This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Thanks to you kind folks, Mr. Vizthum's Donors Choose project has been funded. In case you don't remember, this teacher wanted to teach evolution to his students, but due to their age and English-language proficiency, not many books were accessible to them. He wrote:
Evolution is the cornerstone of biology, yet my ESL students can not access the books that teach about it. The need books written at their reading level that explain the concepts of evolution theory.My students are wonderful hardworking students, though they often do poorly on our state’s standardized tests. The reason for this is that they are recent immigrants hailing from the Philippines, Mexico, Korea, Peru, China, Guatemala, Korea, El Salvador, and Vietnam. Some received state education from their home countries, others did not. Despite the challenges faced by my middle school students, they have positive attitudes and are ready for the challenges of academia.
I am requesting 25 books of the same title to use as a supplemental resource along with our textbook. We will read the book together as a class, digesting the material. What I like about this title is that it is written in basic English and has visual clues which help struggling readers.
I just received a thank-you note from Mr. Vizthum that I thought I'd share:
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I am so ecstatic to be able to utilize this resource for my class. I can still remember when I first learned about evolution, I was very skeptical because it seemed so simple and explained so much. I hope that my students will get the same sense of awe about this foundational theory. You are equipping our future doctors, teachers, naturalists, and our future civilization. Thank you for your generous heart, these gifts will be used by many generations of young learners.With gratitude,
Mr. V
If you haven't given yet, it's not too late. Head back to my original Donors Choose post for instructions on how to donate and descriptions of the other projects I've highlighted. Or head directly to my Donors Choose Giving Page.