“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Each year, I begin my middle school English class by repeating this phrase over and over: Reading is the most important thing one can do to change the course of his life.
Not all students believe this to be true.
My middle school students come from varied backgrounds: some live in doorman buildings, others in housing projects. Reading for some students is a refuge, a journey, a sweet moment shared between reader and author. For others, reading is sometimes a chore and often an insurmountable climb that they dare not attempt. In our school, students are tasked with reading at least 30 books independently throughout the school year. For some students, this proves an easy task. For our reluctant readers, they may struggle to read even a third of that number. All students want to be successful; not all know how to begin.
My Project
With such tremendous diversity, it is not always easy to find the perfect book for each student, especially those reluctant readers who may be embarrassed by the type of book that they may be able to understand. It is often these students who do not love to read, but may grow to love reading if only there were books that spoke about the challenges of adolescence. Luckily there is a genre of books perfectly poised to help struggling readers: high-interest/low-level books. Orca Soundings has created a series of high-interest/low-level books that meet the needs of reluctant readers, with stories that are of interest to teens who read below grade level. A set of these stories would ensure that even the low-level readers would have plenty of ways to fall in love with reading throughout the year.
"I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me.
I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke in me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive." -Malcolm X
Give all students a chance to awaken a craving to learn and to see the world in new ways. Give to this project and support our struggling readers in their efforts to turn into voracious bookworms.
More than half 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 Mrs. Trombetti Soto and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
