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Once a week, at the beginning of the school year, I took my students to the library to expose them to as many types of reading as possible. Some avid readers would devour texts that varied from books of poetry to novellas and above-grade-level novels. Other students shied away from anything besides comic books. Still others looked lost and bothered by even the thought that they were required to check something out. It was during that first month of school that I learned an important lesson: My students with an aversion to reading needed me to vouch for a book before they would pick it up. Left to their own devices it was a chore to pick up a book and pretend to read. But when I announced that we would be reading Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson (another Corretta Scott King winner) as a class and that I genuinely enjoyed the book more than Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, their curiosity was peaked. As a class, we went through the book and students who I had never seen reading would use their free time to catch up and read ahead. Students who had never seen themselves reflected in a book's character suddenly found themselves understanding the plight of the Bailey brothers. I want more of that and I believe that creating a diverse classroom library of books that I have approved will create a safe space for my struggling students to pick up a book each Tuesday and Wednesday when we have silent reading. After reviewing the titles in these book bundles I know that my students will benefit from direct access to them in my classroom. Specifically, I hope to create a lending library that will invest them in the idea that they can read for fun.

About my class

Once a week, at the beginning of the school year, I took my students to the library to expose them to as many types of reading as possible. Some avid readers would devour texts that varied from books of poetry to novellas and above-grade-level novels. Other students shied away from anything besides comic books. Still others looked lost and bothered by even the thought that they were required to check something out. It was during that first month of school that I learned an important lesson: My students with an aversion to reading needed me to vouch for a book before they would pick it up. Left to their own devices it was a chore to pick up a book and pretend to read. But when I announced that we would be reading Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson (another Corretta Scott King winner) as a class and that I genuinely enjoyed the book more than Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, their curiosity was peaked. As a class, we went through the book and students who I had never seen reading would use their free time to catch up and read ahead. Students who had never seen themselves reflected in a book's character suddenly found themselves understanding the plight of the Bailey brothers. I want more of that and I believe that creating a diverse classroom library of books that I have approved will create a safe space for my struggling students to pick up a book each Tuesday and Wednesday when we have silent reading. After reviewing the titles in these book bundles I know that my students will benefit from direct access to them in my classroom. Specifically, I hope to create a lending library that will invest them in the idea that they can read for fun.

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About my class

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