My students are eighth graders at an urban California public school.They represent the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of our city. My middle school students arrive in my classroom with a wide range of skills from the highly gifted to second-language learners.
Some of my English students still read novels, but many of them have lost or never found the love of reading.
These wide-ranging abilities and interest-levels makes it my challenge to find engaging reading material to draw in each of my learners.
My Project
At the start of every school year, my new students make individualized reading plans. We talk about great books and start writing down titles we want to read this year. The students set ambitious goals for all of the books they want to read in the coming months.
But what if my students can't track down their books?
For some students, this is where their reading plan fails. But if several of the books on their list are already waiting on my classroom shelves, my students dive in. They read and talk about books with their classmates. They become readers or they remember why they used to love to read. We need a collection of engaging books.
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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 Ms. Nakada and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.