Classroom Project

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"I am a new teacher teaching 7th and 8th grade reading at a high-poverty school in Indiana. The majority of my students come into my classroom ranging two to seven years behind grade level in reading. It is my job to catch them up by at least 2+ years of reading growth this school year. I am extremel... " MORE

"I am a new teacher teaching 7th and 8th grade reading at a high-poverty school in Indiana. The majority of my students come into my classroom ranging two to seven years behind grade level in reading. It is my job to catch them up by at least 2+ years of reading growth this school year. I am extremely passionate about my job because if my students do not know how to read, the statistics for their futures are dismal. In fact, some states determine the number of future prison beds needed by factoring the number of children who cannot read on grade level in 4th grade when tested. That is why it is imperative that I teach like lives depend on it… Because they actually do.

My goal is to foster an excitement and passion within my students for reading through a sustained silent reading program I created specifically for my classes entitled “Reading Is Our Thing” (or “RIOT”). Reading is a skill. Ask any sports coach, band director, dance teacher or chess champion, “What do I do to be good?” Answer: Practice. RIOT allows my students to practice reading skills and make reading a regular habit.

Many of my students do not own books nor have easy access to ones that interest them in order to truly become passionate about reading and want to participate in RIOT- which requires silent reading in and outside of school. Thus, I want to provide my students with “page-turning,” “can’t put down” books that interest them and contain stories, characters and plot lines that they can relate to. This will foster a short- and long-term desire for reading and help them to gain the reading skills needed to become successful readers.

Your kind and generous help will put my students on the right track this school year to meet their reading growth goals. As I tell my students, Reading = Opportunity. Therefore, thank you for helping provide my students with the books they need to get excited about reading, become successful readers and ultimately have opportunities and choices later in life.

My students need two copies each of 21 books, a leveled library mobile storage cart, and 16 book bins to store the books in.

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