Help me give my students books in their hands to improve their literacy skills. Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events , Goosebumps, all of these are series that are highly sought by the students in my class.
What would be the best way to describe my students? My students come from a variety of different lifestyles. My district pulls from nine different zip codes, which range from upper middle class to significantly below the poverty line. Currently 83% of my students are on free and reduced lunch. Sadly 47% of them report homelessness this year. I have students who range from 13 to 15 years old who have been put in very adult situations and roles. My students are all 8th graders, but when tested, my students range from a 1st grade level of understanding, all the way up to a 10th level of understanding.
With all of their economic and personal hardships, my students are a true bright light in my day.
They come in to school and have such a positive attitude about life and getting through the day. They truly amaze me. They are funny and smart and not letting their struggles hold them back in life. I enjoy the 85 minutes I get to spend with each one of them every single day.
My Project
In my district, we are very low income. In a low income district, there tends to be a lot of struggling students. This is the case for my district. When I say that they are struggling, I mean they are STRUGGLING. We have kids who fail in all 4 of our core subjects. There are many reasons for this, but when you look at the data, the answer becomes clear; the students in my district have a clear deficiency in literacy.
My goal with this project is to get books into the kids of my students by creating classroom libraries, as well as beefing up our fleeting school library, that spans several grade levels to match the span of the students' abilities.
Just looking at my class alone, I have students who have a reading level of a sophomore/junior in high school. On the flip side of that I have students who have the reading level of a 1st/2nd grader. I also have students who fall anywhere in between. The problem is access to books that meet all of their needs.
Currently in my district, of ten buildings, one has a school library. That library happens to be in my school, but the last time our librarian was allowed to purchase new books was nearly 10 years ago. Many of the books are worn and falling apart. I want to help provide an option to those students who are thirsting to read and better themselves, especially since reading is truly the one thing that a student is required to do in all aspects of their school career and their professional career. If they cannot read, they are going to struggle in life. I want to help eliminate that struggle as best I can.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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