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Goal

Fifth grade is a pivotal year in reading. My goal is to grow the student's love of reading for pleasure by providing a variety of quality literature in the student's classroom. We will increase peer interaction by sharing with others, through conversation, ideas and thoughts, about books on the Sunshine State Young Readers List. Also, students will experience first hand the political voting process when choosing their favorite book (which will tie in to many lessons since it is an election year). They will be able to compare our results with those of other participating schools around the state of Florida.  

What will be done with my students

Fifth Grade teachers will each be given a class set of SSYRA titles and curriculum to support student learning. Classes will view a SSYRA premiere when the Media Specialist provides video book trailers on each of the 15 titles.

Students will be encouraged to read as many of the books as they can throughout the 7 month period. They may write book reviews that will be shared with their peers. These may be viewed by students throughout the school.

I have been blessed to have this grant funded for multiple years now, and I am finding that it is becoming more and more difficult for teachers to read the titles out loud. Because of the demands on teacher time, it is often taking the teacher 2 - 3 months to finish reading a single title when they are reading out loud to the whole class at once. Giving the students access to a title on CD will engage students and free up the teacher to work with other students at the same time, especially as a center rotation. Listening to a story develops an entirely different comprehension skill and allows students with print comprehension difficulties to also participate in the program.

Students that complete at least 3 titles, may vote in a mock election using real voting booths provided by the Supervisor of Elections. For every 3 books read, the student will be eligible for a reward provided by the Media Specialist.

Those students who are successful in reading (or listening to) all 15 titles will be invited to a special invitation only reading party. In the past, I we have made this a field trip to California Pizza Kitchen and a shopping spree at Barnes and Noble!

The books & CDs will be collected at the end of the year and organized together to create literature sets for future reading groups and lessons.

This grant would meet the following Sunshine State Standards:
LA.5.1.6.2: The student will listen to, read, and discuss familiar and conceptually challenging text.
LA.5.1.6.3: The student will use context clues to determine meanings of unfamiliar words.
LA.5.1.6.5: The student will relate new vocabulary to familiar words.
LA.5.1.7.2: The student will identify the author's purpose (inform, entertain, explain) in text and how an author's perspective influences text.
LA.5.1.7.3: The student will determine the main idea or essential message in grade-level text through inferring, paraphrasing, summarizing, and identifying relevant details;
LA.5.1.7.7: The student will compare and contract elements in multiple texts (setting, characters, problems)
LA.5.1.7.8: The student will use strategies to repair comprehension of grade appropriate text when self-monitoring indicates confusion, including, but not limited to rereading, checking context clues, predicting, summarizing, questioning, and clarifying by checking other sources.
LA.5.2.1.2: The student will locate and analyze the elements of plot structure, including exposition, setting, character development, rising/falling action, problem/resolution, and theme in a variety of fiction
LA.5.2.1.5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of a literary selection, and depending on the selection, include evidence from the text, personal experience, and comparison to other text/media
LA. 5.5.2.2: The student will make formal oral presentations for a variety of purposes and occasions, demonstrating appropriate language choices, body language, eye contact and the use of gestures, the use of supporting graphics (charts, illustrations, images, props), and available technologies.
 

Benefits to my students

Independent reading programs enhance students' knowledge and skills. The pep rally and awards will help motivate reluctant readers. Students will learn the importance and power of the voting process when they vote for their favorite SSYRA title. They will practice good citizenship skills when discussing the books with their peers and learn to appreciate the views of others about which is the best book.
The students and classroom teachers will benefit by having the 15 quality titles easily accessible in their classroom library. The books & CDs will be collected at the end of the year and organized together to create literature sets for future reading groups and lessons.
I have been blessed to have this grant funded for the last few years. The teachers and students look forward to receiving the sets. They get so excited!!!
I am finding each year more teachers are coming (due to student requests) to borrow sets of previous SSYRA titles for their literature groups!
The benefits are reaching far past the use of this one year and one grade level! 

Budget Narrative

I am requesting a classroom set of Sunshine State Young Reader Award titles (15 books) for each teacher in grade 5. The books will be collected at the end of the year, along with the listening sets. They will be organized together to create literature sets that can be checked out for classroom lessons that will benefit students for years to come. 

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