My students need copies of our class novel "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes. Unlike novels owned by the school, students will engage with their reading by highlighting and writing connections in their own books!
$324 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Income level should not determine the quality of education a child receives nor limit his or her opportunities. My sixth grade homeroom has 28 hardworking students, many of whom come from bilingual households and are from 88% low-income families. My students always have to "borrow" books from the school due to budgeting and are not allowed to write in the book at all. I began to wonder... are they missing part of the joy of literature, annotating and discussion? In middle school and high school I loved furiously highlighting worthy quotes, annotating ideas my classmates said about things I had overlooked in the same novel and putting them into my book!
My sixth graders are avid readers who speed through books, but I want to show them how to linger upon the author's words and themes by interacting with the text and reflecting upon ideas within the book.
I think the best way to engage in this deeper level of meaning-making is through personal annotation and discussion of a class novel.
My Project
As an ELA teacher, I want my students to engage with literature in authentic ways where their reading becomes a conversation between them and the author. An experience where they can note ideas, connections and questions as they read so they can refer to them in group discussions. Our class novels purchased by the school are used for 7-8 years or as long as possible so students can NOT write in the books. Instead they have to write on post-it notes that cover the exact text they deem worthy of contemplating.
I want each student in class to have copy of the novel "Bronx Masquerade" to mark up, write their connections, questions and make their own.
I am interested in seeing students level of engagement with this novel and particularly with the poetry embedded by each character. I think they will have a deeper, more meaningful experience closely reading by jotting ideas and marking the text as they go. If I find this hypothesis to be true, I plan to use it as evidence for our students to get their own copies of our other 2 class novels for next year!
This novel has excellent themes of identity, fitting in and empathy in an urban setting. My students will be able to see relevant struggles faced by other teens and contemplate the choices they make. The poetry has many layers that beg to be closely read and read again. Please help me get each student their own copy of this memorable book to engage with!
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