My school is a 67% minority enrolled school. 45% of the students are economically disadvantaged. My 10th grade classes this year will be honors and inclusion -- which means there will be a mix of regular education students and special education students. Last year I took the plunge of an independent reading unit and I was truly humbled by how well my students took to it. Students that said they hadn't read since 4th grade fell in love with reading again and I got to be along for the ride. This project help to fuel that fire again. One of my reluctant readers last year told me he found himself running to class, asking himself what would happen next for the protagonist in his book. I think sometimes students forget that they love learning and that they're curious about the world, and if you can just get them the right book, it all rushes back again.
My Project
I have taught the book "Night" every year that I have been teaching. I read it when I was in high school and it had a lasting impact on me. But last year, something strange happened: my students had a hard time connecting to "Night." It made me rethink certain things regarding my unit. I still want to teach the Holocaust and I still want to use portions of the book "Night", but I thought my students might be more engaged if we did literature circles using historical fiction from the time.
These books will enable me to still teach about an important historical time, and my students will be given a choice in the story they read to learn about it.
I can give background information, supplement with aspects of Elie Wiesel's powerful story, and then students can choose a book to read on their reading level and discuss it with a small group of peers. They will be able to present about the story they read which will be empowering and give them a platform to talk about a story that will hopefully stay with them forever The last thing I do when I teach the Holocaust is talk about genocide today. This unit will enable me to do that and hopefully my students will feel more connected because they will have read a book that they loved.
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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. Terwilliger and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.