I Can Put the Sounds Together to Read a New Word!

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.

My Students

"So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky." William James. My students learn phonics skills but don't have access to books they can use to practice the skills they've learned.

My school is 95% free/reduced lunch with at least 80% of our population being Hispanic.

Many of my students come to me struggling to speak English and, in Kindergarten, our kids don't meet with an ELL teacher. I have students who have been to Prekindergarten, who have never gone to school, and some who have never even spoken English. But despite the obstacles that these children have, they show me a hunger for learning that many children don't have. Everyday they come to me, excited about what they are going to learn and eager to show off what they've been taught. I have a coworker that lets me send my students over so they can read a story they've learned to read or a story that they've written...to see them smile proudly as they demonstrate what they've learned is the reason I became a teacher.

My Project

I teach phonics to my students everyday, sounding out words so we can count the number of sounds in the word, or reading a simple consonant-vowel-consonant word...but, like most schools, there simply aren't books available for my students to take the skills they're learning and apply them in their reading. I want my students to be able to go to my classroom library, pick out a book, and be able to practice sounding out a word in the text and being able to read independently. Using these books will allow my students to understand WHY it's important to practice sounding out words, and give them the opportunity to practice the skills we are learning.

My students are ready for these books.

They need the simple texts they can read independently to help them become more confident in their reading. They'll be able to go to first grade reading more fluently and it will prepare them for the reading expectations their future teacher has. Having these books available will make my students into more confident readers. If my students are confident readers, they will be less fearful of making a mistake and more likely to take chances and be successful!