Many of us view reading as an enjoyable activity. For a student struggling to learn this skill, reading can be a daunting task. Interesting books at the students' reading level that can be shared with a partner make practicing reading skills a fun, enjoyable, non-stressful experience.
I teach in a small rural school in Oregon.
Approximately one-third of the students are English Language Learners, and a high percentage of the students qualify for free or reduced price meals. Many of the students have limited reading materials in their homes.
My Project
Reading fluency is essential to educational success. More fluent readers focus their attention on making connections among the ideas in a text and between these ideas and their background knowledge. Therefore, they are able to focus on comprehension. Less fluent readers must focus their attention primarily on decoding and accessing the meaning of individual words. Therefore, they have little attention left for comprehending the text.
Struggling readers may be resistant to practicing the skills necessary to promote their fluency and comprehension. I have found that partner reading can enhance individual and small group reading instruction in a comfortable, relaxed mode.
Students love to share interesting stories and are encouraged to practice reading skills including rate, intonation, and prosody, through reading partner books. They not only need to focus on their assigned text but also need to listen carefully to their partner's reading in order to have the text flow well.
The books I'm requesting are ideal because they were developed specifically with dual-reading in mind.
Student passages are color coded to allow students to follow parts more easily. Students who may feel uncomfortable reading aloud in a whole class setting become animated and fully involved when they are immersed in reading with a partner. Your donation will encourage my elementary students to enjoy reading, improve their skills, and feel comfortable reading to another person.
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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 Ms. Edwards and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.