During the middle school years, students are developing who they are as thoughtful and empathetic people. The “Creating Empathy Through Reading” Project will use book clubs to have students interact with meaningful text about people of different cultures, backgrounds, and abilities. As students read their novels with their groups, they will engage in meaningful conversations about the elements of their books.
Empathy is a soft skill that students may not have the opportunity to explore in depth outside of school.
As students grow in their understanding of people different than them, they will be able to transform into thoughtful and conscientious citizens of our community. Relationships among our students will improve and so will their communication skills. The chance to collaborate and communicate with others, while exploring other people’s experiences, will also benefit our students when they become adults and go into their future careers.
My Project
At the beginning of the school year, students will watch book trailers describing each novel and will visit a station created for each book. They will then choose their “top” books that they are the most interested in, and I will help them choose their book club groups. Students will read at school and at home, then have discussions within their groups about what they have read and topics I bring up. Students will be expected to conduct research on any background information they need for their books. I will also incorporate TED Talks about empathy, disabilities, refugees, etc. for students to be more immersed in these topics. The actual book clubs should take about two months, but the activities they will do will be incorporated all year long. My ultimate goal is for our students to form a relationship with students in the self -contained classroom. We will form a partnership with the Connect club which is focused on forming relationships with the self-contained students. Since a lot of the book club books are focused on students with disabilities, this will enrich the project even more. Students involved in the “Creating Empathy Through Reading” Project will become involved with “lunch buddies” with these students and volunteer at the Special Olympics.
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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. Nicholson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
