New Teacher Needs New Books!

Funded Aug 30, 2021

Using the texts gained from this project, I have been able to implement diversity and social justice into my elementary language arts curriculum. These texts have supplemented our history curriculum, as well as assisted in teaching SEL skills. Through reading these texts as a class community, we have engaged in dialogues bringing new perspectives and understanding. The greatest impact of these texts has not been the reading foundational skills gained, but the understanding of the power of a story. Readers are not born through strict teachings of phonics and morphology, but rather a learned love. These texts are powerful, and they have given my students a space to explore, ask questions, and foster their appreciation of hearing someone's story.

In my classroom there are several opportunities to read. We read together as a class, and engage in whole-group discussions. We read with partners, and are able to talk more freely and in a larger quantity when 1:1. We read independently, and allow ourselves to fully immerse in a story.

The texts from this project have been some of the classroom favorites. They are consistently asked to be read again, or borrowed for independent reading time. I can tell the impact of these stories in my classroom because the students remember the stories, and bring them into conversation whenever possible. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn more about our world.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Surette