"This can't really be happening!" Being a literacy teacher, my life is about sharing books with my students, so normally I am overjoyed when my students connect deeply to a book. But these comments were because I was doing a read aloud of "The Red Pencil" by Andrea Davis Pinkney, these connections were made to a war raging through Sudan, and how it was impacting the children of theses small villages.
For my students, these connections would have been much easier to foster if each of them had the book in front of them.
When everyone has a book, students can interact with the text, create their post-its and tag lines or sections that really made them stop and consider what a war can do. This is one of my favorite books to help foster a community of learners with empathy for those who are in circumstances beyond their control.
The purpose for this project is so my students are able to have the opportunity to read this book, and to question the author's methods instead of hearing me use it as a read aloud, and then fight over who gets to view the book first.
My Project
We need this project!
By having a book per student, my students will be able to personally interact with the lovely prose written by Andrea Davis Pinkney.
This book, not only teaches about war torn Sudan, but speaks to students in a way that helps foster empathy. It also enables students to get to know the character Amira, who is not much older then they are, but dealing with a war she didn't ask for.
With this book, my students will also be able to work on writing prose. Who knows maybe the next poet laureate is hidden in my classroom.
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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. Fox and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.