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Ms. McKnight’s Classroom Edit display name

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"Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, according to Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, children's literature scholar. It's validating for kids to meet a character in a story who has hair like theirs, a learning challenge like theirs or background like theirs. For students whose disability makes reading an ordeal this is even more important. Increasing the diversity of characters my students will see in the books that we use to improve their reading will help them muster the grit they need to continue the struggle. Diverse learners need to see themselves and the practice they have to put in to learn, as worth the effort . For my students learning to read is a struggle that takes practice and specialized instruction in small groups. While some diversity exists in my class library, having enough books for a small group is needed. When students read about characters they relate to, it helps form connections. Identifying with the characters in a story allows for a deeper comprehension, because students make self-connections. My students need to laugh with Hank Zipzer, who has trouble remembering words, just like they do. They need to read about heroes like those in Night John who risk everything to learn to read, when skin color defined who was allowed to learn. They also need to read about real people who strived against the environment they walk though everyday on the way to school, like the heroes of Impossible Rescue. Please help my students to see in their reading, people who have struggled to learn, to be accepted, live freely and who have overcome the same odds they see.

About my class

"Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, according to Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, children's literature scholar. It's validating for kids to meet a character in a story who has hair like theirs, a learning challenge like theirs or background like theirs. For students whose disability makes reading an ordeal this is even more important. Increasing the diversity of characters my students will see in the books that we use to improve their reading will help them muster the grit they need to continue the struggle. Diverse learners need to see themselves and the practice they have to put in to learn, as worth the effort . For my students learning to read is a struggle that takes practice and specialized instruction in small groups. While some diversity exists in my class library, having enough books for a small group is needed. When students read about characters they relate to, it helps form connections. Identifying with the characters in a story allows for a deeper comprehension, because students make self-connections. My students need to laugh with Hank Zipzer, who has trouble remembering words, just like they do. They need to read about heroes like those in Night John who risk everything to learn to read, when skin color defined who was allowed to learn. They also need to read about real people who strived against the environment they walk though everyday on the way to school, like the heroes of Impossible Rescue. Please help my students to see in their reading, people who have struggled to learn, to be accepted, live freely and who have overcome the same odds they see.

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