Keeping It Real: Nonfiction for the Riverview Reading Lounge
My students need a nonfiction section of their Reading Lounge. They benefit from being exposed to a variety of texts, both fiction and nonfiction, but they currently do not have leveled nonfiction books in their library.
My students walk into our classroom everyday with an "I can" attitude. It isn't always easy for them to remember to keep believing they can because the world tells them they can't due to their disabilities. It is my goal to help them gain the tools they need so that when they walk out of my classroom, they are confident in themselves and the world around them.
I work in a special needs school, for children with moderate-to-severe, or multiple disabilities, many of whom come from bilingual homes and all of whom receive free breakfast and lunch.
Our school serves K - 5 and provides our special needs students with tools to become as independent as possible, as well as strategies to achieve in academic, social, and professional settings in their future.
My Project
Our students have been working hard on foundational literacy skills and they are now ready to read independently. We were recently funded to receive a leveled library and furniture to create our Riverview Reading Lounge in our classroom. We are extremely excited about this new addition to our classroom and would love to add a nonfiction section to this Reading Lounge.
With the nonfiction leveled books, our Reading Lounge will be a place where our students are truly exposed to a variety of texts to help them grow as readers and as members of the community around us.
Our curriculum is built to ensure that our students are given access to both fictional texts as well as informational texts. In our adult lives, post-secondary school, most - if not all - of the text we read is informational. My staff and I would love to give our students the tools they need to succeed after they leave our school. With nonfiction leveled books, we will be able to show our students how to access features of the text, such as the table of contents, a glossary, and image captions, with books that are of interest to them as well as on a level they can independently read.
Our hope is that as our students progress through the levels, they gain confidence in themselves as well as a love for reading books of all types - not just fiction.
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. Tran and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.