My students need a 6 or 7 copies each of of 6 Chris Crutcher novels for literature circles that piggyback off the themes of "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar."
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Magrane's classroom raised $394
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students are tired of reading "old stuff," like Julius Caesar, but the themes are in Chris Crutcher novels, too. Teens relate better to these novels. Literature circles of various novels will help motivate discussion from teenagers, letting them explore themes in more depth and with more purpose.
I teach tenth-grade English/Language Arts inclusion classes at a high school.
The diversity of my learners spans from a third grade reading level to a college-bound reading level. Our student body is quite diverse from the Hispanic culture, African-American, Bosnian, Native American and Caucasian. A high number of the students are on free or reduced lunch (we serve breakfast, also). Most want to learn, but they go home to hard-knock lives. They need a venue to discuss how to handle those discombobulated lives while working for a more in-depth education. This involves giving them more help time and seeing that their assignments are done. This may sound like what a parent should do, but too many of my students don't even have parents; they live with grandparents or in foster homes. I see mostly lower-income students in my classes and I hope to help them see that they can strive for what they want to get out of life. They don't have to settle. They can achieve their gift!
My Project
Too often we ignore the lives of teenagers until they do something wrong. This stinks! Maybe adults are doing something wrong. Many teenagers live with anger, depression, resentment, lovelessness, and other negative emotions because adults have either not raised the child or adults have stereotyped teenagers. Chris Crutcher's works give a voice to teenagers, especially those from dysfunctional and troubled families. He helps teenagers stop believing the "bad" label that is prejudicially placed upon them. Through the literature circles, teens experience discourse that helps them vent, empathize with the lives of others, problem-solve social and emotional difficulties, and change their opinions of each other. Labels disappear and stations in life seem less pertinent than the person directly in front of them. Literature does help people live their lives and understand their culture. Through this understanding, it is hoped that they grow into more open-minded adults.
The teen voice speaks thoughts essential to our culture.
They may be rather blunt at times, needing to learn "how" to form meaning into non-threatening statement, but what they have to say is crucial. We must listen. Also, we must stop with the "classical literature only" perspective. Adolescent literature reflects culture and lessons for humans just as well as some classical literature.
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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