My students in grades 3-5 have been struggling with reading since their very first day of kindergarten. They have shed so many tears, thrown so many books, been yelled at, felt perpetually sick and sad and different from their peers, simply because they could not do what seemed to come so easily to all their friends: they could not learn to read. With special education support, many of these kids are finally starting to feel confident in their reading skills, but they are sick of reading about cute little forest animals in books designed for six-year-olds.
Students in grades 3-5 want to read about the same things their friends are reading about -- friendships, adventures fraught with peril, sports, epic fantasy, science fiction, serious emotions, crushes, family conflicts, and coming-of-age stories. They want to read books that matter to them -- not books written for kindergarteners. But these struggling readers are surrounded in their classrooms by books that are discouragingly hard for them. Seeing their peers reading long chapter books while they struggle through first grade texts is crushing their self-esteem on a daily basis.
My students need high interest books that they can (and actually want to) read. Unfortunately, these kinds of books are difficult to find. Most of the time, low-level books are written for a much younger audience or are horrifically repetitive and dull. My classroom desperately needs books at lower levels that are engaging and well-written, or better yet, specifically designed for older struggling readers. Please help me add these books to my classroom library so that my students can grow their self-esteem and access the powerful world of knowledge that comes from learning to read!
About my class
My students in grades 3-5 have been struggling with reading since their very first day of kindergarten. They have shed so many tears, thrown so many books, been yelled at, felt perpetually sick and sad and different from their peers, simply because they could not do what seemed to come so easily to all their friends: they could not learn to read. With special education support, many of these kids are finally starting to feel confident in their reading skills, but they are sick of reading about cute little forest animals in books designed for six-year-olds.
Students in grades 3-5 want to read about the same things their friends are reading about -- friendships, adventures fraught with peril, sports, epic fantasy, science fiction, serious emotions, crushes, family conflicts, and coming-of-age stories. They want to read books that matter to them -- not books written for kindergarteners. But these struggling readers are surrounded in their classrooms by books that are discouragingly hard for them. Seeing their peers reading long chapter books while they struggle through first grade texts is crushing their self-esteem on a daily basis.
My students need high interest books that they can (and actually want to) read. Unfortunately, these kinds of books are difficult to find. Most of the time, low-level books are written for a much younger audience or are horrifically repetitive and dull. My classroom desperately needs books at lower levels that are engaging and well-written, or better yet, specifically designed for older struggling readers. Please help me add these books to my classroom library so that my students can grow their self-esteem and access the powerful world of knowledge that comes from learning to read!
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