My students need 26 current high interest books and a collection of works by Walter Dean Myers to engage them in becoming habitual readers and lifelong learners.
The single most reliable predictors in academic success is whether or not the student is a capable and habitual reader. Unfortunately, so many of our students today believe books are stodgy and boring and can offer them nothing. However, I believe they just haven't been introduced to the right books
My students are seventh graders: quirky, awkward, desperate to be grown up, but at the same time desiring to be nurtured emotionally and intellectually.
For the most part, many of them come from backgrounds that don't emphasize literacy. Since we have quite an urban population, many come from low income homes where purchasing books either isn't or can't be a priority. Many parents and students view education as irrelevant and a compulsory obligation. These kids come in with a variety of educational backgrounds, racial and ethnic compositions, and religious experiences. Most of all these kids are just children who still need to experience the wonder, empathy, and adventure, not to mention the intellectual challenge, that reading can offer.
My Project
For the most part, the books that I have selected are high interest young adult books that I believe will capture my students' attention and serve as the gateway for the students to become habitual, life long readers. The texts span a variety of genres, topics, and authors, which is intended to allow each child to find a book of interest to devour. These texts and accompanying instructional strategies that I will implement will provide students with the skills necessary to navigate more adult texts that will make them critical thinkers and active participants in modern society.
These books will grab and hold my students attention, inviting them to become participants in the literary world, and allowing them to acquire skills that will prepare them for academic success and societal involvement due to their ability to read carefully and think critically.
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