I am a first year teacher in a Title 1 school. I currently have 32 students although this fluctuates on a daily basis. They love to read! At the beginning of the year, I brought in my own library, but it wasn't enough. We need to be able to read together and share our ideas on popular novels.
I love my students!
They come from every part of the globe and in all different shapes and sizes. Our school is transient, so some of them don't stay very long. Many are in subsidized housing and they can't afford food, let alone books. When classes first started, we didn't even have access to the school's library. That's when I gathered all of my own personal books and set them up as a lending library in my classroom. The kids loved it! They were able to explore a world very different from their own. The trouble was, I just didn't have enough of their favorite titles to go around, particularly the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I had to make those a special reward even though I had one complete set. They were definitely the most popular.
My Project
As my kids have gotten a little more access to the school's library, they have branched out into other titles. I have little post-it notes all over my desk of their favorite titles so that I can read them myself. I want to be able to group my students into little "book clubs" so that they can all read the same title and then share and collaborate on a related project. Some of my students barely speak English and I'm hoping that if they read together, all of the students in each group will be able to come away with a valuable reading and learning experience. As they work and share together, it will make my classroom function on a little higher level. It will solidify friendships and establish good working relationships between students.
I want to help these kids as much as possible.
I want to share with them my love of reading and education in general. They have not always had stability, so reading about a fictitious world can be a wonderful escape for them, just for a little while. Literacy is so important to everyone, especially those who are learning English for the first time. They can also share that love with their families. I have many students with parents who don't speak any English. The first step is always reading.
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