Mirrors & Windows: A Project for Diverse Literary Experiences
My students need diverse books in the classroom which portray different cultures, ways of living, races, and abilities. Students can find ways they personally relate to literature, and grow awareness and empathy for others.
I am a Special Education Teacher/Learning Specialist in an Elementary School of diverse learners in rural Oregon.
Our school is a high poverty school with students who persevere through life challenges while maintaining excitement and motivation to learn. Our unique group of young innovators inspire each other and their teachers by their daily resilience and drive!
Students here are ready to take on new challenges and are hungry for opportunities! My classroom is a learning center or resource room where my team and I deliver small group academic interventions, social skills lessons, digital literacy lessons and work on study skills, sensory integration, and movement learning. I also visit general education classrooms and support students through collaboration and co-teaching.
Despite the high needs of our students, they are literally on a ROLL with READING. Our school literacy rates have drastically improved over that last three years and are on the rise! Now, students need opportunities for growth and ways to engage in advanced learning.
Students here do not consider their disabilities a hindrance, but, something that makes them unique and provides a source of strength and persistence to greatness!
My Project
Literature can provide a mirror into ourselves. We can relate to some characters because we have something in common with them, such as, our age or race, or a life experience, or interests. We can reflect on ourselves and we can engage in the book because we are reading about someone just like us. We identify with the book or character.
Other Literature can provide a lens or window to characters that our different from ourselves.
We can learn about the life experiences of others and build awareness of other individuals' culture, ways of life, life experiences, and more.
A widely diverse set of books can help students learn about themselves and learn about people all over the world. As students grow up as global citizens in a digital world, many of the jobs will include teamwork and collaboration. It is important that young students have engaging learning experiences to build awareness of the world around them and the people in it.
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