My Students

Many of my students have caught the science fiction and fantasy fever, while other students of mine struggle with coming to school and sitting in less-than-engaging classrooms. I want to keep inspiring my students by providing them with access to rich, engaging texts.

My students attend a comprehensive high school located in southern Wisconsin.

With a poverty rate of 50 %, many of them struggle with attending school, getting passing grades in their classes, achieving credits, and graduating from high school. Many are homeless and come to school without basic needs being met. An achievement gap exists between our white students and our students of color. Other students are gifted and college bound. Whether my students are labeled at-risk, gifted, ELL, or special education students, they all want to form positive relationships and be successful.

My Project

"Science Fiction and Fantasy Fever" allows my students to have access to books. These books are magical, having the distinct ability to enrich the lives of my students. I want them to have a positive experience attending high school. I want them to like getting up each morning and coming to school. By giving students some element of choice in their reading, I can hook them and increase student achievement. On Friday of this week I had the pleasure of attending a workshop titled "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain" presented by Marcia Tate. With this project, I want to employ as many of the twenty strategies as I can into my instruction. These strategies include such things as brainstorming and discussion, drawing and artwork, graphic organizers, metaphors, mnemonic devices, movement, storytelling, visualization, and journals. With strong engagement from my students, I am sure to engage my students' brains. My students need class sets of engaging science fiction and fantasy books to stimulate their interest, excitement, and introspection. I am requesting multiple copies of Handmaid's Tale, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Stranger in a Strange Land, and other good books.

"Science Fiction and Fantasy Fever" is important to my students.

WIth access to books, we can build hope and increase student achievement. By applying Marcia Tate's strategies, I can engage all learners. With topics of religion, gender disparity, bullying, conservation,alcoholism, Disney, censorship, slavery, suppression of ideas, ecosystems and pollution, man vs. an extraterrestrial race and others, the funding of this project will make a difference.