This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
Imagine only having the opportunity of checking out books twice a month during your library period. What a bummer. If students had a classroom library, they could checkout books daily. This would increase comprehension and reading interests.
I will be teaching 6th grade reading & writing to primarily Hispanic students in Illinois.
My class sizes have 33+ kids with a wide-range of learners. Most of these students have free and reduced lunch, and most of their parents work long hours to provide for the family. The eldest children are responsible for taking care of their younger siblings. Having this large responsibility has taken away from the importance and priority of homework.
I have a unique situation where I was able to work at the school the last two months of the school year without having my own classroom. It allowed me to develop unique relationships with students and staff. I look forward to my first year at this wonderful, neighborhood school.
My Project
My school uses basal readers and has leveled books available through the school's lending library. Those books are only to be used during small group instruction. My classroom has no library which may lead students to believe that reading is a chore or only needs to be done in school. I want to change that perception. I want my class to understand that reading is important for gaining knowledge and relaxing. They will be able to realize that reading a book from our classroom library will allow them to escape. Having this intrinsic motivation to read will naturally increase student's comprehension and vocabulary (which is what many ELL's struggle with).
The last reason why this library is important is because parents do not have the time to take their children to the public library or they might not see reading as important. By exposing students to books at school, it will give them opportunities to explore various authors and genres.
The importance of education is not what it used to be; many parents and children do not see it as a priority.
Instead, responsibilities at home, video games and etc. have taken precedence over the core subjects. Not having a classroom library is telling students I agree with this. My goal is to have them realize that reading is vital to life-long learning and that it is just as important as responsibilities at home. The variety of genres in this library is sure to spark their interest to read!
More than three‑quarters 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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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. Knytych and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.