"It's time to shop!" My students love to hear those words. They are so excited to look though our school library and "shop" for books they would like to read that are on their level of reading.
My kids are from a low income neighborhood.
We are a Title I school, with 87% free and reduced lunches. I have 40% ESL learners who 20% don't know, or have not been exposed to English. Many of my children don't get help at home reading so the classroom is where they get most of their practice reading.
My Project
I have a classroom library that has books that the kids can read. I have some books that are leveled from very easy readers to 2nd grade reading books. Twice a week, the children have the opportunity to pick their own books to read. They need to have 3 leveled books and 3 books they want to read. These books are used from independent reading time. We do this daily for 10 minutes. Once a week we have a Readers Recommendation Pow-Wow. This is where the kids talk about the book they have read and tell others why they should read the book. The kids really enjoy this time.
This will change reading time for my kids in many ways.
The first is they will have more books from which to choose. The more choices they have the more excited they are. This will give them the opportunity to read with me in the classroom. I can also use them as read-a-loud for learning. The books will also support my guided reading instruction for small groups.
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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 Ms. Miller and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.