My students need more contemporary novels to foster a love of reading for both enjoyment and engagement. Currently, my students need more relevant titles for their Choice Novel Unit and for a Novel Study Unit.
My students come from all backgrounds and are extremely diverse. My high school is, in fact, the most diverse school in the surrounding county. The majority of learners come from low socioeconomic families and receive free and reduced lunch. School is a safe place for my learners to grow and receive a well-rounded education. My students are curious about all ethnicities and are accepting of other cultures. They are curious, questioning, and tolerant.
Students come with many attitudes towards reading.
Some share a love of reading, while others find reading a task depending on the topic and genre. Although my students are at a variety of reading levels, they all want to learn and to feel successful. My students connect to ideas and concepts that they can apply to their own lives. It is important for my students to connect to what they are reading in order to invest in it.
My Project
The addition of these two titles ("Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" and "Black and White (Speak)") to the ninth grade curriculum will serve as tools to build lifelong readers. Students need to connect to the text they read in order to engage in the genre and content. The selected titles will energize the current curriculum, connect to informational text and background, and motivate students to apply what they have read to their own lives.
These specific texts apply to the world that my students are living in, because they encompass aspects of breaking stereotypes, overcoming racism, and celebrating diversity.
My students will use these texts to bridge their learning to real-life application and pique interest in past and current events. Students will see themselves as reflected in these texts, which will inspire them to take an active and independent role in their school, family and community.
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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 Mrs. Davis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.