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
My bright readers walk into my room ready to learn and absorb all they can from our books and reading community. We're eighty-three percent African American and about fourteen percent Latino. Most of my readers are ten or eleven; a handful of them are twelve.
Our school has historically been an under-served and "under performing" elementary school, but in our room, you'd never know it.
As readers, we're working to build an authentic love of reading. We work on being matchmakers for ourselves and others; we know all we've got to do is find the right kind of book for us.
Recent data analysis has indicated that the incoming fifth grade class for the 2016-2017 school year is reading, on average, at a third-grade level. Given the right resources, the right environment, and the right amount of warm/strict, we are successful. We work hard and play hard to close the gap between our beginning of fifth grade reading level and end of year reading level. We usually advance at least a year and a half or more in nine months. We're intelligent, curious, brave and precocious young people who want to be successful readers.
My Project
I work at a Title 1 school with amazing students. They're brilliant and funny and smart- but if you looked at their reading levels you might not think so. My fifth graders read, on average, at a 3rd grade level. It's my job to convince them to love reading, and in loving reading get them to read lots of books. Reading is like most things, the more we do it, the better we get at it. Ever year, I turn my struggling readers into successful, whole-hearted readers.
It takes the right book to reach a student and turn them into a Reader.
As a teacher who is new to elementary, I need help growing my collection of books at appropriate reading levels for my struggling readers. We need more books make sure all students can read books that make their spines tingle in excitement. We need books that allow our students to authentically experience what it means to be a Reader and LOVE every moment of it.
This grant features books and audio books that will help pull reluctant readers into books and keep them there. When you read, you get better at reading, it's as simple as that. As you look at the materials requested list, you'll note some books have sets of four and an audio CD requested. I am hoping to allow students to share in the experience of a great book and discussing it with their peers. With these resources, we will be able to do just that!
Thank you so much for considering donating to my project, and giving the gift of building life-long reading.
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. Trevino and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
