My students need class sets of a novel to read that are engaging, fun, and fit our year-long theme of "Journey to Your Future" covering the transition to secondary school.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. B.'s classroom raised $550
This project is fully funded
My Students
Some of my students are reluctant readers, and need engaging content. All of my students are in a period of transition in their lives - starting middle school. Why not read a novel whose protagonist is also in transition? An exciting novel that draws you in and makes you want to read more?
My students are a pretty diverse group of young people.
I have both high and low achievers, English Language Learners, Special Education students, GATE students, and representatives from just about any other group you will find in a California public school. They are (mostly) eager to learn - especially if they are engaged by the content of the material we are studying.
My Project
This year is the first year that our middle school has added sixth grade classes, and is also my first year teaching this grade level. One of the things that our grade level team has decided is to teach novels, rather than relying solely on the basal reader. The other Humanities (Language Arts and History) teachers have all been teaching sixth grade at their old schools and brought class sets with them. While I am able to borrow books for my students to read, it would be more equitable for our class to have several sets of novels of our own, so we can read them and also share them with other classes.
One of the essay formats that students are required to practice each year is the "Compare and Contrast" essay. This year, I would like my students to compare and contrast an exciting and engaging novel with an award winning classic film based on that novel.
Captain Blood is an engaging adventure that is fun to read, and has a film that we can watch after reading the novel.
My hope is that this project will help to make this an exciting and fun unit for my students - especially those who deride school as being "boring."
The quick pace of the novel, and the ability to show the film soon after finishing the novel, so we can get right to work on the "Compare and Contrast" essay should help my students stay on task and complete the assignment.
Having copies of the sequel will allow some students to choose to continue with the story in independent reading.
More than a third 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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