Empowering Students to Read Broadly and Develop Their Interests

Funded Oct 3, 2024

What an amazing gift to have really beautiful literature in my classroom! I almost instantly had students who turn up their noses at reading their whole lives find it interesting to pick up The Blind Side because "It's sports" and ELL students flip through The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe picture book because it was accessible.

I am especially impacted by two students. The first, a girl who tested at a 10th grade reading level in my ICT class who told me she was bored with the material we're doing and asked for something harder. Since our current unit was about how actions define us, I let her borrow To Kill a Mockingbird for independent reading and asked her to include material from the novel in an essay about the characters we studied. She loved the book and the project!

The other student is an 8th grader I had last year, who loves drama class and enjoyed ELA but needed independent reading for her current class. I immediately suggested the No Fear Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing. It was an instant hit, and the student devoured the material quickly! The "No Fear" series has really taken off with my students, with ELLs, lower-level, and upper-level students engaging with these texts more than any others. It just goes to prove my theory that the classics are classic for a reason: they are good, riveting stories that transcend time.

Your generosity has allowed these students to discover that they do not have to feel starved for good stories! Thank you again for helping these children pursue their interests and learn to love the written word.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Garzetta