My students need books for our Poetry Club including "Where the Sidewalk Ends," "Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems," "100 Great Poems for Boys," and other titles.
$513 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! 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.
Poetry Club formed as a reaction to ten other students forming a Spanish Book Club. The students who are not participating in Spanish Book Club voted to form a Poetry Club that will meet concurrently to Spanish Club. We have 18 boys and 2 girls in our class Poetry Club. The students all have rhyming dictionaries; now all they need is some inspiration. We need poetry books that will inspire my young poets to create.
My students are resourceful and resilient.
Many of them live well below the poverty line. Some live in shelters. My students are urban and international. Our school is on an industrial side of town, in a city in Connecticut that struggles to fund its school system. About half of my students speak another language at home, although only about 20% qualify for English Language Learner services. Our school is large and serves about 1,000 students. We pride ourselves in our close-knit community that often rallies to support each other during the tough times. Though our school community has faced all manner of hardship and more than our share of tragedy, our students are amazingly talented and ambitious. Our local community is united in their appreciation of, and affection for, our neighborhood school.
Many of my students can't afford books of their own. It is my goal to equip them with quality literature to add to their home libraries so that they may develop a lifelong love of reading.
My Project
These books will be used as resources for our cooperative Poetry Club. The club will meet twice a week to read, discuss, and respond to the material. We will read, "Where the Sidewalk Ends", Shel Silverstein's brilliant book of poems for the young and the young at heart. It is suitable to all levels of readers and makes a natural partner book as it is meant to be read aloud and with expression. They will also read the book, "Grasshopper Pie." The students will use the books to practice both their reading and their speaking skills, and work with their partners to collaborate on a creative written responses.
The students in Poetry Club will be given both books at the end of the lesson to keep and practice with at home. The other books of poems requested here will also be read and discussed during whole group comparative extension activities. In addition to strengthening their literacy skills and expanding their knowledge of poetry, my students will improve their cooperative and communication skills.
The enjoyment of classic children's literature is crucial to a child's early classroom experience.
Cooperative skills are crucial to success in life. My hope for Poetry Club is to create partnerships in learning and establish a lifelong appreciation of reading poetry. Learning to read can be a daunting enterprise for students that are economically disadvantaged. Providing them with a good book and a good friend to help could go a very long way toward closing the literacy gap.
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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 Mrs. Coyne and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
