Chapter Books for Struggling Readers

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

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

Imagine what it must feel like to be in a classroom filled with students enthusiastically reading exciting books and not being able to be a part of it. Four of my students feel this way regularly. They are reading two years below grade level and I have limited materials to offer them.

My students are motivated, enthusiastic learners.

They are diverse, both socio-economically and ethnically. Over half of our school's population receives free or reduced lunches, making our school a Title 1 school. Many of our students have limited resources and are not exposed to enriching experiences beyond school. Most of them do not visit public libraries or bookstores with their families. Our school strives to overcome these challenges by setting high expectations for our students and for ourselves. We strive for students to perform academically and to love learning. As an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, we encourage our students to ask questions, solve problems, and take action to make the world a better place. Our students embody what it means to be caring, open-minded, and balanced people.

My Project

Well-written chapter books have the ability to turn unmotivated readers into enthusiastic readers. Chapter books that are written as part of a series provide students a sequence of books to be engaged in. Once a student enjoys one book in a series, they're likely to want to read the entire series. These books are written by authors who know how to engage children. My struggling readers would love to read these books. I teach through a Readers Workshop approach. That means that students are exposed to a mini-lesson on reading (e.g., Inferring how a character feels), then read independently while practicing the skill or strategy learned in the mini-lesson, and then share their ideas with a reading partner. It is critical that children have engaging books that are at their reading level for this approach to work. My students need these books to become good readers.

This project will enable my struggling readers to feel empowered and included in the learning in my classroom.

They need to feel like they're readers and they need these books (that are at their reading levels) to improve their abilities as readers.