My students need a library of leveled readers that they can take Accelerated Reader quizzes on just like their peers, such as "The Very Hungry Stranger" and non-fiction.
My classroom is designed to help students who are 3 or more grade levels below their peers. A great challenge my students have is finding reading materials on their ability level (K-4) in a school that serves grades 5-8. A student cannot improve without practice!
My students have significant intellectual disabilities, but work and strive harder than the average student.
We live in the Upper Cumberland region of the South, and most students in our school are at an economic disadvantage. Our classroom is set up to give small group and one-on-one instruction to students in math, language, and reading, along with whole class instruction in science and social studies. Our school library is designed to serve the majority of our school's students, who are in grades 5-8, but is not equipped to provide appropriate reading material to help bridge the reading gap between what my students can do and 5th grade. This also applies to our English language learners who may be able to read fluently in their home language but struggle with English in the beginning.
My Project
My goal is to establish a small lending library for my students and any other students, such as ELL, who need materials to help bridge that development gap between where they are currently and the 5th grade level. By giving these students an opportunity to enjoy literature, both fiction and non-fiction that is on their current level, will facilitate their ability to get closer to their grade level. I have seen students go from non-readers to third grade level in a 3 year period without such a resource. Can you imagine what we could do with appropriate books?
I hope to establish a "Read 20" portion of our day where everyone takes time to read for 20 minutes in the library.
The titles I am choosing will also align with our Accelerated Reader program which allows students to take quizzes on the books they've read to earn points for rewards, track their progress, analyze their weaknesses, and provide a testing tool to share with parents on their child's progress.
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