Building the Love for Reading (One Page at a Time)
Help me give my students a chance to enjoy reading. They have asked for books that are fun to read, books that they keep turning the pages to finish. Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle will do this!
My students are curious and enthusiastic learners. Before one unit ends, they are researching the books we will read in the next unit. They come to class with bright, eager eyes ready to impress me as well as their peers. They are diverse in terms of race, religion, and culture; yet they share an innate desire to learn. As the second class in a new Middle School Honors Academy, they are driven to succeed. This Honors Academy is housed within a Title I high school, which means that at least 80% of the student population receives a free or reduced lunch. The Academy targets high-achieving students and provides them with a rigorous curriculum. It was created to link with our High School Dual Enrollment Academy, which partners with a local university.
My Project
The books in this project will be used in an elective reading class that meets every other Friday. When I asked students last year which books they would like to read, Eragon was one of their top choices. We will start the class together reading this novel. Using the Socratic Seminar as a model, students will learn how to create their own open-ended questions and to lead peer discussions. We will explore universal themes and archetypes, and most importantly, students will question how what they read connects to their world. After we learn how to prepare for and engage in meaningful discussions using Eragon, students will break into smaller groups and select from the other novels in my project. Through the use of interactive reading notebooks as well as monitoring Socratic Seminars, I can assess student comprehension as well as engagement.
My high-achieving students have a lot of anxiety, and they frequently spend hours doing homework and other required activities.
The time they are able to spend reading because they love to read is limited. The goal of this project is to put the love for reading back into their hearts!
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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 Ms. Lundy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
