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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Agostino from Danville, CA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mrs. Agostino is requesting

Paradise as a Kind of Library

Help me give my students new and exciting books to build literacy and rediscover their love of reading.

  • $994 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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

My Students

In our high performing community, our students "do school," and care greatly about getting good grades, but often miss out on meaningful learning in the process. More specifically, many of them have lost their love of reading. They view reading as a boring chore, one that they do begrudgingly, or even worse, don't do at all.

My students crave choice and independence in their learning.

I believe they need more choice in what they read and study, to entice them to be lifelong readers and learners. Also, as in any classroom, I have a huge range of reading abilities. By giving them choice, I can better differentiate instruction and use reading conferences to make sure each student has a book that works for him or her.

My Project

As Jorge Luis Borges said, "I have always imagined paradise as a kind of library." That is how I want my classroom to feel. When students walk into class, I want them to feel like it's a place where reading is important. Where reading is valued. Where reading matters. A place where they can take a breath from their busy lives, and have a moment to just read.

We live in a society where reading often happens in quick bursts on our phones, and where silent, sustained reading often doesn't happen at all.

In my classroom, I start every class period with ten minutes of reading. Students come in, and immediately know to get out their books and start reading. It is a nice break for all of us, but it's also more than that. During our reading time, I conference with students about their reading and help them set goals for the year. We also share our books with the class via student book talks, discussions, and other activities.

The books from this project are all on topics of interest to my students. They might be part of a popular series, like War Storm, which is part of the popular Red Queen Series. Or they might have been made into a movie, like the book A Simple Favor. I try to provide access to books for a wide range of abilities, on a wide range of topics, so that every student can find something that works. My hope is that students will leave my class with a greater appreciation and fondness for reading.

Mrs. Agostino San Ramon Valley High School Grades 9-12

More about Mrs. Agostino

Danville, CA View local requests 150 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
New York 2140 • Amazon Business $18.81 1 $18.81
The Great Alone: A Novel • Amazon Business $17.39 1 $17.39
Pieces of Her: A Novel • Amazon Business $16.64 1 $16.64
The Immortalists • Amazon Business $15.38 1 $15.38
The Plum Tree • Amazon Business $14.62 1 $14.62
Exit West: A Novel • Amazon Business $14.40 1 $14.40
A Simple Favor: A Novel • Amazon Business $14.39 1 $14.39
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha) • Amazon Business $14.24 1 $14.24
War Storm (Red Queen) • Amazon Business $13.98 1 $13.98
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood • Amazon Business $13.97 1 $13.97
Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living • Amazon Business $13.93 1 $13.93
The Light We Lost • Amazon Business $13.47 1 $13.47
Love & Luck • Amazon Business $13.29 1 $13.29
Say You'll Remember Me • Amazon Business $12.91 1 $12.91
Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns) • Amazon Business $12.91 1 $12.91
Armada: A novel by the author of Ready Player One • Amazon Business $12.80 1 $12.80
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
Long Way Down • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
Release • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
Right Where You Left Me • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)) • Amazon Business $12.49 1 $12.49
Picture Us In The Light • Amazon Business $12.32 1 $12.32
Sadie • Amazon Business $12.32 1 $12.32
Fresh Ink: An Anthology • Amazon Business $12.32 1 $12.32
The Crossover (The Crossover Series) • Amazon Business $12.16 1 $12.16
The Final Six • Amazon Business $12.14 1 $12.14
Sunny (Track) • Amazon Business $11.89 1 $11.89
Lu (Track) • Amazon Business $11.72 1 $11.72
Before I Let Go • Amazon Business $11.35 1 $11.35
Booked (The Crossover Series) • Amazon Business $11.16 1 $11.16
Leah on the Offbeat • Amazon Business $11.00 1 $11.00
The Good Neighbor • Amazon Business $10.99 1 $10.99
Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers • Amazon Business $10.87 1 $10.87
Stand-Off • Amazon Business $10.59 1 $10.59
The Kitchen House: A Novel • Amazon Business $10.48 1 $10.48
Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy) • Amazon Business $10.17 1 $10.17
China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy) • Amazon Business $10.13 1 $10.13
Front Lines • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
The Memory Book • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
A Short History of Nearly Everything • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Allegedly • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Dear Martin • Amazon Business $9.99 1 $9.99
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI • Amazon Business $9.95 1 $9.95
As You Wish • Amazon Business $9.89 1 $9.89
The Impossible Fortress: A Novel • Amazon Business $9.70 1 $9.70
Less (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): A Novel • Amazon Business $9.64 1 $9.64
Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy) • Amazon Business $9.60 1 $9.60
Revolution • Amazon Business $9.59 1 $9.59
Stung • Amazon Business $9.37 1 $9.37
Out of the Easy • Amazon Business $9.34 1 $9.34
Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows • Amazon Business $9.28 1 $9.28
Monday's Not Coming • Amazon Business $8.99 1 $8.99
Never Always Sometimes: A coming-of-age novel (Harlequin Teen) • Amazon Business $8.99 1 $8.99
The Girl Before • Amazon Business $8.89 1 $8.89
The Lovely Bones • Amazon Business $8.69 1 $8.69
Girl in the Blue Coat • Amazon Business $8.55 1 $8.55
Rebound (The Crossover Series) • Amazon Business $8.49 1 $8.49
To All the Boys I've Loved Before • Amazon Business $8.04 1 $8.04
Patina (Track) • Amazon Business $7.99 1 $7.99
Goodbye Days • Amazon Business $7.50 1 $7.50
Origin: A Novel (Robert Langdon) • Amazon Business $7.48 1 $7.48
What to Say Next • Amazon Business $7.40 1 $7.40
Right of Way • Amazon Business $6.99 1 $6.99
Ghost (Track) • Amazon Business $6.08 1 $6.08
Bone Gap • Amazon Business $5.64 1 $5.64

Materials cost

$736.21

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $67.36

3rd party payment processing fee

$11.04

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$844.61

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$149.05

Total project goal

$993.66

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $993.66

1 Donor

-$993.66

Donations toward project cost

-$844.61

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$149.05

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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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. Agostino and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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