My students need books with young adult characters and themes - but written at a first or second grade level! It's tough to find these books, but I've curated a great list of them.
All of my students are newcomer immigrants, ages 15-19. They all arrived in the county in the past 1-4 years, and most of them are reading below a second grade level, although they are in eleventh grade. 95% of the students in our public school receive free or subsidized lunch because of low income.
My students are hungry to learn English, and they need more opportunities to practice their English outside of the school day, since they are so far behind their native-born peers.
They come from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, China, Yemen, and many other countries. Many of them work 20-40 hours a week in addition to attending school, and they STILL make time for their homework (mostly). They inspire me every day!
My Project
I already have a pretty great classroom library of books that are great for my more advanced readers, but I need books for the beginners (more than 50% of the class). It is really hard to find books that are written at a beginner level, but also feel relevant and interesting to 15-19 year-olds. By expanding my classroom library with a variety of engaging beginner-level books, I can make reading accessible and fun for all my students. Small groups of students who are at a similar reading level choose which book to read with their group (as long as it is at an appropriate reading level), then they read a certain number of pages each week at home, annotating on sticky notes as they go. Every week they talk about their book to engage with the themes and help each other with comprehension.
The school library doesn't have multiple copies of books, so this classroom library will help make reading social in my classroom for my beginner students.
Newcomer immigrants in high school have precious little time to improve their English skills before they leave the supportive environment of our school, and this homework helps them expand their vocabulary and grammar at an appropriate level. When they come back to class every week to discuss with their group, they record the conversation on their phones, creating a medium-stakes authentic and sustained assessment of their reading comprehension and their speaking and listening skills.
A wide variety of books gives students choice, which creates much more buy-in to the project. Let's give all students a chance to catch the reading bug!
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