Empowering Readers with Art, iPads, and Social Issues in Novels
My students need iPads to download free library books dealing with current social issues such as suicide, bullying, drugs, teen pregnancy, and abuse, then create art projects.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
"It's the power of literature-it interprets our lives and tells us what we want to know. Literature is magical." I want my students to experience social awareness as they read quality literature and become cognizant of the relevant community issues that they deal with on a daily basis.
Our school is a Title I school with 85% minority, a growing ESL population, and 98% free/reduced price lunch.
Our students come from predominantly single parent homes where survival and not literacy is paramount. Our school received an "F" rating for the past two years due to progressively worsening state test scores. We have a dedicated, highly professional faculty, yet "extra" materials to enhance curriculum are not a priority. Most teachers write grants and/or spend their own funds in order to facilitate the basic needs of our children. Therefore, children of poverty need to be exposed to authors who deal with issues such as suicide, bullying, teen pregnancy, death, drugs, and alcohol. Current literacy research states, "in the very near future, public schools will draw students from primarily minority populations...thus using authentic texts and giving children choices are powerful and necessary conditions in the development of children's learning, thinking, and autonomy."
My Project
"Empowering Students Through Art and iPads" provides readers with cutting edge technology. My reading intervention classes are composed of students (grades 6-8) who are struggling readers (reading below a 4th grade level). With more and more emphasis on technology, the students will have access to advanced resources on the iPads. Not only will they be able to access public library books, they will have access to vocabulary, close readings, and artistic apps, which will increase their reading skills and strategies. After completing each novel, the students will create an art project that displays their understandings and interpretations of the novel."Tech-to-Stretch" is one project where the children represent their comprehension via an iMovie or Keynote. Another project,"Sketch-to-Stretch" empowers kids to represent their thinking with color, shape and symbol-only. Literacy research has shown that when we "recast" our thinking in another media we greatly enhance our critical skills.
This project will enhance my students' lives as they obtain similar opportunities that their affluent counterparts possess.
These children rarely receive instructional materials that will truly benefit them for years to come. I want them to become proud of who they are and the contributions that they will eventually make to improve their communities. Through awareness of the social pitfalls in our society, my students will be equipped to make positive choices.
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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 Ms. Saunders and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
