Two years ago, I had a teacher friend make a post on social media challenging teachers to take an honest look/walk-through their classroom library and look for books that offered diversity among the characters, discussed difficult topics, or highlighted individuals who represented specific races and cultures. I took on the challenge and quickly realized that the books in our classroom library were severely lacking any sense of diversity, and I took action. I began researching about books that would help our students navigate hard topics, talk about diverse issues, inspire great thinking and writing, spark creativity, and create a reading community in the classroom. As teachers, I believe that it is feverishly important that we acknowledge and reflect on the important role that picture books, chapter books, and nonfictional resources can and will play in our students' lives. I feel passionate about helping students ignite a desire for reading and foster a love for ...
donors choose
Our Donors Choose Project for Book Clubs
Recently, my students and I put together a new project on our Donors Choose page. Just like our last project, the idea was completely created by my kiddos. The only thing I did was locate the books on Amazon and help type up their plan. Our book club dream actually grew from our AMAZING Global Read Aloud experience that we participated in this year. As a class, we read the book Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. After the book was finished, the students begged for more. They had enjoyed the discussions, the shared reading, collaborating together on tasks and reflections, and wanted to do it again. Here is an overview of our project incase you are looking to write your own Donors Choose request! Book Clubs: Embarking On A New Reading Adventure My Students "Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark."- Kate DiCamillo As the school year matures, my students are finding that they enjoy discussing and sharing books with each other. However, only ...
