My students need more access to books about people from diverse backgrounds. Most of my students are white. They also don't have much background knowledge about history.
I teach in a beautiful rural area. We are surrounded by lakes and mountains. My students spend a lot of time doing things like hunting, fishing, and other similar pursuits. Despite the natural beauty of our surroundings, we serve a diverse population here. The diversity comes in the form of economic diversity. Some of my students do not have their basic needs met at home. I have many students who come to school hungry. They also lack some opportunities due to our community's rural nature.
Many of my students do not have books at home.
Their parents are struggling to provide necessities so books are a low priority. As a result, some of my students are at a significant academic disadvantage. They need more access to engaging books to help foster an interest in reading. They also need more access to the world outside of our area. Some students have not had the opportunity to visit other places. This significantly limits their world view.
My students are enthusiastic, kind, smart kids. They need to have the opportunity to learn about how lucky they are to live here. But they also need to learn about their broader world.
My Project
My students need more experience with reading. They also need more exposure to books about diversity. The titles that I have chosen would give them a chance to read about compelling characters who are facing challenging circumstances. I asked for a class set of Bud, Not Buddy in order to be able to read it together as a class. I asked for small numbers of the other titles so that students could read those individually as they choose. Students are given time to read in my class. Once students have read the books and have a chance to talk them up to each other, I find that interest grows naturally from there.
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