My students need (and beg for) more graphic novels! Reluctant readers get excited and are encouraged to move to chapter books; diversity of level and topic will help.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. R.'s classroom raised $386
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
Chapter books can be daunting to English learners, and can be hard to get them reading with confidence. Some also have learning differences which make art a useful tool. Many are comic book fans, and love stories told with artistic creativity which makes this a great way to spark their interest.
My students are seventh graders in a public middle school, but many read at between a 2nd and 5th grade level.
They live in a mostly Latino community, with small scattering of other cultures and backgrounds. A good half of them are in language arts tutorials, and silent reading is a daily part of that. Those in tutorials can't take art class, and many are avid artists in my class. Their struggles with reading so often make them believe they are failures in school, and so finding something that both grabs their imaginations and supports their deeper understanding of the stories and characters is incredibly valuable.
My Project
This year, I have discovered that graphic novels are a great way to have students work with plot, character, setting, etc., but in a way that visual learners can process. Graphic novels would add a creative spark to our AR reading program, especially for those who are not yet proficient readers. One of my boys, who spent a good ten minutes claiming he couldn't find anything interesting (on a wall of five full bookcases!), was handed a graphic novel. The next day, he lingered in the classroom to tell me that it "was the best book he's ever read, and are there more by this guy?" He commented that he could see that the violence and bullying in the story (in the hero's neighborhood) was something that the character had to deal with and he understood
In a time when our school funding is extremely limited, I desperately want to feed that hunger in my students' eyes.
So many have gotten excited with reading for the first time through the graphic novels I've managed to get, and it would be wonderful to have a full shelf of tales full of diversity, history (and just plain good storytelling) to encourage their confidence as readers and to move them towards being proficient and fluent. They deserve to have that excitement in their experience.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. R. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
