I'm a lucky teacher that has a chance to teach in a variety of settings, but I spend most of my day co-teaching fourth and fifth grade. Our classes include both general and special education, students. My colleagues and I strive to reach our students in innovative and engaging ways. We rarely use textbooks or commercial products, instead relying on creation-based and inquiry-based learning lessons and authentic literature. We find a great deal of our instruction relies on our students connecting with their inner talents to create innovative representations of what we're learning. We've found that our students are learning so much more through this style of teaching, and we are eager to incorporate more lessons that involve art, technology, STEM and STEAM concepts, collaboration, higher order thinking skills, and allowing students to stretch their learning through differentiated activities.
My Project
I firmly believe that reading simply for the love of reading is one of the most important lessons that a teacher provides. This year, my students have read voraciously, working through my classroom library at a pace that is enviable. My students read books from all of the genres, but it's easy to identify the books that are the most used. That's the graphic novel section of our classroom library.
My students love reading graphic novels, on any subject.
This project will offer high-interest, engaging books to students who have read through our current collection. There are so many great books coming out every year, it's hard to keep our classroom library updated. These books represent some of the most requested books from our student generated list. Roller Girl and Sunny Side Up are always checked out of our school library, so it's hard to get a copy into students' hands. Some of these graphic novels represent an illustrated version of familiar chapter books. A Wrinkle in Time, City of Ember, and Coraline are all adapted versions of classic favorites. They also have movie companions that students can compare to the books. The best part of this list though, is that my students helped me create it. These are all books they've asked for. What better recommendation can a teacher ask for?
Graphic novels are also great for students who might not love reading. Graphic novels ask students to read a text differently, depending heavily on the illustrations to provide information. Ideally this project will not only supplement our classroom library, it will also provide hesitant readers with books that are interesting and accessible!
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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. Emerling and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
