My students need CD players and audio books, like the Percy Jackson series, to help them understand challenging but popular stories, and feel accomplished as readers.
My students are the kids who struggle to read. So, when something captures their attention and holds their interest, we celebrate it. We dive deeper into the content and explore its connections to our own lives. And they light up with happiness and confidence.
My students want to feel accomplished as readers - like their peers who don't struggle.
They pick up the popular titles and flip through the pages, not really understanding, yet wanting so badly to be part of the crowd - to belong to the group of people who can say "I read that!"
My Project
These audio books will allow my struggling readers to experience and understand popular, more challenging stories. Understanding what you listen to is easier than understanding what you read, especially when the text has difficult vocabulary and syntax. Stories like "The One and Only Ivan" and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series present unique challenges. The text structure and narrators' voices are different from many chapter books. "Ivan" does not feature standard paragraphs with dialogue and narration. Percy, who narrates his namesake series, relies heavily on sarcasm and jokes.
Even though I point my kiddos to just-right books, they still want to fit in with their peers by saying that they read the same popular books.
Listening to a recording of an expert reader with great expression helps them understand the story. And when they understand the story, they feel confident that they belong in the club of readers.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Fox and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.