My students are CAPABLE, HARD-WORKING and INCREDIBLE! They are full of energy, social justice, compassion and their determination to succeed everyday in school and life is evident.
We have a uniquely diverse student population that consists of those who come to us with a wide range of experiences and abilities.
We embrace them all as our own and are committed to doing everything possible to help them maximize their skills and talents. Because of the diverse backgrounds our children bring, we are determined to overcome any and all barriers to help them become lifelong and successful learners. To accomplish this goal, we do need additional resources to help support learning within our classroom community! Kids build ideas of themselves and the world around them based on what they see. Kids are visual learners, it’s important that they see a representation of themselves.
My Project
What is is like to look for your reflection in a book and not see it? My students need diverse literature where they see themselves represented. Our school’s current book selection for teaching guided reading is deeply lacking in diversity. My learners need books that are a representation of their culture, journey, background, and experiences. Highly relatable books allow kids to identify with the characters. It's validating for kids to meet a character in a story who has hair that resembles theirs, wears glasses just like they do or eats food their family cooks. When kids read titles with characters who look like them, it helps form a connection to the book on another level. Identifying with the characters in a story allows for a deeper comprehension of the text because kids are making these kinds of self connections.
Our reading block consists of a shared reading, phonics, writing, guided lesson around a reading strategy and independent reading time.
These sets of books will be used during guided reading groups focused on a reading strategy. We have heard students say, “Hey, that character looks just like me!” when a new book is presented to them. My goal is to have sets of books that are current and portray characters, authors and illustrators that look like our students.
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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 Ms. Meudt and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
