Our community is not, by any means, well-to-do. The district provides all school supplies, the majority of the students are on free or reduced lunch, and most of the population is considered minority. That does not, however, keep my students from dreaming and achieving. My students from last year were amazing! I had a future college history professor, a future astrophysicist, a future engineer, a future veterinarian, and a few future medical professionals. I am confident that they will all be successful.
Everyone knows how important reading is.
I consider fostering a love of reading to be one of my most important tasks. In order for me to appeal to a wide variety of students, I need books that will pique a wide variety of interests. Sure, there are books available on our campus, but our school is new, and our library is very small. I have my own classroom library, but keeping up with the newest books out there is hard. Most of the books that I have in my classroom come from either second-hand stores, hand-me-downs from my friends and family that read, or sale and clearance books that I have bought myself. The kids deserve more!
My Project
Last year we used Accelerated Reader points to encourage our students to read. Students received grades based on these points. While it worked for some, we all know being forced to read is not the way to create real readers. Real readers read because they want to. In order for that to happen, they must have access to books that touch them in some way. I think the books I have chosen will catch a little bit of every student.
My plan for the upcoming year is to start each class with either a book trailer, a book tease, or a read-aloud.
Once students learn a little bit about what is on my shelves, I hope that it makes them start looking. I anticipate students to clamor for the featured books, but of course, it will be first come, first served. (I will come up with some kind of a system. Perhaps a lottery!) If, however, you don’t get your book of choice, they will be encouraged and guided to similar books. Hopefully, I can make them love books as much as I do!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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