The students I will be teaching this school year are accelerated level students who seek out challenges. They perform at a high level in everything they do and it is my challenge to push them further than they think they are capable of going. Many of them are great readers but gave up their love of reading for other things because many of them do not get any say in what they read in class.
My students don't know yet how much more they will enjoy reading before the coming school year is over.
Most of them have spent much of their education, particularly from middle school on being told what to read. I want them to reconnect with the first and second grade versions of themselves that loved books back when they got to pick them. They don't hate reading like many of them say they hate being told what to read. This year, that changes. This year, they get to choose. With that freedom of choice, I plan to turn my students into readers who know what they like and make time in their electronic, social-media filled days to get lost in the pages of books they select.
My Project
The books this project will provide will help grow the classroom library of books I have available to students. They will be crucial to the success of the independent reading time I will be providing students most days in my class. Instead of requiring certain books that all students must read, I am going to offer them a wide variety of choice so they find something they truly want to read.
Without choice, there is little to no motivation to complete something.
Research show that giving students choice in what they read, gives them a sense of ownership over their own learning and motivation to finish it. This makes them more likely to actually read the book instead of relying on other students or online summaries to get enough of an idea about the book to pass a test. Using the books from this project, I hope to use this feeling of ownership students develop, to turn them into engaged readers. Students will also benefit from being exposed to a wide variety of viewpoints and experiences the authors provide through their writing.
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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 Mr. Roberts and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.