Gotta Keep Reading!

My Students: My third grade students are mostly Hispanic. They are learning English as their second language. They need lots of low level books on which to practice their reading skills....

My Project: I have tried to choose books that will hold the interest of students who are older than the students who typically read this level of book. These books will make our Independ... more»

My Students: My third grade students are mostly Hispanic. They are learning English as their second language. They need lots of low level books on which to practice their reading skills.

My students' home country is Mexico. They are so friendly and openly eager to learn that I wish I could just snap my fingers and teach them to speak and read English instantly! However, that is not the way one learns to speak and read a second language. It takes time and lots of practice. That is the part we need help with - lots of practice. Easy-to-read books with low lexile levels are usually very short and can be finished in just a few minutes. These students need to practice their reading for about thirty to forty-five minutes per day, so that means each one of them can read about four or five books per day. You can see why our classroom library needs lots and lots of easy books! If each student reads four books per day, then I need twenty different books per week, just for one student!

My Project: I have tried to choose books that will hold the interest of students who are older than the students who typically read this level of book. These books will make our Independent Reading time truly "independent". We will have enough books for everyone to choose books they are interested in, instead of just trying to find some books they have not already read.

These students are highly motivated to learn to read in English. They plan to stay in this country, go to school, go to college and get a good job. I want to support their dreams and goals as much as I possibly can. hide»