What I love most about my students is their adventurous spirit. They courageously step into new and unknown directions with their reading and writing. Even those students who think "English is boring," will actively engage with their peers when they see how enjoyable and thought-provoking it can be to share new discoveries and original, creative content.
As a Title I school, the majority of our students qualify for free and reduced lunches, which in academic terms, translates to "Books are a non-essential." Yet, when offered a wide array of titles that reflect our neighborhood and school, students jump at the opportunity to see themselves in the texts they pick and what they can do with them.
Additionally, our students become more agile and independent readers, writers, and thinkers when they are exposed to diverse books and explore avenues of discovery through which they make connections as humans across tribes. Perhaps the greatest joy in watching this process unfold, is in the increased self-confidence infusing their writing and speaking about reading using academic language.
My Project
The Hispanic and African American authors on this list are heralded for creating richly vivid stories that quickly enrapture Middle School students. As we use them in Book Clubs and Readers/Writers' Workshop, students will discuss and process how theme, text-specific vocabulary, author's craft, and characterization create an avenue through which they can become independent, rather than dependent readers, writers, and thinkers. They learn how to navigate new ideas for themselves while textualizing their own thinking through illustrated journals.
When students pick up a book that looks like them or where they come from, it creates a natural outgrowth of self-confidence as active owners of their learning.
If you donated to this project, you can sign in to leave a comment for Ms. Shillingburg.
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 Ms. Shillingburg and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
