Ladder of Prejudice Book Club Project

9th grade is hard.

As ninth graders, my students are beginning to recognize their power to shape their identities and their responsibility to think about what they believe and why. Reading and discussion are particularly powerful at this stage of life as a way to explore perspectives, investigate ways of thinking, and discover ways that experiences and explanations that lead people to their beliefs.

This project is a collaboration between teachers at our school. While some of our students are enthusiastic readers, we also have many reluctant readers. We selected books that will be accessible to readers at a variety of levels with the idea that some students will select books that are mirrors of their own lives, and other students will choose books that are windows into other experiences. 

The world is confusing.

Each student will choose a book and join other students to discuss how it connects to their own experiences, and how it will inform their lives.  During we study how prejudice begins through avoidance and speech. We want to empower students to recognize prejudice and think about effective ways to combat it. 

The books for which I am seeking funding are titles that I need to complete my classroom library of options to provide opportunities for all learners. Students will have the opportunity to choose from books whose topics include teen identity, race and LGBT issues, women's rights, poverty, and mental illness.  

About our students.

The students I work with are clever, ambitious, passionate, and wise beyond their years. Ours is a school and 78% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Many students speak more than one language, and some have lived in more than one country. Some students wish for more independence while others would gladly take a curfew to be able to live with their parents. Some care for their siblings and some go to work with their relatives. 

What we're buying:

The complete list of titles from which our students will be able to choose: I Am Malala, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, The Afterlife, Miracle's Boys, An Uninterrupted View of the Sky, The Hate U Give, I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition), The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Turtles All The Way Down, and Enders Game.