A wise man once said, “You can borrow a book, but you get to keep the ideas.” As an English teacher, it is imperative that I put appropriate books into my students’ hands: books which will open their minds to new and exciting worlds; books which will plant inspiration; and books which will help shape my students into future leaders.
My classes are composed of sixth grade students with a wide range of skills and abilities, including GATE and special ED students, as well as English learners.
One of our school’s struggles is meeting the diverse needs of our growing readers. I am working to increase the size of our social issues book collection so that every student can be introduced to new, powerful stories that match their interests and reading abilities.
Our school is Title 1 and in an area of high need.
My Project
This spring, student book clubs will be reading fictional stories that address "hot topics" such as immigration, racism, LGBTQ issues, acceptance, and sexism. These books are used to launch groups into a study of specific social issues via non-fiction texts, memes and cartoons, personal experience, poetry, and other fictional accounts.
This unit raises student awareness of their own perspectives and biases, challenging them to discover how they might improve the way society functions.
With over 180 sixth graders simultaneously embarking on this course of study, the resources of our classroom, school, and public libraries are quickly depleted. Please help me offer students a variety of books, so that each one can find a captivating "social issues book" at their reading level.
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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. Bradley and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
