The students in the class I'm hoping to get funded have chosen to challenge themselves with enrolling in AP Language junior year. Our curriculum is pretty good, but it is not contemporary or diverse. Though I try to bring in a lot of shorter pieces that reflect actual America, the best place to bring in a longer piece is in non-fiction literature circles.
The students get to choose their books, and two of the most popular this year are Michelle Obama's Becoming and Alex Kotlowicz's An American Summer.
I'm really excited that so many of my students, almost all of whom are Latino or black, have chosen to read about our first First Lady of color, and that so many want to know more about the violence plaguing Chicago, which was once home for several.
In my experience, students respond best to literature when they've gotten to choose what they're reading - that's when I see them reading the book in the hallway during a passing period or having an impassioned debate with a classmate that I didn't schedule. I can't wait to see what they do with these, with your help.
My Project
My students will be using these books to read for some enjoyment (they chose the titles) and also to lead analytical discussions. They rarely see themselves in the literature that we teach, and so I'm thrilled that so many want to read about Chicago, and in the case of Becoming, a former First lady who is a Chicagoan.
Being forced to read for school can turn kids off reading, but the kids were truly excited as they chose these titles this week.
They are top students in challenging classes, and they have a lot of pressure on them to succeed as many will be part of the first generation to college, so giving them the opportunity to do something academic that also involves choice (and reading something NEW) is really important. Thank you so much for considering this powerful gift for my students.
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