Section 1: Developing as a reader: Goals & Progress
Read at least 10-15 minutes a day.
Set aside time in my daily “agenda” for reading
As you can see in the photo below, I had a reminder set on my phone that would repeat daily (around 8 pm- my typical relaxation/homework time) to remind me to read my portion for the night. This reminder- although it may seem insignificant, helped me a lot in maintaining this goal of mine!
Take notes based on what I was reading.
Created Google Docs for each book
As you can see below, I screenshotted a portion of my Brown Girl Dreaming and The Night Diary notetaking pages that I kept as a record in Google Docs. These were not only helpful day to day in keeping track of what I read but they were awesome to look back on if I may have forgotten a detail or two when writing my summaries as well as when referencing them for future lesson planning. **Great documentation tool, kept me accountable each day
Brown Girl Dreaming
The Night Diary
Share my findings with someone else. Get book recommendations from others as well.
Told friends, family
This goal was also accomplished in ways that I wasn’t sure of before. I recommended A Long Walk to Water to one of my friends, Haley Van Matre, in Block A knowing that she may be doing this project in the future and also having seen and learned the benefits that could come with this novel in terms of future lesson planning. I love that I was able to see this novel through a “teacher lens” and was automatically transitioning it into a lesson plan and how my future students could benefit from the message and structure of this text- such a learning experience! In addition to this, my brother recommended a “free choice” book for me to read called It Ends With Us. He has never seen me read before in my free time and having seen it this semester, he was overjoyed and so excited to share a recommendation of his own.
Try something new, go outside of my comfort zone. Do some research to find a book that will fit me.
Did research prior to finding my two “free choice” books based on things I am interested in
I did extensive research to find books that would fit my interest levels in order to keep me engaged. Although these books are for grades 3-6, if a book does not keep me engaged, I have a hard time focusing/tend to give up on the project. I also wanted something that I could connect with on a personal level that I feel I could transfer to my future classroom and teach my students. **My passions (mission work, disability awareness, etc.)
Continue reading outside of this project. TBR list.
Use this project as a stepping stone to becoming more interested and invested in reading in my free time
As you can see in my TBR list below, this project has inspired me to continue gathering books that could be useful, educational, and engaging in my future classroom. I compiled a great list of books below that I believe will serve the same purpose as the ones I completed during this project: to engage my students, teach them about a significant event/person/place/thing, connect to a purposeful lesson.
Section 2: Finding and remembering books for grades 3-6
Woodson, J. (2016). Brown Girl Dreaming. Puffin Books. 336 pages Poetry, Children's literature, Novel, Biography, Autobiography September 15, 2021 This book was chosen by Dr. Corpus to integrate into our classroom for the semester. This book was laid out in poem-styled entries which kept it intriguing. This book is also an autobiography which is interesting to me personally because I love reading and learning about real-life events. This book had raw insight on a child’s perspective on the prominent issues of segregation and racism and that was appealing to me because it offered a different perspective than I’d seen/read before.
Park, L. S. (2010). A Long Walk to Water. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 133 pages Novel, Fiction October 30, 2021 I chose this book solely due to my intense interest in Africa, I have always been intrigued by Sudan. I loved that this book was split into two parts, detailing the lives of two separate characters with different life stories. Mission work has always been a huge passion of mine and seeing how this book tied that in at the end was inspiring to me, I feel that I could teach my students a lot about the impact they can also make in the world!
Hiranandani, V. (2019). The Night Diary. Puffin Books. 274 pages Novel, Historical Fiction, Diary fiction November 5, 2021 This book was chosen by Dr. Corpus to integrate into our classroom for the semester. This book taught me a lot about the Pakistan divide personally and I loved that the layout was written in letters/journal entries to a loved one. It offered a unique, compelling perspective to such a notable life event in history. I think this book would be extremely appealing and informational to my younger students.
Draper, S. M. (2010). Out of My Mind. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 295 Fiction November 25, 2021 I personally chose this book solely due to my passion for advocating for students with disabilities. I have read Wonder, and this book reminded me a lot of that. I love that this book offered an inspiring story and was able to teach the audience more about a disability that may be uncommon to their specific educational setting. I think it is crucial to end the negative stigma around students/classmates with disabilities and integrating this book into my future classroom brings me one step closer to that goal.
Teachers are always on the lookout for new books to share with their students, i.e., “candidates” for future reading. Through the course of the semester, you noted chapter books you’d like to read after the class ends to prepare to teach in grades 3-6. List 3-5 additional books for grades 3-6 that you want to read in the future and your reasons for wanting to read those books. The books must be suitable for grades 3-6. In the second column note the awards they have won for ages 8-12 or the recommendations from professional sources indicating this grade range.
Title (Grades 3-6) Reasons for the selection
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Grades 5-9) This selection is extremely similar to one of the novels I read, Out of My Mind, also dealing with fitting in and discovering identity/friendship. The main character also has medical conditions that have traditionally prohibited her from fitting in. As I mentioned below, this is something that I want to avoid in my future classroom therefore I hope to integrate more and more books that emphasize the message of inclusivity.
Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper (Grades 5-6) Out of My Heart is the sequel to Out of My Mind, so naturally, I wanted to include it in my TBR list. I absolutely loved the message in Out of My Mind and am hoping that this novel carries to same inspirational weight and engaging, emotional response. I think it would be beneficial to allow my students the opportunity to continue following Melody’s story by allowing them the opportunity to read the sequel if it is available in my classroom library. **Promoting consistency, growth, and following character development
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Grades 3-7) I selected this book because of its amazing reviews and awards. This novel is said to be the perfect mix of emotional and moving but also engaging and funny and that is something that is perfect for the younger students! It was also recommended for students who enjoyed Brown Girl Dreaming so I am assuming that these novels will have similarities.
Shooting Kabul by N.H Senazi (Grades 3-7) This book is said to promote positive friendships and is noted as a “powerful read.” In my classroom library, I am hoping to inspire my students, especially in the friendship department. In addition to this, I want my students to be exposed to life outside of the United States and books such as Shooting Kabul, give readers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the lives and cultures of the characters that they are reading about. This novel also accounts for the events prior to and after 9/11 which will always be a prominent event in history, one that our students must continue to know and learn about.
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson (Grades 5-6) Before the Ever After is written by Jacqueline Woodson, the author of her memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming. I loved Woodson’s work so much in Brown Girl Dreaming that I know this novel is bound to follow suit. In addition to this, this novel is a “novel-in-verse” and I think that this structure of reading will interest my students and keep them interested.
Section 3: Summary and reflection of books read this semester 1. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park A Long Walk to Water tells the story of two young people, both from Southern Sudan. This novel is split into two halves detailing the life of a young eleven-year-old girl, Nya, in 2008 and a young eleven-year-old boy, Salva, in 1985. The coolest part of this story is that although the character’s journeys are close to 20 years apart, the audience sees a plethora of parallels between the two stories. Following both of the characters’ lives throughout the book kept it engaging and compelling- completely capturing the audience in two different but similar life stories. Nya was introduced first as an eleven-year-old girl whose main job was to collect water from the local village twice a day, this journey took a full day, and oftentimes, the water was not clean enough to drink, and caused Nya and her family members to become extremely ill. Next, the audience meets Salva. Different from Nya, Salva has the opportunity to go to school right outside his village. However, shortly after this, the war between the government and the rebels breaks out in his village, and Salva is separated from his family and forced on a journey to freedom, alone. Nya battles her long walk to water and the sickness that comes along with it as Salva battles his long walk to freedom. The story fast-forwards, workers in Nya’s village are drilling to find water and Salva is 22 years old living in a refugee camp in Kenya. Later on, Salva is taken to America for work and he dedicates his life to helping the people of Southern Sudan. He reunites with his family and provides water for the people of Nya’s village so that the children can spend their days going to school rather than fetching water. It was breathtakingly heartwarming to see how these two characters’ stories intertwined by the end. Throughout my entire life, I have always been drawn to mission work. I have gone on countless mission trips and am always looking to volunteer in my community. This book immediately stood out to me because it involved someone giving back to their community. This book provides the inspiration that many young students need to recognize that they can make a difference. I could potentially tie this book in with a community service project within my classroom. In addition to this, I think it is an eye-opening experience for students to realize just how blessed they are to receive an education.
2. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper Out of My Mind is a novel that shows the perseverance and bravery of eleven-year-old Melody who has cerebral palsy. This story details the trials and tribulations that students with disabilities face both in and out of school. However, Melody did not let her physical disability limit her, and instead, she capitalizes on what she can control: her mind. From a young age, Melody’s parents were encouraged to send her away to avoid the hardships that would come from raising a child with such a strong developmental disorder. Despite the recommendations, Melody’s parents believed in her and sent her to her local elementary school. It was in fifth grade that everyone around Melody truly realized: this disorder may affect Melody physically, but it does not affect her brilliant mind. Through the expansion of technology and the help of a communication device, Melody finally had the chance to show her otherwise judgemental classmates just how smart she really was. Melody’s parents’ and caretaker’s determination to have her integrated into a normal classroom where she would grow and shine was clearly beneficial to not only Melody but her classmates as they were able to learn and see just how capable Melody truly is. While reading this book, ideas were swirling in my head in terms of lesson plans in my future classroom. Something that I remember so vividly and that stuck with me from my elementary school years was the year that we did an inclusion project. This project was to promote the inclusion of our students and classmates with disabilities throughout our school. I want my future classroom to be one that is built upon an inclusive environment for all students. I think that I would use this book as an introduction to this project/concept for my classroom. The cumulative/summative assessment for this could illicit student creativity in creating their own inclusive piece to add to our classroom. I have a strong personal connection to students with disabilities have worked with them my entire life whether that be through Best Buddies, Champions Together, or Special Olympics. I want to foster a classroom that celebrates inclusivity and I think that this book will be a great resource to successfully do that!
3. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani The Night Diary detailed the story of the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947 from the point of view of twelve-year-old Nisha. Nisha’s only outlet of communication and the thing that kept her going on her long journey to freedom was her journal. In her journal, Nisha writes to her deceased Muslim mother nightly about her long journey to a new home. Nisha’s Hindu father was dedicated to finding a safe, free home for his children and was the clearest example of a role model to Nisha and her siblings throughout their journey. This story offers the unique perspective of a child’s feelings about the Muslim and Hindu divide and violence. Nisha’s diary incites an emotional response from the audience as she shares the raw details of the hardships she and her family went through to reach freedom in their new home. Nisha detailed accounts of finding her first friend and the dangers that came with their communications due to their differing religions. In this story, Nisha battled owning and taking pride in her identity as well as finding her place in her new home. However, Nisha was overcome with both bravery and perseverance and learned to accept both her identity and her new sense of freedom in her new home. This inspiring story gives the behind-the-scenes to the dangers of finding freedom and the journey along the way. Reading this book was so interesting and engaging to me given that it was structured in a way that I have never encountered before. I love the layout of this book, similar to Brown Girl Dreaming, and the way that it allowed the author to incorporate raw emotions and real-life, personal accounts. As we discussed in our Reading Group Presentations on this book, the style of writing provokes a variety of writing workshops for our students. One idea that Ms. Buss and I came up with was to have the students create their own diary entry to a loved one (eliciting that emotional response from the audience) about an important event in their life. In addition to this, I had also never personally learned about the Pakistan Split and I think that it is something extremely important to teach my future students about, especially prior to reading this book in order for them to connect to Nisha’s character more in-depth.
4. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Told in five parts, Brown Girl Dreaming is a personal memoir of Jacqueline Woodson’s life as a young African American girl living in the South, born in Columbus, Ohio. Jacqueline’s parents, Mary Ann and Jack had deep disagreements about their living conditions and the segregation in the South and eventually, this led to a marital split between the two. Due to this, Jackie and her siblings moved to the South with their mother to live with their grandparents. Although racism and segregation are still prominent issues in the South, Jackie comes to love her new home. They have a strong faith and rely on that heavily. This novel details Jackie’s life and her fluctuating and internal battles of belief in the South. Much of her story is told through poems and the audience is able to see, in-depth, the emotional journey that Jackie endured throughout her lifetime as a young African American girl in both the North and South. There is something so special about reading about someone’s life from their perspective. In this novel, Jackie told the story of her life in the South from the perspective of being a young, African American girl and all of the struggles that came with that but also moments that she cherished and celebrated. I love the organization of the text and how she decided to structure it based on parts that were prominent in her life. This autobiography, similar to The Night Diary focuses a lot on sense of self and discovering one’s identity so I would definitely attempt to tie that into my lessons- challenge my students to truly see themselves.
Section 4: Looking back and looking ahead (10 points) Share your reflections about the process of setting goals, sharing reading with others (including your book talk), and tracking your own reading. This reflection should be a minimum of two paragraphs. What are your new goals as a reader and a teacher of reading? List 2-5 goals and your reasons for setting those goals.
I am thankful to this project for opening my eyes to the benefits of free choice reading. Prior to this, reading was not something that I used to fill my free time. After this project, I can confidently say that I have grown as both a reader and an educator. This class has trained me to view each project and assignment through an educator lens. Having said that, this project was much more than just a free choice reading assignment. Discovering, studying, and enjoying a variety of books has lent to my overall knowledge as well as my ability to form lesson plans around a specific topic or genre of text. I love that my immediate thought after reading a new novel is “how can I incorporate this into my future classroom?” It was a place that I never thought I’d be. I am excited to read and even more excited to tell others about what I’ve read. As I mentioned in my goals in section 1, my brother has been my biggest soundboard for my newfound love for free choice reading and has provided me with a multitude of suggestions for my TBR list. I am excited about the future and specifically, my future as a reader. I cannot wait to start implementing book talks of my own into my future classroom. I cannot wait to continue relying on my brother as an accountability partner for my free choice reading. I cannot wait to keep tracking my progress and documenting my learning. I cannot wait to learn and grow as a reader and I am thankful to this class for allowing me the opportunity to see reading in a new light.
New goals
Rely on my brother as an accountability partner in reading
Encouraging each other to continue reading
Sharing our thoughts about books
Continue recommending new books
Stick with my 10-15 minutes of reading a day
Make it a priority despite my busy schedule
READ most of the books that I include in my classroom library so I have my own personal knowledge about them
Continue to have that educator mindset when reading a new novel
Always thinking ahead, thinking about my future students when reading