My students need 25 copies each of 2 books written by James Riley because after reading the 1st in his series my fourth grade was HUNGRY for more! They have BEGGED me to track down the 2nd.
Finicky fourth graders! What is a teacher to do? I stumbled on a book that lit up their imaginations and I can't help but pounce on this opportunity to read more by this author! If only you could have heard the groans when we finished Half Upon a Time. My students wanted MORE!
I teach a 4th grade classroom of 21 students.
16 students are boys, 5 are girls. It is so difficult to find books that appeal to the boys without alienating the small population of girls. The book series written by James Riley does just that! We are a small rural school where boys hunt and fish, they certainly don't read fairy tales! Imagine my surprise when the boys in my room were just as captivated by this take on fairy tales as the girls were! I'm new to teaching this grade level and the first graders I taught were still easily entertained. Fourth grade students are more difficult to entertain. I don't want to let this opportunity to draw my students in to reading pass me by but I haven't yet built up the resources to purchase these books on my own.
My Project
I envision using these books as a stepping stone to encourage my students to read more and possibly make that connection between reading and writing. If this author can take old, familiar fairy tales and turn them into stories that today's student can identify with, then it isn't out of the realm of possibility that there is a future author of books like this sitting in our midst!
This project is important because today's student is hard to reach.
Movies and TV shows use special effects and today's student expects that from everything that they encounter. Stories that might have once entertained a generation are dull by comparison. Finding a right fit book that ignites a fire in students can lead to a life time of reading...it just takes that one special book and I think I've found it!
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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. Hardesty and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.