More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education.
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In fifth grade, I teach a novel unit each quarter to prepare students for their junior high Language Arts classes. A novel unit allows me to model reading fluency and think alouds. It also grows the students' interests and excitement in reading a wide-range of literature options from all genres. Reading aloud also improves vocabulary, increases word recognition, and improves reading comprehension.
Many students can relate to the main character, a reluctant reader, in My Life as a Book. As they read about Derek and his dislike of reading, students learn strategies that they themselves can use to become better readers. My Life as a Book is also the first book in the series; it is my hope that my students will want to read more books about Derek and his adventures.
These novels will become part of my classroom library. So, not only will this year's fifth graders benefit from this project, but many, many future ones will use them as well.
About my class
In fifth grade, I teach a novel unit each quarter to prepare students for their junior high Language Arts classes. A novel unit allows me to model reading fluency and think alouds. It also grows the students' interests and excitement in reading a wide-range of literature options from all genres. Reading aloud also improves vocabulary, increases word recognition, and improves reading comprehension.
Many students can relate to the main character, a reluctant reader, in My Life as a Book. As they read about Derek and his dislike of reading, students learn strategies that they themselves can use to become better readers. My Life as a Book is also the first book in the series; it is my hope that my students will want to read more books about Derek and his adventures.
These novels will become part of my classroom library. So, not only will this year's fifth graders benefit from this project, but many, many future ones will use them as well.