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.

Do you want to make a difference in a child's life? Do you believe that if a child better understands the world around them and is a deep thinker that they are better equipped for success? If you have answered yes to these questions, then please read on.

I teach third graders in a Title I school. Most of my students come from low poverty-stricken backgrounds. Their life experiences are limited and from day one they are behind. Getting them on level is a struggle. Last year I noticed that when my children were allowed to read and copy poetry that they were focused and that the room was usually so quiet that you could "hear a pin drop" so to speak. When I would collect their journals I was amazed at how carefully they had copied and at the mature selections they had made. When questioned, it was obvious that the poems that they had selected had special meaning for them.

This year I want to expose my children to many more opportunities to learn from poetry. To do this I need to have a large collection of children's poetry books in the room. I want my students to be able to really celebrate the joy of poetry. I want them to recognize the forms of poetry, become acquainted with the authors, grapple with vocabulary, appreciate the classics and read poetry in both English and Spanish. I want to discuss what they read and help them become higher level thinkers. Through poetry, I want to open up the universe for my students by helping them understand and think about the world around them. While they know little of the world, they know in their hearts that there is much more, and they desperately want to understand and learn about their surroundings. These books will help my students develop not only an appreciation of poetry, but also to help them strengthen their vocabularies, learn parts of speech and understand why what they know matters! My children need to read poetry written in both English and Spanish, they need to read words that rhyme, see examples of homonyms at work, hear idioms, and use their imaginations to dream what they read. They also need to see illustrations of Haiku, limericks, free verse, and simply learn to rhyme. I want my students to gain an appreciation for the classics and to hear and read poetry written by poets all over the world.

By reading, trying to understand and discussing all types of poetry my children will begin to think on higher levels. Higher level thinking will strengthen their ability to learn and understand their worlds. Higher level thinking will also give them the keys to the universe and the ability to travel beyond. Your help will ensure that my students are given a chance in the world. The poetry that they learn in my classroom, will be carried forever in their hearts and minds. Please help us.