Give A Classroom Library A Lift At Gallup Middle School!

My Students

As a model philosophy of learning, I often refer to the Native American proverb, "Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand." Adolescents crave involvement and choice, and your contribution to this project will support their autonomy in reading.

A snapshot into my 7th grade ELA classroom reveals a diverse cohort of awkward and impressionable preteens, all innocently self-absorbed, and quietly ready for autonomy and challenge in learning.

At the start of each class, the most predictable inquiry, aside from "Can I go back to my locker? I forgot __." is, "When are we going to have DEAR time today?" Independent reading time, also known as "Drop Everything And Read," is the most cherished part of class. Whether students are eager to briefly enter a fictional world, empathize with a peculiar character, explore personal interests in nonfiction, or simply be left alone for a few moments... there it no better feeling than that of a focused, reflective adolescent environment. Of course, this time inevitably comes with challenges. First, finding an individual book to engage each student, and second, providing a time and space for students to talk about books. The first step in overcoming both of these road blocks: providing more books.

My Project

My students need current, relevant novels such as Night Hoops, Fever 1793, and The Maze Runner for our classroom library. In order to ensure the success of curricula that engages a plethora of student interests and promotes student autonomy in ELA, our classroom requires a well-stocked library to meet students' independent reading needs. Presently, a very small selection of novels are available to my 80+ students, lacking adequate reading materials in science and history-related nonfiction, fictional mystery, and poetry. Furthermore, in order to carry out literature circles with students this year, our classroom needs various book-sets. Literature circles are the equivalent to adult book clubs, allowing students to discuss and analyze text collaboratively. Instructionally, lit circles provide an opportunity for differentiation, and include customized performance tasks targeting specific learning outcomes. Additionally, the group-work structure promotes student engagement with literature. This project also includes three wall organizers where students' daily literature reflection notebooks will be stored.

According to the spring standardized test results, our next class of rising 7th graders are only 26 percent proficient in reading.

Pushing our students to gain the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful independent and collaborative readers will be a challenge requiring relevant and engaging texts. Your donation will help put such texts on the shelves, deepening students' interests and enriching their lives.