My students need an engaging historically-based book, "One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd" for book clubs and independent reading as a way to build deeper levels of understanding and inquiry in U.S. History.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Spitz's classroom raised $286
This project is fully funded
My Students
I'm on a mission. A mission to prove that history is alive and purposeful. I too often see my high school students struggle to find history engaging and relevant. Many are quick to label the study of history as "old" or "boring" or "insignificant" to their world and to their own lives.
My students are bright, imaginative, and inquisitive.
Each day I see countless examples of their love for learning and genuine desire to be challenged and inspired. As a music and arts school, we pride ourselves on the levels of creativity and individuality embraced by our students inside and outside the classroom walls. My students are predominantly African-American and Latino, and they come from some of the most violent and impoverished neighborhoods in our state. They are exceptionally brave in expressing themselves and communicating an idea, yet many of them struggle when it comes to broaching written text. Many of my students were not exposed to reading on a consistent basis during crucial years of their formative development and as such, many need intensive work to repair literacy deficits stemming from their early years. In my 11th grade classroom, my students reading levels range from 3rd grade to college level, with an average reading level at around the 7th grade.
My Project
As a history teacher, I am constantly seeking avenues to further engage my students in the contextual elements of our class, but equally as important, I am searching for ways to to continue to build the literacy skills of my students so that they are equipped for success both inside and outside the academic realms. To do so, my students need to feel invested in their work, and they need to feel their work is invested in them. My students need and deserve more than a simple fact sheet or timeline to understand history. They need to be PLAYERS in the historical sphere. As such, I have requested a class set of the historically-based novel "One Thousand White Women" to use in our class book clubs. Providing them with ample opportunities to read books that are rich with PEOPLE, and EMOTION and CONNECTIONS will open the door to building learning patterns that will help my students become stronger readers and writers, and ultimately, help them better navigate our already complex world.
Book clubs are a fantastic way to engage and challenge the wide range of readers in my classroom and push my students towards a deeper understanding and appreciation of history and the written word.
Such skills will prove priceless in ensuring their success for state exams, graduation, college and beyond. I strongly believe that if given a book that fits, all of my students have the capacity to approach learning with the voracity and courage they so strongly possess and desire.
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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