Students in my class read independently for much of the school year. They confer with the teacher and also with others about their self-selected reading.
Because our school population is largely white and upper-middle-class, students need multiple opportunities to see other cultures, experiences, and stories that may at first seem quite dissimilar from their own. By studying the texts I've requested through this project, students will continue to expand their understanding of how even those with whom they seemingly have little in common are in some ways like them, facing pressures from a variety of force-fields beyond their control. And when they do not see commonalities between themselves and the diverse characters in these books, they have an opportunity to evaluate how their own privilege impacts their lives in ways they may not have yet acknowledged. Having these books as part of my classroom library will enable my students to further refine their thinking about their role in the world relative to the role of those characters in the literature they read. My goal is for my students to "find themselves" by getting lost in their reading.
About my class
Students in my class read independently for much of the school year. They confer with the teacher and also with others about their self-selected reading.
Because our school population is largely white and upper-middle-class, students need multiple opportunities to see other cultures, experiences, and stories that may at first seem quite dissimilar from their own. By studying the texts I've requested through this project, students will continue to expand their understanding of how even those with whom they seemingly have little in common are in some ways like them, facing pressures from a variety of force-fields beyond their control. And when they do not see commonalities between themselves and the diverse characters in these books, they have an opportunity to evaluate how their own privilege impacts their lives in ways they may not have yet acknowledged. Having these books as part of my classroom library will enable my students to further refine their thinking about their role in the world relative to the role of those characters in the literature they read. My goal is for my students to "find themselves" by getting lost in their reading.