Help me give my students this wonderful literary contribution, The Fault in Our Stars!
$319 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My students attend a very rural school where most of them spend out-of-school hours helping on a farm or at a local business and/or in sports. They don't always see the value of school, especially writing, where they typically struggle.
Many of our students grew up working with their hands and dread the monotony of a typical classroom, so my goal as a teacher is to re-instill a love of learning through innovative teaching strategies and a fun, welcoming atmosphere.
They also have been attending a school that is many decades old, and are accustomed to an environment that feels run down, or second hand, so it would be nice to be able to give them something that's special, and new, and "theirs".
We recently passed a bond for a new school and were supposed to be in it last August, but those plans were delayed by an entire year due to Hurricane Harvey. Since my students are finally going to have a space to be proud of, it would be so nice to also have something special to ring in my new classroom with at the beginning of this year.
My Project
I would like to purchase enough copies of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars for all students in my English I classes to read in conjunction with Romeo and Juliet. Every year, my Freshman English classes read William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We talk about the influence the play still has on books and culture today. With these books, I would like students to have new, relevant books that mirror themes found in Romeo and Juliet so my students can relate it to their own lives.
This is a great read for young adults as the depiction of the teenage characters is authentic and heartfelt.
I have found that even reluctant readers love this book.
Much like Romeo & Juliet, The Fault in Our Stars would be a good text to facilitate a dialogue regarding disability and privilege because the characters are multidimensional, and have lives and personalities that exist outside their circumstances, which is an area where some texts fall short.
There's rich characters, powerful writing, and highbrow allusions falling from the Indianapolis sky. My lessons will include activities such as student-led analysis of some of those allusions we just mentioned. (Sword of who? Damocles?), a kinesthetic study of themes, and pop culture resources.
This novel would enable students to look into the lives of someone living with a disability or illness and define normalcy, and privilege, and then have an opportunity to examine both the characters, and their own. Additionally, due to its popularity, many students would probably be interested in learning what “all the fuss” is about, and be more willing to read it for themselves.
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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. Dittmar and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
