This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Picture excited and dedicated students preparing for competition, only they aren't stretching out or reviewing plays. They are quizzing each other and rereading passages from books. They are members of our reading bowl team, preparing for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, a state-wide competition.
The children on our reading bowl team are frequent users of the library and read extensively for pleasure.
They enjoy discussing books and sharing their favorite authors. Members are chosen from a middle school of 805 children include 603 Blacks, 19 Asians, 11 Caucasian, 156 Hispanic and 16 students of multi-racial descent. There are 135 students enrolled in our Special Education program and 35 students whose first language is not English. The families in our community have an average income of less than $50,000. Our school is a Title I school, with 95% of our students qualifying for free or reduced rate lunch.
My Project
The students on our reading bowl team love literature and are just as dedicated as any athlete preparing for competition. They read and reread the Georgia Book Award nominees in preparation for the county, regional and state competitions. Before and after school, they quiz each other and practice with buzzers used in the event. They prepare book talks and present them on our morning broadcast, getting the whole school excited about books and the reading bowl competition.
As their team sponsor for the last two years, I have seen each team members' confidence, study skills and reading levels improve. Their first year, they placed last in the competition. This year, they moved up two spots. They are already discussing what it will be like to win in 2017!
After the team competes in January, the requested books will be added to our school library collection. Students in our school will also read the books and vote in the state program for the Georgia Book Awards.
This project will support our students' love of reading and give them an avenue for sharing that passion with others.
It will help them build their confidence, learn skills required to work as a team and improve their study skills and reading abilities. It will provide quality books not only for the reading team, but for the whole school.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Goff and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
