The goal of this grant is to expand students’ exposure to literature while developing more independent, engaged, and thoughtful readers. After studying core classic novels as a class, students will choose from related texts and participate in small, student-led book clubs that extend the themes, genres, authors, or ideas explored in the anchor text. Through choice, collaborative discussion, and comparative analysis, students will strengthen their ability to interpret literature, support ideas with textual evidence, make meaningful connections across texts, and communicate their thinking with peers. This project will provide students with opportunities to move beyond teacher-directed reading and take greater ownership of their learning while continuing to develop the reading, analysis, communication, and critical-thinking skills central to 10th-grade English.
Throughout the year, students will read four core classic works as a class. Following selected whole-class novels, students will extend their learning through small, student-led literary book clubs. Students will choose from four to five related titles that connect to the anchor text through theme, genre, author, historical context, or a shared essential question. Sets of approximately five copies of each title will allow students to read and collaborate in small groups.
During each book club cycle, students will take greater responsibility for the reading process by establishing reading goals, preparing for discussions, developing questions, analyzing important passages and literary elements, and participating in student-led conversations. Rather than relying on the teacher to direct the analysis, students will work collaboratively to interpret their selected text, support their ideas with evidence, listen and respond to different perspectives, and make meaningful connections to the literature previously studied as a class.
Book club cycles will culminate in opportunities for students to compare their selected novels with the anchor text and share their interpretations through discussion, writing, or other literary analysis activities. The purchased novels will become a reusable classroom collection, allowing the book club model to continue and expand with future groups of 10th-grade students.
This project will increase student ownership of reading by giving students meaningful choice in what they read while maintaining strong connections to course content and learning goals. After completing an assigned whole-class novel, students will select a book that interests them from several related titles. This balance of shared reading and student choice will expose students to a wider variety of literature while encouraging them to see reading as an opportunity for exploration rather than simply an assignment to complete.
Student-led book clubs will also strengthen independence, collaboration, critical thinking, and literary analysis. As students take responsibility for preparing for and leading discussions, they will practice asking thoughtful questions, supporting ideas with textual evidence, responding to different perspectives, and making connections across texts. Success will be measured through student discussion preparation and participation, written literary responses, comparative analysis activities, and student reflections. Growth will be evident as students demonstrate greater independence in discussing and analyzing literature and increased confidence in communicating their ideas without relying on teacher-led interpretation.
Because the book sets will remain in the classroom and be used year after year, the project will continue to provide future 10th-grade students with greater access to high-quality literature, student choice, and collaborative reading experiences.
Grant funding will be used to purchase small sets of novels for student-led literary book clubs in 10th-grade English. Approximately five copies of each selected title will be purchased, allowing students to read and discuss the same text in groups of four to five. Each book club round will offer multiple titles connected to a core class novel through theme, genre, author, historical context, or a shared essential question, giving students meaningful choice while keeping their reading connected to course learning goals.
The requested books are essential to making the project accessible to all students without requiring families to purchase additional novels beyond the core texts already required for the course. Having classroom sets will also allow the books to be used flexibly with different classes and groups throughout the school year.
Unlike consumable materials, these books will become part of a permanent classroom collection and can be reused with future 10th-grade students. Funding this project will therefore provide both an immediate benefit to current students and a sustainable resource that can support student choice, collaborative reading, and literary analysis for years to come.
