Your web browser might not work well with our site. We recommend you upgrade your browser.
/classroom/4718564 Customize URL
I am implementing balanced literacy practices in an effort to increase literacy growth in my level 2 English learners. Part of this effort includes reading relevant and challenging literature to students as part of a read-aloud to expose them to more complex sentence, text, and grammatical structures and vocabulary. A class set of these books will allow students the opportunity to read a novel that mirrors some of the experiences they have had in life including living through war and political unrest, losing family members and friends to conflict, living in a refugee camp, moving to America, learning English, and adjusting to a new culture and way of living. A class set of these books will allow students to engage in the read-aloud process because they will have their own copy of the book with which to follow along, an integral part of effective read-alouds. In education we talk about using curriculum that exposes students to both windows and mirrors ---windows so they can learn about the world around them, and mirrors so they can see themselves in what they read and learn. Unfortunately, our English Learner students most often experience windows, as they read literature about people that don't look like, talk like, or have experiences like them. This book presents a unique opportunity to provide students with a mirror while working on improving literacy skills.
Read more