A Long Walk to Water: A Cross-Curricular Novel Study
My students need a class set of Linda Sue Park's book A Long Walk to Water so they can have the opportunity to complete a cross-curricular novel study.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Strobel's classroom raised $173
This project is fully funded
My Students
Our school is a small neighborhood school, centrally located in the downtown area. We have just under 400 students from kindergarten through grade 5. Over 60% of the students at our school receive free or reduced lunch.
I teach a fifth grade class of 21 students who come from many different backgrounds, including some with little to no access to technology or current reading materials.
One of my goals is to instill in my students a passion for reading, both for pleasure and as a tool for learning. My projects will support this goal as well as the interests of my students.
My Project
This project will allow me to purchase a class set of the novel A Long Walk to Water and provide my students with the opportunity to make deeper connections through studying a novel as a whole class. At this point in the year, as we move through the fifth grade curriculum, students will next be presented with reading and writing units based on the idea of argument and advocacy. I would like to supplement these units with this novel study.
Through this novel study, I will guide my students to find their own answers to the question: "How can we, as human beings, reach out to those who have less than we do or whose lives are full of much more fear than ours are?" A Long Walk to Water is two stories, "told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985.
The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the 'lost boys' of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. "
This will help students make connections to the topic of Earth's hydrosphere and the global issue of clean water. Through a whole-class novel study, I will be able to support students in approaching more complex novels that integrate multiple perspectives. It is my hope that this will also spark ideas of advocacy and help students become global citizens who are aware of issues people are facing in other parts of the world.
More than a third of 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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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Strobel and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
