Once you are made aware of another person's cultural background, you learn so much more about that person. My students need 6 copies each of 16 Hispanic-themed books to use in small group instruction. It is my hope that by using these Hispanic books in a small group setting, my Spanish-speaking students will increase their comprehension by making more connections to literature.
I currently teach approximately 54 students daily in a schoolwide Title I setting.
Out of these, I have 9 Spanish-speaking students who are taught English at school while Spanish is very much alive at home. Their parents have limited English. Many of these students have never attended a preschool or Head Start setting before. They come to us knowing only Spanish when they register for school. This language barrier is putting a damper on success with making connections to literature for these ELL students. These same parents do not understand the importance and benefits of making connections through literature in order to succeed in our diversified world.
My Project
On any given school day, I meet with an average of 10 to 14 different small reading groups. These groups may be one student to one teacher or as many as 6 students to one teacher, depending on if it is a Title Reading group, a Reading Recovery group, or a Reading Intervention group. As I guide these small reading groups on a daily basis, I hope to instill the love of reading in students. I can also build on their comprehension skills, fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, critical thinking questioning, creativity, and more.
I can help these students focus more on their strategies to become better readers. Without the Hispanic-themed books I am requesting, I will see no changes. Many will make no connections to their heritage or culture at all. My students are lacking appropriate literature to enhance their learning. I would like to provide them with this opportunity to read about topics that they can relate to.
By using these Hispanic Leveled Readers in my small group instruction, I am hoping to build a stronger community and at the same time help all students to make different connections to real life situations.
I want my students to succeed and to envision what the future might entail for them. Not only will this new collection of books be valuable and useful, but they will also help other students to become aware of circumstances within an environment different from their own.
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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 Teacher Cassutt and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
