Help My Girls Gossip More About Books!

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.

“Oh my gosh, did you read this part?” one of my female students whispered (loudly) to her friend sitting next to her in class. “I cannot believe she did that! She is crazy!” “I know,” replied the friend with a knowing smile, “wait until you get to book 6.” Normally I don’t condone much talking during independent reading time; but as I overheard this conversation I couldn’t help but feel secretly happy about the content of my students’ gossip: the character choices and plot twists of the popular Drama High series of books. When my students’ side conversations involve talking about books, anticipating future plot events, and analyzing characters, I know that they are truly engaged in reading. I teach a course called "Reading and Writing Workshop" to 9th graders from a high-needs community. Many students enter our high school reading below their grade level. My high school welcomes students who have struggled in other more traditional public schools in the city. Our school's curricula is quite rigorous, aimed at preparing our graduates for college. Therefore, my fellow literacy teachers and I have a great task in accelerating the reading levels of our students so that they can succeed and make progress in their other coursework. The cornerstone of "Reading and Writing Workshop" is a substantial amount of independent time in class spent reading and writing. However, the majority of my students enter 9th grade each year with a particular aversion to reading, either because they struggle with comprehension or have trouble finding books that interest them. However, when they do find books they enjoy and with which they can identify, they become passionate about reading and setting goals for themselves. My female students also seem to enjoy series of books. They see themselves as able to “settle in” to a multi-volume narrative over several months. As my classroom data has proved, the more they read, the higher their reading level grows, and the more prepared they become for college. My high school shares a school library with seven other schools on campus, and is a good resource, but as one might imagine, the more popular titles are often checked out or "missing." To provide more options, I have developed a small classroom library of books. This fall, I observed that my students really fell in love with books written in the form of a series. I am in need of contemporary, engaging, and relevant books for my struggling teenage readers. Fortunately, withing recent years, several excellent series geared toward young adult audiences have emerged and have generated quite a buzz among my students. To jump start the new year, I would like to supplement my existing library with new titles. After consulting with other teachers, and gathering input from my students, I have selected approximately twenty-five fiction titles, mostly parts of series, that I think will hook my students. Your contribution to this proposal will help promote the act of reading as a powerful, enjoyable, and relevant activity for my students. When reading, young people interact with characters who face similar challenges and situations, and gain perspective on how to negotiate their own lives through a different perspective. Your contribution will be helping me not only to achieve my goal of nurturing a community of skilled, critical, and lifelong readers, but also in nurturing the personal and social development of all the young people I teach.