Help me give my students copies of "Wonder" to learn about empathy through the wonders of storytelling.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Shire's classroom raised $999
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students are a diverse group of 7th graders who come from a variety of elementary schools from across our town, state and even the country! Entering intermediate school allows all the students to start fresh, build new relationships and have new experiences.
Despite their differences, all our 7th graders have a desire to explore new ideas and learn more about the world around them.
Our students love hearing stories in many forms, so I try to introduce them to a variety of reading materials. In addition to their English classes, my students also read in homeroom. All homeroom classes include students at all ability levels, so we try to chose a book that will appeal to learners of all types and has an audio book and movie version.
My Project
One of the most important ways to build literacy for middle school students is by selecting texts that are relevant to their lives and interests. The book "Wonder" by RJ Palacio tells the story of a student named Auggie who is attending a new middle school, just like all my our students are. Auggie also deals with many issues that my students do: adjusting to multiple classes and teachers, making friends, getting bullied, and dealing with parents and siblings.
Besides dealing with topics relatable to my students, "Wonder" is also a great tool to teach empathy and compassion to my students .
The character of Auggie also suffers from a facial deformity that has prevented him from attending school previously. The books follows the experiences of Auggie, students who go to his school as well as his sister. Each of them deals with their relationship to Auggie in a different way. By the end of the novel all the characters learn that although people may be different than us, it is important to show empathy and compassion to all. I hope that my students will walk away with the same message and exhibit similar behavior to not just their peers, but the world around them.
Besides my class enjoying these books, I will pass them off to another team at my school so another group of students can benefit from the book and accompanying activities another quarter of the year.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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