My building is unique in that it brings all the fifth and sixth graders together in the district. They come together from 4 different elementary schools. Nearly 50% of the students in my school receive free or reduced-cost lunch. They come from a variety of households with some living in single-parent homes or with grandparents.
They all contribute to our classroom with their unique personalities and strengths.
My goal is to create an environment where students are excited to learn and see themselves as readers and writers.
My Project
A good book can take us to new and exciting places. They allow us to travel to far away lands and have super powers. Books give us a way to learn about new things or learn that we are not alone in our life struggles. And they can provide us with many different learning opportunities.
Book choice is crucial to help students develop a love of reading.
Many of my sixth graders enter my room hating to read. Many struggle as readers and do not think they can become successful readers. Providing them with a variety of books at different levels helps me as a teacher to show them that reading can be enjoyable. Most of my students reading time is spent in self-selected books. Having a large variety of books allows me to help students find their just right books. During the year, they find authors they love and wait impatiently for the next book in a series. We also use these books as models of what writers do. Many times students create stories of their own based on the books they have read. We often look in our independent books for examples of great words, details, and sentences. There is no better writing model than other writers.
I love sharing my love of reading with my students. I read the same books as they do and am always thinking of who might love a book as I read it. These books will give me new books to share with my sixth graders. They have grown so much already as readers. I cannot wait to see how much more they accomplish between now and the end of the year.
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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. Hicks and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
