My students are from Commerce, Georgia. Our school is small and loving, and my students try very hard to succeed in academics and the realities of life. Many of my students have to work part-time jobs. I teach mainly eleventh graders. I have heard the same story over and over. Since middle school, they have read very few books for pleasure, and often only read sections of the books assigned in classes. I want to do my part to change this with extensive independent reading and book clubs. Every year, I loan out books to students to read.
Students need access to good books; they need to enter the world of the book, imagining the characters as living, breathing humans, following them through their lives, watching them in moments of great joy and sorrow, and grappling with universal struggles with them.
Reading creates empathy, which in turn, creates good people. My students spend time in and out of class reading. I push independent reading on my students, but give them many options of what to read. Watching students find joy in reading is one of the best things about my job.
My Project
There is nothing in the world like a good book. This is particularly true for high school students. I honestly believe that the habits we instill in high school become the habits that adults have for the rest of their lives. Research tells us that people who read more do better on state tests, classes, and in life. Research also tells us that high school students do not read enough.
Unless students have access to quality books, they might never become the types of readers we hope they will become.
Next year I want my students to read more novels, maintaining short stories and poems, but spend more time with book clubs. In order to do that, I need collections of books. I've tracked down books that have been written recently, have won awards, and have been marketed towards teenagers. Yes, we will read The Crucible and The Great Gatsby, because as an American Literature teacher, I feel these classics have so much to offer. However, it can be difficult for students to move from appreciating a classic to loving reading. Gatsby is great and nearly a hundred years old. Mexican Whiteboy is great, and Matt de la Pena is still alive and has been willing to speak to students on skype, something I'm really hoping to make happen. I want my students to love reading. To become readers. Can you help me do this?
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