My students need young adult books that reflect the difficult choices they have to make and will engage them from page one.
$187 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
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.
"When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young." - Maya Angelou
My students are on the brink of figuring out "who" they are.
They are seniors, all having recently immigrated to the United States looking for a fresh start and in search of a "better life." We spend much time exploring who we are as writers, readers, and thinkers, but also people. They have all made a big transition, often leaving parents behind, and are ready, willing, and able to learn more about America, its' people, it's culture - and how they fit here in this new land.
I believe that it is important to teach students to know their hearts and use their minds well. My goal is to prepare my kids to live productive, socially useful, and personally satisfying lives with an academic program that stresses intellectual development and social involvement. I have worked hard to develop a strong curriculum that places great importance on learning how to learn, reason, question, and investigate. It is only through these crucial critical thinking skills that they will grow.
My Project
Each day we have time for independent reading. This is a time when I tell my students, "It's okay to pick up and put down twenty books until you find one that you will really enjoy reading." I've learned that the secret is to provide enough choices for students and to know students well enough to help them find that one book that they will finish.
I've witnessed my students take off and read book after book when provided with a protected space that is quiet and filled with reading. When this happens, the reading vibe in the room is so contagious that students influence each other to read and even reluctant readers become page-turners!
Independent reading has the potential to give students a personalized path to explore literature and expression. If students are engaged in their reading and care about their books, their enthusiasm drives their work and pushes them further as readers.
Just as Maya Angelou said, this experience holds the potential to give my students that "literacy of self." Our school does not have the resources to create a library, and our classroom library needs some new tales.
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 Ms. Russo and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
