Students in my 8th grade language arts classes are developing their reading stamina in order to be able to engage with increasingly longer and more complex texts. This can only be accomplished through regular and continual reading. High interest, engaging stories are the best way to encourage middle school students to read.
Students at my school converge in the 6th grade from four different and socioeconomically distinct elementary schools of approximately 300 students, to a single middle school of about 1,000 students.
The variety of income levels, nationalities, home languages and cultures provides a rich daily dynamic within our student body.
My Project
Students in my 7th grade language arts classes continue to work hard creating digital portfolios this year. Their portfolios include a series of projects that require evidence of content learning but also allow for creativity. Each project is inspired by an assigned text. For example, students read a pair of articles about plastic consumption and disposal and then created a slide show to teach others about the topic. In another example, students read a historical fiction novel set during the Civil Rights Era and created an interactive timeline highlighting the major events during that time period. Lastly, students read a short news article about the rise of "fandoms" and then created their own fan art in the form of a stop motion video. Now my students are eager to share their creations with their classmates.
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. Reif and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.