What was English like for you? Did you read what everyone else in the class HAD to read & write the same essay, or did you choose something that no one else was reading, or something that others recommended to you, at your own pace, and with your own creativity in coming up with a project?
My students are 11th graders in an urban setting (Madison, WI).
We have a high number of free/reduced lunch students, a 47% African-American/Bi-racial population, and my classes range from ELL classes (multiple native languages) to general-tracked classes to Honors classes. I have students who come into the school year at a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level, and then I have students who are reading and comprehending at the college level. My students are being given the freedom of choice-book reading.
My Project
I have a classroom library, but to allow all of my students to be able to read freely throughout the year and to have enough choices, I need to dramatically increase my library. I see my readers listening to book talks by me and their classmates; I see my readers being able to pick up a book, regardless of level, and still show that they can read and take pride in that. Right now, we only have students read 4 books/year. Students should be reading double that, triple that...and they should be able to use the literacy lessons, the grammar lessons, the quick-writes, the table talks...all with THEIR book. They will also now have time to conference with me about their progress, tell me about book titles I may not have read yet, and allow me to focus on a skill that I can see they are having troubles with. I envision most students learning to like to read...doing more reading than they have in the past 8 years combined!
Students and I will now have time to conference about their progress, tell me about book titles I may not have read yet, and allow me to focus on a skill that I can see they are having troubles with.
I envision most students learning to like to read and to do more reading than they have in the past 11 years combined! To build a community in the classroom around the books they are sharing, I need to have more books in my classroom, right at their fingertips, right in front of them.
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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