The topics reflected the issues that my students were dealing with or had questions about themselves. Lolly’s story and narration are so relatable, so real that the novel served as a jumping-off point for us to ponder real-world issues. While reading The Stars Beneath Our Feet, my students and I discussed many of the following topics: divorce and separation, bullying, peer pressure, friendship, homophobia, drugs, suicide, gun violence, gangs, grief and loss, mental health and coping, and more. You never know what emotions will be stirred when discussing and exploring the themes in this novel. Why would I want to read that?” While I believe that The Stars Beneath Our Feet is an incredible novel, it can be intense and this should be taken into consideration when teaching this novel with students.

One student angrily wrote in a feedback survey, “This book is depressing! It’s a book about a kid whose brother was shot and died. It’s important to note that while the overwhelming majority of my students enjoyed reading The Stars Beneath Our Feet, there were students who did not. In a recommendation, one student proclaimed “This book saves lives!” a sentiment that I feel captures the power of The Stars Beneath Our Feet. Nearly everyone who participated in our reading experience– the students, my teacher’s aide, the observing administrator, and department chair, me– gained something.

His friends, his parents, his mentors, and teachers reminded them of their own. For many of my students, reading Lolly’s experiences became opportunities to discuss their own. A student who experienced so much loss found strength in Lolly’s story. Click To TweetĪ student who grappled with his own struggles found hope in Lolly’s story. 'This Book Saves Lives!' Why You Should Teach The Stars Beneath Our Feet. We, teachers, have this awful habit of saying, “When you get out into the real world,” neglecting that our students already live in and experience the unfairness of the “real world” every day. Many of my students connected to The Stars Beneath Our Feet on an immediate, human level. The Impact of Reading The Stars Beneath Our Feet

There will be NO spoilers in this piece (well nothing that you can’t find out by reading the back of the book) this is just a discussion of the profound impact The Stars Beneath Our Feet had on my students and me. No book demonstrated this more than The Stars Beneath Our Feetby David Barclay Moore. It was an opportunity to connect, express, discuss, motivate, and debate. In my eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom, reading was an experience. Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts.Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course.

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