The site DonorsChoose.org allows teachers to ask for donations for various teaching-related projects, sort of like a Kiva for educators. “Mr. S.” in Texas is trying to raise funds to buy copies of Kingdom Come for his English as a Second Language students:
Reading is a key survival skill and a necessity that my students need to get ahead in within school and life. My students must develop good reading skills as a foundation of learning all of their school subjects. Countless research has shown that students that have a good understanding of reading and are able to read well do better in school. Research has also shown that in order to become a better reader kids must be given the opportunity to read. Unfortunately, my students can not afford to buy books and often times the books that are available for them in school is written “way over their heads.”
My goal is to put quality comic books, that are easy to read, but require high academic skills and rigor, into the hands of my students. Research has shown that while easier to read than “regular novels,” comic books actually require higher order thinking skills to understand. The same higher order thinking skills that are required in math and science. To this end I would like to provide my students with a class set of the graphic novel “Kingdom Come” and the “Kingdom Come-Author’s edition” to help my students become better readers.
He needs $546 for the books, and has already raised $150.