As a teacher in a low-income rural school, my students lack access to some necessary resources. I work with 60 students each day. In my English Language Arts (ELA) classes this year, we will read a variety of novels and other texts. We will also study a variety of themes found in literature. One important aspect of my daily ELA block is self-selected reading.
Self-selected reading engages the students in books of their choice, aligning with their personal interests.
My students love reading all around the room in flex seating options. My goal as an ELA teacher is to help students gain a love for lifelong reading!
My Project
Research shows that students who read for 20 minutes a day score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests. The research also shows that students in classrooms with high-quality classroom libraries read 50 percent more than those who do not have access to a high-quality library.
One challenge I have is providing an adequate amount of books that interest my students.
I ask my students to read for at least 20 minutes a day. Therefore, I inventoried my students’ interests in books to determine the kind of books I should add to my library. Based on the inventory results, I created this project to increase the amount of informational books. I want to encourage my students to read on a daily basis, and a big part of encouraging them to read is to have books and topics that interest them. These books will increase many of my students desire to read, and this will directly benefit their reading engagement and skills.
I have requested a variety of informational books on topics that interest my students. Students have access daily to the classroom library. Students will read the books I have requested as a part of self-selected reading. My students have 15-20 minutes during the school day for self-selected reading. Students also read nightly for homework and record their reading on a reading log. The books that I have selected will be available for the students to read in school or take home and read for their homework. Students will benefit from the additional high-quality informational books this project will add to my classroom library.
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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 Mrs. Keefauver and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
