When a box of new nonfiction books arrived, rather than being grumbly or disappointed with the upcoming assignment, my Senior English students impatiently asked for first choice. Students came in at lunch to select and many were disappointed that the ones they had spied were gone. They wanted more!
Getting students in our rural, remote and low income school to expand their reading options is always a tricky task, but getting them to read nonfiction with enthusiasm has been especially difficult, considering our aging library and nearly nonexistent materials budget.
Recently I requested some high interest nonfiction selections through DonorsChoose and my students were so excited by them that they wanted to add some to the next list. So here is part 2 of our nonfiction reading project (the first one was titled Nonfiction for All: High Interest Texts to Engage Teens).
My Project
My students need nonfiction books of their choosing for engaging book projects and more experience with reading nonfiction before college. Looking at our list, you might find the selection diverse and even confusing. It simply exemplifies the variety of interests of my students as these books are their own personal choices for our project. Once they get a chance to read them, my students will compose a project describing what they learned from their texts and how they will apply these lessons to their future, something they don't often think about when reading nonfiction in particular.
This set of books is essential to keeping my students engaged and mindful about making their own selections in reading and learning.
It will allow them to practice skills essential to adulthood with particular focus on college coursework. Finally the addition of these books to our classroom will help engage them in a world outside of our remote community where far more choices and experiences are available to them.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Ruiz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.