My students need these quality books to participate in the Land of Enchantment Book Awards reading club and incentive program.
$408 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! 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.
I am a school librarian at a public elementary school in New Mexico. New Mexico children tend to have the lowest test scores and highest rates of illiteracy and drop-outs in the U.S. which is correlated with poverty. Our school has a mix of income levels. I would guess that half of our students are from solid middle class families, while the other half lives in poverty in Section 8 housing. The children from middle class families are usually far ahead of their low income peers, in regards to their educational achievements. Poverty in our state, tends to be passed down from one generation to the next. I do not believe that parents with low incomes, want their kids to struggle in school. Unfortunately, a lot of low income families do not know how to help their children become successful, because of their poor educational background, lack of engagement in their kids education, drug use, and are too busy or engaged to push their children to do their best.
Thankfully, most children in our state, are eager to learn.
They want to succeed and grow up to be productive members of society.
My Project
Kids at our school, like a lot of children across our country, do not read unless it is required. Because of our state's poverty, a lot of children do not have books at home. Although we have a library, it is often a challenge to get kids to read things besides a graphic novel or Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I always encourage kids to read quality children's literature, especially award winning books, but is often an exercise in futility. I've talked to other librarians in our school's district and have learned that the Land of Enchantment Book Awards often provides gateway books that gets kids to read engaging and thoughtful books.
The land of Enchantment Book Award is intended to encourage the youth of New Mexico to read outstanding books of literary quality.
A committee, sponsored by the New Mexico Library Association and the New Mexico Council of International Reading Association, selects four lists of books for different grade levels. In April, kids from New Mexico, who have read at least three books from the list can vote on their favorite.
As the school's librarian I would love to have our kids, in grades 3-5, participate. I plan to provide incentives (cheap prizes, their names posted on a Hall of Fame Readers list that is publicly posted, lunch with the librarian, an entry for a grand prize drawing, a certificate of achievement, and a pizza or ice-cream party for all who participate) to encourage them to participate. There are over 300 children in grades 3-5 so I would like to have a minimum of 3 copies of each book for children to read throughout the school year.
Unfortunately, our state and district is undergoing a budget crisis; There is no money allocated to purchase these books.
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