My students need to reignite their love for reading. These high-interest novels and nonfiction texts will add diversity into their reading choices in my classroom.
I have the joy of teaching over 125 sophomores in my English classes in eastern Alabama. These students are energetic, creative, and extremely involved in fine arts activities and sports. In addition, many of them hold part-time jobs.
As a result of their busy schedules, a vast majority of my students no longer make time to read unless they are given a reading assignment.
Although over 60% of my students describe themselves as "readers," they consider reading to be an activity which was only enjoyed in their childhoods. As high school students, they read simply to complete classroom requirements. In addition my students often have difficulty connecting to and maintaining interest in their assigned texts. On my students' end-of-year reflections, many of them write things such as "I wish we could read some more recent books," and "Why are all of the books we read in school written by dead guys?"
My Project
After reading and evaluating several books, I carefully chose four texts to add to my classroom library using the following criteria: 1) all texts are award-winners, 2) all texts were published in the past two years, 3) all texts are high-interest for my teen readers, and 4) the four texts are a mixture of fiction and nonfiction selections. These new titles including, "Far from the Tree" and "The Hate U Give" will increase the number of choices I offer my students for their independent text study.
Students will read these remarkable texts on their own, but they will meet in "book clubs" to discuss their reading experiences with me and with their peers.
At the end of their reading, students will write a paper analyzing their books and connecting them to other works of literature and poetry.
Teenagers respond well to assignments where they are given choices, and they have repeatedly asked me to work more current titles into my curriculum. I am confident that these new titles will remind my students of how much they love to read, and they will remember the joy they felt as young readers when they connected to a new book.
If you donated to this project, you can sign in to leave a comment for Mrs. Barnes.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Barnes and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
