My project needs 52 paperback copies of the novel "Crossing the Wire" by Will Hobbs that students can read both in class and at home.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Finer's classroom raised $431
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Ambitious? You bet I am.
Settling is not enough. Coming in every day and assigning pages to read out of the textbook is not enough. Hoping they will learn without materials that meet their needs and make connections to their lives is not enough.
I want more for my students.
Thus, my students are reading literature about immigration. We're exploring the English standards (and some history ones) through journals, graphic novels, and short stories about dust bowl migrants, Chinese immigrants, Ellis and Angel Island, etc. I've bought single copies of books on immigration from around the world myself which they read at home. I spend hours in the copy room (and at Staples) running, punching, and stapling the packets of reading material for class. I've selectively picked things at their varying reading levels, and worked in strategies so they can improve their own challenged reading comprehension while grappling with the challenging material.
Its working. So far (and its only a week and a half into the semester), they're engaged, working hard, and improving. Given that nearly all of my students are from immigrant families themselves, the connections they are making across history through literature not only are helping them meet the standards, but are helping them grow personally.
What's missing is a novel. And I think I've found the perfect one. The novel is called "Crossing the Wire" and it's close to their own situation and is written at their reading level - it follows a boy trying to make his way north to the United States to support his family. Every chapter he encounters a different physical and philosophical struggle. It would provide the perfect capstone to their reading (bringing all the historical work up into a modern story they can directly relate to), and provide a segue into the final writing project of a narrative about their own stories of how their families came to LA.
The problem? My school has no money for novels (or more basic supplies like copy paper and binders, which I pay for out-of-pocket).
Can you help?
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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