Every year I teach Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak," her narrator's dry honesty resonates with my students.
"Sometimes I think high school is one long hazing activity: if you are tough enough to survive this, they'll let you become an adult. I hope it's worth it.”
Though a majority of our students live at or near the poverty line, they are incredibly generous.
Students share among their groups, give freely to our Make-A-Wish kids every year, and donate blood regularly. These young adults recognize that they must be caretakers of their own community, and that care shows. For that reason, our school takes incredible pride in its many student groups (speech & debate, theater, sports, music, robotics, culinary arts). Our students love to show off what they know and use it for the good of others, whether that means tutoring at elementary schools or catering district-wide planning meetings. They also love to read about people who sound like them: teenagers who are finding their passions, finding their way, and finding out how to stand on their own.
My Project
Investing in 28 copies of "Speak" will allow students to take these books home with them and follow Melinda Sordino's fight to regain her voice. Instead of using class time for reading from limited copies of the book, students will be able to use our meeting times to discuss the book in literature circles, record their perspectives on personal devices, and explore the language Halse Anderson chooses to tell her character's story. We will be able to move away from lower Depth-of-Knowledge activities based on basic comprehension and towards analysis, evaluation, and relating the book to the outside world: how does the author build towards a particular mood or feeling? Why does Melinda remain silent? How can we learn from her experience and change our world for the better?
Reading independently is a critical skill for success as sophomores and beyond.
The only way for students to improve is to practice reading and working on their own--the barrier to this now is a lack of books to send home. As my students enter high school, they are not yet comfortable with reading independently. Being able to bring copies of "Speak" home will help improve their independent study skills and shift our classroom discussions to more intensive conversations about our world.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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 Ms. Melly and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
