My students need 100 of the best-ever teen novels. ..and we only have about half! We need high-interest books that we can smell, touch, and hold in our hands every day!
My students do not own books. They do not see their parents reading (who has time when you are working two jobs?). It makes me sad and it reinforces what an advantage kids who grow up with books have over other students: Reading and learning is the norm, not the exception.
My students attend a neighborhood school in the 3rd largest city in the nation.
Most of my students have been in our school community since they were in preschool. They rarely leave the neighborhood; it is their reality. Part of that reality is seeing illiterate adults in their neighborhood. Our 8th grade team is dedicated to getting our students experiences outside of our community. My students need to know that there is life beyond this school and neighborhood. One way to do this is by getting books in their hands that allow them to travel through the shoes of another person in another place. In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, he explains that reality is created by what we see daily. We need to shift our students' reality. They need to learn and read and experience more so that they will know that there is life beyond the cave and that they want to go find what is beyond the cave.
My Project
Bad Apple, When You Reach Me, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars - aren't you already curious? I'll bet you start looking up these books just based on their titles. That's half the battle: gaining interest. These books will allow me to be able to get high quality novels into my students' hands every day. There won't be any reason for my students to not have books to read when they go home. I will be able to promote independent reading in school and out of school. Ultimately, with titles like We Beat the Streets, my kids will learn to speak "book" and will begin to get their peers interested as well. While our nation continues to focus on a rise in test scores (and I know there is place for that discussion) we still need to acknowledge that our kids should become independent lifelong learners. One way to promote that love of learning is to foster a love of reading. One way I can foster a love of reading is through access to good books!
"The more you read, the more you'll know.
The more you know, the farther you'll go!" Was it Dr. Seuss or his Cat in the Hat that said that? It really doesn't matter who said it, the fact remains, it is a true statement. I pour money into my classroom library on a yearly basis because all kids love a good story. And, it's like a really good ice cream cone: Once you've had it, you want more. That what I want: my kids to want more stories and more books...and ultimately more out of life.
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