My students need 25 copies of City of Ember to replace ones that are very old and falling apart as well as an audio copy for those that cannot read the book without help.
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
My students are exposed to as many genres as possible in the hopes that they will find something that sparks a love of reading for them. Many have found that inspiration from the book City of Ember.
Many of my students do not read on grade level when I get them.
Therefore, they haven't acquired a love for it. It's only been difficult for them. The majority of them come from generational poverty. They haven't been read to and there are no books at home. Pages are falling out of the copies of City of Ember we have in class. They have to be put in order and stapled together by chapter.
My Project
I have used this books for three years. They were given to me by a retiring teacher and were already weathered. The novel study I do with these books encompasses many things. I start the book by reading it aloud. I then do my thinking about the book aloud so they can see for themselves what it means to think while reading. I use it to teach figurative language and how to determine the meaning of a word by looking at the context of the passage. By the end of the book, they are reading it in small groups, coming up with their own open-ended questions, pointing out significant details and making predictions. They learn how to write using detail. Then we compare and contrast it to the movie, which I already have.
In the years I have taught this, I have seen so many children fall in love with this book.
I have seen students who previously refused to read, ask to take the book home so they can read ahead. Some have gone on to read the entire series before looking up other similar books. This book has been life-changing for a few of them, transforming them from non-readers to avid readers.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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