Books for sixth graders
I'll highlight the main points in bold. :)
Background for visitors:
Recently, my hometown, a small rural town where my family all live (I am located in a city about three hours away), was struck by an F3 tornado that devastated large portions of the residential section and downtown. One of the biggest losses was the historic middle school building, which has been condemned. The students have been split up to finish the school year in two different locations, and all the contents of the school had to be moved. The roof was torn off in several places and there was a lot of broken glass and wind and rain damage, and I was concerned about how the school's books had fared. I've spoken with one of the teachers, and from what she shared, the situation is not ideal.
The 7th and 8th graders are attending classes at an empty campus in a village 12 miles south. The Middle School library books were moved there. There isn't enough space for all the books, so they only have fiction out on the shelves; nonfiction is boxed up and some may have water and mold damage.
The 6th graders (about 180 of them) are meeting in the education building of a church in town, and they have no library. A couple of the teachers have meager personal book collections for their classrooms. Next year, they'll be having classes in trailers, but nobody knows yet where the trailers will be: possibly on the campus with the other students, but quite possibly nowhere near that. What the teachers would like to work on is developing some better-stocked classroom libraries so students can check out books from their literacy teachers right in the classroom.
The plan:
NO LIBRARY. ::weeps:: So I thought, well, I can find books. On Friday, I went to all the thrift stores I know of and bought up the books I could find that were the appropriate age level and in good condition. Between that and my personal collection, I came up with over 30 books.
And, since the internet and my friends are so awesome, I thought I'd ask y'all! If you have any books you don't need that might be appropriate, or if you know someone else who does and you wouldn't mind sending them on, the school would be very grateful!
Look how cute kids can be while they're reading! Like puppies, though I suspect the children get more out of the experience.
The needs:
* Fiction (a range from grade levels 4th through 9th)
* I think some biographies and history- and science-related nonfiction would also be appreciated, as long as they're things 11-year-olds might want to read.
If you need ideas of what's appropriate, here's a picture of what I've gathered so far:
And there's a pretty good list here. You can also check the Amazon list (See below.)
Shipping:
* If you want to mail/post things directly, you can send them to me. (USPS has good rates for media mail.) I'm going back there twice over the next few weeks. I figured this would be the easiest for the teachers.
* Some my smart friends thought of an additional option, so... if you like the convenience of online shopping and shipping (and who doesn't?) I've set up an Amazon Wish List in the school's name and with their current address as the shipping address. I've added over 60 books, but Amazon is freezing up my browser for some reason; I'll try to come back later and add more. School is in session until May 26, and if the address changes after that I will modify the Amazon address.
You are welcome to donate anonymously (thought I'm not sure you can through Amazon) but please consider providing your name and address, because the school would like to thank you!
Contact:
I'd rather not use names and locations in a public post, so I've set up screened comments. If you would like my address, the Amazon Wish List link, or just more information about the town and the tornado...
* leave me a comment telling me what you need.
* I will reply in a private message and give you the information.
* If you have private messages restricted or would simply rather I email you, please leave your email address in your comment.
(ETA - Smart person that I am, I just realized that if I'm sending a private message, I don't need to screen comments, but since I've already started that way I'll just continue unless you request otherwise. I have to unscreen comments to reply to them, though. You learn something every day!)
Thank you so much for reading and considering my hometown kids! They've gone through a tough experience lately but people are remarkably upbeat and trying to get back on track, and I think this could really help. ::hugs you all::
Background for visitors:
Recently, my hometown, a small rural town where my family all live (I am located in a city about three hours away), was struck by an F3 tornado that devastated large portions of the residential section and downtown. One of the biggest losses was the historic middle school building, which has been condemned. The students have been split up to finish the school year in two different locations, and all the contents of the school had to be moved. The roof was torn off in several places and there was a lot of broken glass and wind and rain damage, and I was concerned about how the school's books had fared. I've spoken with one of the teachers, and from what she shared, the situation is not ideal.
The 7th and 8th graders are attending classes at an empty campus in a village 12 miles south. The Middle School library books were moved there. There isn't enough space for all the books, so they only have fiction out on the shelves; nonfiction is boxed up and some may have water and mold damage.
The 6th graders (about 180 of them) are meeting in the education building of a church in town, and they have no library. A couple of the teachers have meager personal book collections for their classrooms. Next year, they'll be having classes in trailers, but nobody knows yet where the trailers will be: possibly on the campus with the other students, but quite possibly nowhere near that. What the teachers would like to work on is developing some better-stocked classroom libraries so students can check out books from their literacy teachers right in the classroom.
The plan:
NO LIBRARY. ::weeps:: So I thought, well, I can find books. On Friday, I went to all the thrift stores I know of and bought up the books I could find that were the appropriate age level and in good condition. Between that and my personal collection, I came up with over 30 books.
And, since the internet and my friends are so awesome, I thought I'd ask y'all! If you have any books you don't need that might be appropriate, or if you know someone else who does and you wouldn't mind sending them on, the school would be very grateful!
Look how cute kids can be while they're reading! Like puppies, though I suspect the children get more out of the experience.
The needs:
* Fiction (a range from grade levels 4th through 9th)
* I think some biographies and history- and science-related nonfiction would also be appreciated, as long as they're things 11-year-olds might want to read.
If you need ideas of what's appropriate, here's a picture of what I've gathered so far:
And there's a pretty good list here. You can also check the Amazon list (See below.)
Shipping:
* If you want to mail/post things directly, you can send them to me. (USPS has good rates for media mail.) I'm going back there twice over the next few weeks. I figured this would be the easiest for the teachers.
* Some my smart friends thought of an additional option, so... if you like the convenience of online shopping and shipping (and who doesn't?) I've set up an Amazon Wish List in the school's name and with their current address as the shipping address. I've added over 60 books, but Amazon is freezing up my browser for some reason; I'll try to come back later and add more. School is in session until May 26, and if the address changes after that I will modify the Amazon address.
You are welcome to donate anonymously (thought I'm not sure you can through Amazon) but please consider providing your name and address, because the school would like to thank you!
Contact:
I'd rather not use names and locations in a public post, so I've set up screened comments. If you would like my address, the Amazon Wish List link, or just more information about the town and the tornado...
* leave me a comment telling me what you need.
* I will reply in a private message and give you the information.
* If you have private messages restricted or would simply rather I email you, please leave your email address in your comment.
(ETA - Smart person that I am, I just realized that if I'm sending a private message, I don't need to screen comments, but since I've already started that way I'll just continue unless you request otherwise. I have to unscreen comments to reply to them, though. You learn something every day!)
Thank you so much for reading and considering my hometown kids! They've gone through a tough experience lately but people are remarkably upbeat and trying to get back on track, and I think this could really help. ::hugs you all::