The students at our school are enthusiastic and energetic middle schoolers! They love to read when they can find books that are exciting and engaging!
They attend a small, rural school in Arkansas made up of fourth through seventh-grade students.
While they are going through a difficult stage in the transition from kids to teenagers (as all middle school students do), they are among the most energetic and exciting age group to work with. When they get excited about learning, their enthusiasm explodes out of the classroom!
My Project
We will be continuing the success of the Adversity Book Clubs by reading another round of books in small groups with our students during the 4th quarter. This quarter, the students will read books centered around survival.
We did a similar book club theme last year, but this year we want to take it one step further.
We (the literacy teachers) will be working with the science teachers on our team to combine the literature circle/book club experience with environmental science. As they read their books, most of which are focused on wilderness survival or natural disasters, the students will be looking for environmental issues that are brought up by the authors of their books. Then, students will work on a research project that combines their learning about environmental science with their reading in Language Arts class.
Finally, the students will have the opportunity to go on a survival-themed camping trip at the end of the year to a State Park. This will offer them a chance to experience how humans interact with the environment and see how the survival skills from their books play out in real life. While at the park, we will take a guided tour from park interpreters about the environment, participate in outdoor recreation like kayaking and hiking, and experience cooking and sleeping in the outdoors.
We have several books, but we are requesting more books to add two titles to the students' choices and to add more copies to some of the titles we already offer.
We hope that this project will give students a greater appreciation for the great outdoors, a greater understanding of humans' effect on the environment, and a greater appreciation for literature, all at the same time!
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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 Mr. McBride and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
