This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Previous to middle school, most of our students have little experience with a library system, or elect to not check out books after 4th grade. A year ago, our students would not come to our school library, nor the local public library. Students reading levels and comprehension across disciplines were around 3-5 grades behind. This year, we started adding graphic novels to our library, and we saw a huge spike in library check-outs. When students finished a graphic novel, I would share the long-word novel with students. Some student would attempt to read the longer novel, and many would check out book after book of graphic novels, manga and comic books.
One of our literacy goals is to increase comprehension and a love of reading.
As a Literacy Specialist, I struggle to get students to learn new vocabulary, explore pronunciation, appreciate fluency and cadence. The greatest gift is to see a student whom is 1-2 years away from getting a driver's licence, see him/her enter my room reading at a 2nd grade level, then leave my room at the end of the year with a book in hand daily plus a growth of a few years!
My Project
Our middle school students are starting to show a huge increase in readership and comprehension due to the small addition of books this year. Getting our struggling readers to read for the love of reading, has been a goal of our literacy team, but it also feels like a game of tug-o-war some days. I started researching the benefits of graphic novels, and slowly started purchasing some.
When I passed out a stack of graphic novels in class, a quietness fell over the class and I didn't have to walk the students through a close reading lesson.
The amount of books that are continually being checked out of our literacy room library is amazing! Students are excited about reading, connecting the information in disciplinary classrooms. My favorite benefit is hearing students in the hallway or cafeteria talking about the book they are reading. "What page are you on?", "Did you get to the part...?", "You should read this book!"
As students return a graphic novel, we discuss the plot and their opinion. I am slowly suggesting the traditional long-word novel. Slowly, they are reading! Other students are just burning through the graphic novels. Non-educators have asked if this is watering down an education or worth the effort. I always believe that if we have a choice between a student whom despises reading and will never pick up a book, OR getting students to slowly read for enjoyment, to be able to discuss the story, characters, lesson, etc, and be more exposed to cultures, vocabulary, and imagery... I think we can all agree that a book in a hand is better than an idle mind.
As a side benefit, I now have students that are interested in becoming a librarian because they love making book suggestions to their friends.
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 Mrs. Shaver and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
