This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
I have the pleasure of teaching reading, writing and social studies to two groups of energetic, curious, enthusiastic, hard-working learners this year: one fourth and one fifth grade class. Our school is located in an urban-suburban area, and we are one of the few neighborhood schools left in our district with a true neighborhood feeling!
I have a unique relationship with my current classes as I had the privilege of teaching many of them as first graders (and some, again as fourth graders), so I've been able to watch these students grow from tentative, emergent readers into capable and confident "big kids".
My students come to school with smiles on their faces, despite any adversity they face in and out of school. Given this, they deserve the world.
My Project
One of the most exciting aspects of being a 4th-5th grade literacy teacher is getting to lead small book clubs in each of my classes. Watching my students grow from timid, cautious students to voracious, animated readers, talkers and thinkers is quite the reward for a teacher!
In book clubs students engage in an awful lot of critical thinking, reflection and discourse.
The conversation is the hallmark of my book clubs: students read independently and come together in small groups to discuss their thinking, debate their opinions, and bond with other students over sharing this literature-based experience.
One problem I have faced is the lack of quality, exciting texts for students to dig into. Many of the texts we have are well-loved, and it is not uncommon for students to bring me a book club book, asking for tape to put it back together. Additionally, though we have some great, classic titles available, contemporary authors are producing exciting, adventurous, thought-provoking texts each year, and it is my hope for my students to get to experience these books as well as the classics.
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
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. Tavolacci and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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