Funded Jul 22, 2014I want to thank you sincerely for your generous contribution to my classroom library. The books you helped me purchase are already being read by youngsters in my grades 5-8 English as a second language (ESL) classes, as well as students in my 7th grade advisory class, former ESL students, and others who come to me because they have heard that I have books in my classroom collection that kids actually like to read.
Most of the books on my project list are books I have bought before and know to be high interest books for my students. This project has helped reduce the number of crestfallen looks I see when a child really wants to read a Big Nate, Wimpy Kid, Dork Diary, Surviving don't, Junie B. Jones, or Dead is... book and I don'ÂÂt have any on my shelf.
Just yesterday, a student exclaimed to me that the "Dork Diaries is amazing. I read 60 pages at one time and I forgot I was even reading."
Why did I not ask for books of more literary merit? These titles are a starting point. In my years as a teacher of struggling readers, I have learned not to be snobbish at all about reading materials. Again and again, I have seen children who don't like to read in general, but do like to read books like these. If you get a youngster reading a book he or she truly enjoys, you are transforming him or her into a person who thinks of himself or herself as somebody who enjoys reading the right kind of book instead of somebody who doesn't like to read. That is something to build on.
I say to my kids, "ÂÂThe more you read, the better you read. The better you read, the more books you like. The more books you like, the more you read. Reading more books turns you into you into an even better reader. Being a better reader makes school easier and makes you do better in school. Doing well in school gives you more choices about what kind of future you have. Reading makes your life good."
Thanks for your contribution to help me turn reluctant readers into enthusiastic readers.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Austin