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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Sicherman from New York, NY is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Sicherman is requesting

Representation Is Powerful

My students need a new crop of picture and chapter books with diverse characters and authors.

  • $634 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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

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

My Students

I teach in a small public school in a big city. Our school is passionate about our progressive curricula, which involves lots of hands-on work, including block building and dress-up in the early grades, and art, field trips and math manipulatives through all of the grades.

I am the general education teacher in an integrated co-teaching class.

Around 40% of my students have individualized education programs, meaning that they have either learning disabilities, physical or psychological needs that are met through specialized instruction. My students are very diverse, beyond their learning styles and capabilities. They come from a wide array of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and from a wide spectrum of socioeconomic circumstances. Many students are the children of immigrants, while others are themselves new to our country.

My Project

Last year, at a professional development at my school, I learned that LGBTQ students suffer when they do not see themselves reflected in the books at their schools. I feel embarrassed that, until then, I didn’t know more than one or two elementary level books with LGBTQ characters. Thinking about LGBTQ characters in elementary literature led me to think about the larger issue of representation in children’s literature. As recently as 2013, NPR reported that, “the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that only 3 percent of children's books are by or about Latinos, even though nearly a quarter of all public school children today are Latino.” There is a similar lack of representation when it comes to other non-dominant groups.

My students are very diverse, as is the wider student body of our school.

That’s why it is important to have a classroom library that is reflective of this diversity. I want to include my students of all races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations, including students with disabilities. I want all of them to see themselves represented in both the picture books and chapter books in our class. I want them to become familiar with authors who reflect their diversity, too. This will teach my students that they are important, and that they can read their stories and tell their stories.

Seeking this grant does not mean that I will stop teaching the traditional books I have used in read aloud and book club. Many of those books are fantastically entertaining and instructional. However, it is important to always make space on the shelf for new books. Funding this grant will help me to create a more inclusive fiction library for my students.

Ms. Sicherman Children's Workshop School Grades 3-5

More about Ms. Sicherman

New York, NY View local requests

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

40 students impacted 16donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Nightbird • Amazon Business $7.19 4 $28.76
Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes • Amazon Business $16.95 1 $16.95
The Manny Files (mix) • Amazon Business $14.99 1 $14.99
This Day in June • Amazon Business $14.95 1 $14.95
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress • Amazon Business $14.85 1 $14.85
Donovan's Big Day • Amazon Business $14.44 1 $14.44
The Alphabet War: A Story about Dyslexia • Amazon Business $13.29 1 $13.29
The Great Big Book of Families • Amazon Business $13.17 1 $13.17
I'm New Here • Amazon Business $13.15 1 $13.15
Mixed Me! • Amazon Business $12.93 1 $12.93
Zapato Power Boxed Set #1-3 • Amazon Business $12.86 1 $12.86
Families, Families, Families! • Amazon Business $12.76 1 $12.76
Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation • Amazon Business $12.67 1 $12.67
Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah • Amazon Business $12.59 1 $12.59
I Am Jazz • Amazon Business $12.49 1 $12.49
The Way Home Looks Now • AKJ Education $12.40 1 $12.40
King and King • Amazon Business $12.40 1 $12.40
Princess Grace • AKJ Education $12.34 1 $12.34
Amazing Grace 25th Anniversary Edition • AKJ Education $12.34 1 $12.34
Mango, Abuela, and Me • Amazon Business $11.84 1 $11.84
All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome • Amazon Business $10.79 1 $10.79
Mrs. Gorski, I Think I Have the Wiggle Fidgets (A Story About Attention. Distraction, and Creativity) New Edition (Adventures of Everyday Geniuses) • Amazon Business $10.76 1 $10.76
All Dogs Have ADHD • Amazon Business $10.29 1 $10.29
Nadia's Hands • Amazon Business $8.96 1 $8.96
Taking Sides • Amazon Business $6.99 1 $6.99
Under the Ramadan Moon • Amazon Business $6.99 1 $6.99
Don't Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability (A First Look At...Series) • Amazon Business $6.94 1 $6.94
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Babies, Burglars, and Other Bumps in the Night • Amazon Business $6.50 1 $6.50
Return to Sender • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Be Good to Eddie Lee • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Dancing in the Wings • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Alvin Ho: Allergic to the Great Wall, the Forbidden Palace, and Other Tourist Attractions • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Gaby, Lost and Found • Amazon Business $6.29 1 $6.29
Elvis and the Underdogs • Amazon Business $6.07 1 $6.07
Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Nikki and Deja: Birthday Blues • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Ellray Jakes the Dragon Slayer • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
The Year of the Fortune Cookie (An Anna Wang novel) • Amazon Business $5.99 1 $5.99
Gone Crazy in Alabama • Amazon Business $5.94 1 $5.94
Luz Sees the Light • AKJ Education $5.82 1 $5.82
The Misfits • Amazon Business $5.43 1 $5.43
Dog Days: The Carver Chronicles, Book One • Amazon Business $5.39 1 $5.39
Nikki and Deja: Election Madness (Nikki & Deja) • Amazon Business $5.39 1 $5.39
The Year of the Baby (An Anna Wang novel) • Amazon Business $5.39 1 $5.39
The Year of the Book (An Anna Wang novel) • Amazon Business $5.20 1 $5.20
Boundless Grace: Sequel to Amazing Grace • AKJ Education $5.19 1 $5.19
The Year of the Three Sisters (An Anna Wang novel) • Amazon Business $5.06 1 $5.06
Nikki and Deja • Amazon Business $4.72 1 $4.72
EllRay Jakes Stands Tall • Amazon Business $4.65 1 $4.65
Skateboard Party: The Carver Chronicles, Book Two • Amazon Business $4.49 1 $4.49
Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) (Bobby Vs Girls) • Amazon Business $4.41 1 $4.41
EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken • Amazon Business $3.75 1 $3.75

Materials cost

$501.27

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$7.52

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$538.79

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$95.08

Total project goal

$633.87

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $633.87

16 Donors

-$633.87

Donations toward project cost

-$538.79

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$95.08

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. Sicherman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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