My students need 10 copies each of "City of Ember" and "Divergent" as examples of Dystopian (Utopian) novels in order to participate in "literature circles" and supplement our Dystopian (Utopian) Novel Unit.
Can you imagine walking into a middle school English classroom and seeing every single student immersed in reading? Though this can be a difficult feat, Dystopian literature is almost a sure way to engage all students in reading.
I teach in a rural school district.
Our school size is right at 800 students, and we are one of two middle schools in the district. We are a public school, and our student body is very diverse. Because our district boundaries are larger than almost any district in the state, we have students who come from many different surrounding cities/towns. Though we are a low SES school, our students are high preforming and high achieving. And, like most middle school students, they always make my day interesting!
My Project
The focus for our 8th grade reading theme is "Social Justice." Accordingly, we will be doing a unit on Dystopian literature, as it ties in incredibly well with this theme. Though we have a few class sets of popular young adult dystopian novels, in order for my students to get a full picture of what this genre entails, I think they need to read more than one example. That is why I am requesting 10 copies of The City of Ember, and 10 copies of Divergent. Both or incredible examples of young-adult dystopian literature!
I would love for my students to be able to participate in literature circles using these dystopian novels. By doing literature circles, we can make due with fewer books and students will have the opportunity to read more books, as well as being able to choose not to read books they may have already read. Literature circles are a great way to give student choice while also teaching very important components of literary analysis.
One dystopian novel that I have taught in the past is the very popular Hunger Games.
Out of all of the novels and texts that I have taught, I have never had students respond more positively. Not only were they all doing their reading, but they were all enjoying it! Dystopian literature is not only action packed, but it also brings very important social and political questions to the forefront. Furthermore, these are both fabulously written books that tie in a wide range of literacy devices.
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. Barton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.