This year I am learning 5th grade ELA and Social Studies with 45 students reading at multiple different grade levels. My classes include students learning with social/academic exceptionalities, English language learners, and students with 504 testing accommodations. These all stars are putting in so much work towards gaining the fundamental reading and comprehension skills they need for future success.
The students in our classroom are bright, kind, hardworking kids.
They come to school each day ready to learn, appreciate structure, and thrive with routine and high expectation. We respect each other's learning, and work hard to ensure everyone can be successful. My students are supporting each other as they begin reading aloud, some for the first time, discussing what they read, learn fundamental skills in phonics and vocabulary, and begin mastering the skills they need to be successful in middle school and beyond.
This addition to our classroom will help all our students learn these valuable skills, while also being able to focus on social, comprehension, and social studies skills. High interest books help these students become life-long learners!
My Project
These books will continue to develop the print-rich classroom that I strive to create. Our classroom library is a place that my students really enjoy! Every student knows that our library is open to them to enjoy books with love and care, and the students are thankful for the opportunity to read books they love. However, while learning about immigration over the last couple months, our class has noticed our library is not as diverse as I wish. Every book in our library was chosen with my specific students in mind. I have grown with them over the last couple years, and I know these books are books they will truly enjoy reading. This new group of books will ensure that every student has books, both fiction and non-fiction, with characters who look like them, come from similar cultures as their families, and make them a loved and represented member of our classroom.
Students will be able to choose books, which will help them continue to enjoy independent reading time while creating confidence that comes from seeing heroes and heroines who look like you.
With these new books, my students will be able to choose from a variety of books that will allow them to read independently at their own reading level.
They will also be able to choose books that represent them, their friends, and their community. The best way to increase reading ability is to read more, and these books will continue to help my students grow stronger in reading. My students already have shown an astonishing interest in independent reading and exploring the world around them, and this project will only help enrich their experiences with the printed word.
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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. Rivers and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
