"Let's read," I enthusiastically say to my class. All I get in return is a series of groans from my male students. "Read -- a book? Really?" My heart hurts for them. I want to see them not able to wait to finish a chapter. I want the story to grab them and not let them go.
I teach 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies in a high-need community in North Carolina.
We are a Title 1 school with a free and reduced lunch rate of around 80%. Needless to say, books are not a priority in the homes of my students.
Many of my students look at me with a blank-stare and wall of resistance when I mention that we need to read in Language Arts. More than once I have received the question, "Why do I need this?" This answer saddens me as I would rather read than do just about anything else. I want to instill that love of reading into my students and get them to say, "How could I have ever lived without this?"
My Project
In order to get my male students interested in reading, I need to have books that relate to their life. Towards this end I researched several websites to find books of interest to African-American and Hispanic boys.
Once I had compiled a list of possible books, I checked with my media specialist to make sure that the books were age appropriate. That completed, I now had a list of high interest books to bring to my reluctant male readers.
I'm hoping to use each of the sets of six books to start literature circles in my classroom. By giving the boys variety and choice in their reading, I am hoping to find a book that appeals to each and every boy in the class.
We will be completing a variety of hands-on, active-learning activities with each book. I want the students to really "get into" the books and have it become something that they look forward to reading every day.
Please won't you help me inspire my reluctant readers to start up the road to becoming avid readers.
I truly feel that if I can open their eyes to the wonderful stories available that they will begin to find additional books to read on their own.
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. Cryan and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.