Creating Connections to Strengthen our Understanding
Help me give my students individual copies of Storyworks Magazine to enhance their reading experiences and make connections to the world beyond our classroom community.
Our 5th-grade class is very diverse. We come from a variety of social, economic, religious, and racial backgrounds. We speak different languages and perform on a variety of different academic ability levels. We all come to school each day with a wide range of gifts, talents, interests, issues, hopes, and fears.
Despite these differences, there are so many more ways we are alike and connected.
We have just been through a very strange (and disjointed) couple of school years. We are all adjusting to a new "normal." We are uncertain about what this upcoming school year will look like, but we predict it will still not be a typical school day of years past. We are all, however, excited to get back to learning and we cannot wait to share what we know. We are still curious, will ask a lot of questions, and will celebrate when we are successful at learning new things. Most importantly, we will work hard while appreciating everyone's unique voice and talents to support our varying needs in order to succeed. We know our teamwork is what will make our dreams work!
My Project
My students love to read books, but they also enjoy shorter, more current stories. Scholastic Storyworks is the perfect resource for students to explore and learn from a variety of genres. This magazine is filled with high-interest fiction (reader's theater, poetry) and nonfiction pieces (biographies, opinion pieces). While the content and vocabulary presented challenges most students, they are primarily improving their comprehension by being engaged and making connections to their reading. By using Storyworks magazine in large and small reading groups, students are sure to show growth in utilizing their comprehension strategies.
Making connections with a text is highly important and necessary for greater understanding.
Doing so also hooks children in to want to read more! Storyworks Magazine does just this by enabling students to find links/connections to other texts that correlate with settings, characters, or problems they have seen in other stories. Students always want to read and learn more when they make connections to real-life people and issues that they may have experienced, or may have coming in their near futures. Exposure to these themes through good stories helps them understand, and make sense of, the cultures of their peers, their socioemotional growth, and the greater world beyond.
The variety of information presented in StoryWorks also becomes reflected in their writing, since we sometimes rely on these as a mentor text to help them grow as writers. Students may be inspired by and then practice a style of writing they like using this literary resource. Scholastic Storyworks can be the motivation my writers need to find their own voice when they write their short stories, essays, poems, or articles. Hands down, this is one of the best resources out there that can be provided for my students!
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
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Anderson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
