Imagine reading book after book your entire life and never reading about people who look like you or come from where you do.  Pretty hard to relate, huh?  Even harder to really connect...

I have created this cause so I can purchase more books and resources that have characters who look like the children that will be reading and using them.  If you look at most picture books in your average book store, the characters are often animals and Caucasian people.  This year 100% of my class identifies as Black or African American.  Not being exposed to the concept that minorities are able to do and have already done great things paints a very warped picture of our world.  Children need to know that their brown skin doesn’t automatically put them on a certain path.  The possibilities are endless for any child as long as they are given the opportunities to realize that.  Please help me create a culturally relevant and representative classroom library so my readers will learn to love books and literacy and also find role models who look like them! My goal is to purchase enough books to create a classroom borrowing library (~30-50 books), but good books are rather expensive ($7-30).  That's why I'm asking for your help! 

More about the children you're helping:

My students are a group of smiling 2nd graders from around Philadelphia. Many of them live below the poverty line and don't have a lot of resources to learn with at home. For them, school is often the most stable structure in their lives and therefore, a great place for them to learn academics and just be kids. My students come to school each day, sometimes without having eaten breakfast or wake up to a house without adults. Although many may come from tough home situations, they come into school each day with big smiles on their faces!

Coming to school for many of my students is a time where they can predict what will happen next and therefore, give their brains a chance to just worry about learning. At school they learn so much and are so curious. One thing that makes my students unique is the community they are invested in building within our school and classroom. My students understand the value of education why it is so important for them to learn.

As you probably know, children learn to read best when they are interested in what they are reading.  Part of being interested in a book includes relating to a story or character.  As I look around my classroom and compare the books I currently have to the faces of my incoming 2^nd graders, there’s a big difference.

Thank you so much again for taking the time out of your day to read this and helping children get a better education.

Back Up Plan