Applying for supplemental reading materials for all grades taught at Cold Stream for English, 6-12, including AP Lit and AP Language. Funds will be used to buy novels and non-fiction materials based on student interest and skill level. This allows for more individualized instruction, engagement, and it has been the foundation of our library materials for the past 10 years, thanks to EIE.
All students enrolled at Cold Stream will benefit from these monies, both those students utilizing our program through the THS and NTHS' ski academies as well as our full time students. I generally teach about 30 students throughout the year, but the books provided by these funds serve our students year after year. It allows me to stay current on what is popular and relevant for students outside of district aligned and paid for materials. Students generally read 6-12 books for my classes per year, and half of those are chosen with student input. The benefits are that it truly gets kids to read more!! Because they can choose what they want to read, and thanks to EIE's grants over the past years, our library at Cold Stream is constantly updated and refreshed. So thank you!!!!
I think our success can be measured by the popularity of our program, the returning students year after year, their success in college acceptance, and AP scores, but most significantly, my goal is to turn students into life- long readers, or have the flexibility to tailor books to their needs, challenging them further, or finding the right book to hook them. This year I'm super excited about Cloud Cuckoo Land, Hans Burkhart's memoir, which are new titles, and replenishing some older titles, like The Language of Flowers, Just Mercy, and Beneath the Scarlet Sky, which have been huge hits. Having the ability to buy books that students ask for, increases their buy in tremendously, and I find that students read many more books taking the course through Cold Stream than they ever have in the past.
Throughout the year, I use the funds to order books through our admin secretary, Liz Soto, and she finds the cheapest price, usually Amazon. Students have access all year long, and if they want something that I don't have, I can order it for them. Though their requests I have widened my own knowledge of great literature immensely!
I'm a solo entity at Cold Stream, but I do share with our 3 other teachers, and any student in our program is encouraged to check books out, even if they aren't enrolled in English with me.
We use district and school funds as well. This is just a very necessary and helpful supplement to help induce student engagement.