"We read to know that we are not alone." ~C.S. Lewis
The Hero's Journey unit I'm creating looks beyond grand, epic heroes and focuses on every day heroes. I want my students to read these novels and understand that anyone, even young people, can be heroic.
My honors freshmen are motivated and eager to learn.
Our school is in a small, close-knit community, so it's important for my students to gain experiences vicariously through the characters they find in novels. Our district is facing many budget cuts and can't afford to purchase new materials to support our curriculum.
My Project
My students will begin our Hero's Journey unit by reading the classic The Odyssey. The books I'm requesting will help students further define what a hero is and does after we've read about an epic hero. They will be broken up into book clubs to read and discuss the novels together. Marcelo in the Real World helps students see the world through the eyes of a boy with Asperger's. Brown Girl Dreaming is a memoir written in verse that details how Jacqueline Woodson served as her own educational advocate. My students will learn the importance of opening up our definition of a hero.
Supporting this project will help bring life and relevance to a curriculum that's currently outdated and lacking funding.
Every year students ask why we read the same books their parents read. It's important to read the classics, but these young adult novels connect with the students in my classroom and drive the point of our unit home. These novels will help my students step into the shoes of heroes they may not encounter otherwise.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Andersen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
