circles will help to prepare these students for the next level, college.

Ms. Riordan Nicholas Senn High School Grades 9-12

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. Riordan

Chicago, IL View local requests

More than half 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

80 students impacted 12donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Sold Patricia McCormick • Barnes and Noble $8.09 13 $105.17
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Boyne • Barnes and Noble $8.09 13 $105.17
Grace after Midnight Felicia Pearson, David Ritz • Barnes and Noble $12.59 11 $138.49
Call of the Wild Jack London, Dwight Swain (Afterword), Foreword by Dwight Swain • Barnes and Noble $2.69 11 $29.59
Life of Pi Yann Martel • Barnes and Noble $8.09 8 $64.72
First Part Last Angela Johnson • Barnes and Noble $6.29 13 $81.77
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah • Barnes and Noble $8.64 13 $112.32

Materials cost

$637.23

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$9.56

Fulfillment labor & materials

$9.00

Total project cost

$655.79

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$143.95

Total project goal

$799.74

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $799.74

10 Donors

-$794.26

Donations toward project cost

-$655.79

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$138.47

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$5.48

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. Riordan and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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