Sierra High School recognizes that this grant request is a repeat of one requested previously. However, the need for students to choose their own books and the need to replenish our library does not diminish over time. As our schools are returning to some sense of normalcy after the craziness of Covid, the need for student chosen novels seems even higher. Many students have not engaged in a lot of personal reading in the last few years and looking for those "hook" novels seems to be more paramount than ever before.
The Leisure Reading program is a strong component in the overall development of Sierra High School students’ literacy skills. The role of reading everyday is a major factor in students building overall academic success and the opportunity to build literacy skills daily, in an non evaluative manner, increases students skills across the curriculum. At Sierra High School, all students read daily for 20 minutes in a novel of their own choice. The purpose of this grant is to fund the purchase of novels students choose to read during our daily leisure reading. The main objectives that develop from the leisure reading program include students building stamina, increasing their range and use of reading strategies and acquiring an identity as a reader. These objectives directly correlate with the students increasing literacy successes in our content area classrooms. When students can choose the novels they want to read, have time to read independently with no additional requirements, and share their reading experiences with their peers, their reading successes increase. These successes in turn allow students to have more successes as they interact with content area texts as well.
We are a small school with no traditional library access. Students often take on the role of curating books themselves and if anything, as students become more engaged readers, the need for more diverse and challenging texts arise.
