The World Belongs to Those Who Read

"And then there are students who are so frightened of books, of literacy, and of choice, that they feel comfortable only in their classroom library, reaching for books they know exactly where to find -- and trusting you, who understands their fears and reading insecurities." Middle school classroom teacher Wolpert-Gawron describes the "frightened reader" and says that it's up to us teachers to attract these students to reading like moths to a flame.

It is through a vast classroom library that I am able to help my diverse group of students find comfort in literature, finding topics, settings and characters that they can relate to.

"Most importantly, students are expected to become independent readers, yet they get limited opportunities to explore their own interests in reading, to read at their own pace, or to make their own decisions about whether or not to read a book. In short, if the goal of instruction is to create skillful, versatile, engaged readers, then middle schools may be missing the mark” (Ivey, 2001). It is crucial that I don't allow my students to miss the mark and that my students find books, characters and authors they can fall in love with, books they choose themselves because they can relate to their diverse backgrounds and interests. I need high-interest, new, flashy books to draw my students to my classroom library and get them excited about reading.

With your help I can bring diverse characters, cultures and settings into my students' worlds. I want to create voracious readers, readers who can make connections to their worlds, can be empathetic to others, can be mature, tolerant, accepting and who can change the world as a result.