Help me give my students an opportunity to fall in love with reading by providing access to real, authentic stories with the Guided Reading with a Purpose Bundle.
During the formative years of first grade, it is imperative to tap into a child's curiosity and help them develop the confidence they need to foster 21st Century skills. This is especially true when they come from low-income homes.
Teaching at a Title I school means the majority of my students come from single-parent homes or homes where both parents are required to work just to keep the lights on.
These students need as many opportunities as possible to experience language-rich stories that take them to places they've never been to. Research shows a strong correlation between a child’s socioeconomic level and his or her vocabulary development. It also shows that an excellent way to build rich, receptive, and expressive vocabularies in young children is through the sharing of wonderful stories and literature.
In 1st grade, we spend lots of time practicing new skills by reading decodable and leveled readers. However, these lack the complex story structure, colorful and exciting pictures, and interesting word choices that we know are important for developing enthusiastic and well-rounded readers. With a lot of socioeconomic diversity in my classroom, this is especially important to give each student their best chance at reading success.
My Project
We all have favorite stories we loved to listen to as a young child. Reading authentic stories from talented and loved authors creates childhood memories that will stay with our first graders throughout their life. What better way to learn important comprehension skills, such as finding the main idea of a story, or deciphering fact and opinion than with these authentic stories.
Guided Reading with a Purpose will give our entire first-grade access to an authentic childhood story EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Instead of mechanical reading from a boring textbook, students will be introduced to a new story every day from some of the most renowned children's authors. These stories will be used to teach important standards and reading comprehension skills while creating precious memories at the same time.
Students will start the year learning about rules while reading about Chrysanthemum, the mouse, by Kevin Henkes. They will learn about two infamous characters, Miss Nelson and Viola Swamp while solving the mystery of the missing Miss Nelson. They will learn to research while reading non-fiction books about bats. Stellaluna, the baby bat who became separated from her mother, will teach them about relationships and the difference between bats and birds. Research has shown the more personal connections students can make with content through stories and experiences, the better they remember what they have learned. Please help our first graders make these connections every single day this 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. Wilson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
