Our class' discussion on readability got me thinking about my own classroom library. Since this is my second year teaching, I do not have a lot of books. Most of the books I've collected last year were generously donated to me by teachers who have no need for them. But I was teaching first grade last year and now that I'm teaching third grade, I find that most of the books I have are not appropriate for my third graders. So I started the school year by borrowing books from the school library. The media specialist was kind enough to organize the books for me by genres. So I have enough books for students to read through during their D.E.A.R time or whenever they finish their work early.
However, given some time (and money), I would really like to started building an extensive classroom library for my students to enjoy. My inspiration comes from Beth Newingham, a fellow third grade teacher and writer for Scholastic. Her class' website can be found here. She has a ton of resources and ideas! Here is what her classroom library looks like. She has A LOT of books and they're all color coded, organized by genres/subjects, and each book is leveled. My dream classroom library would look something like hers. She uses the Scholastic Book Wizard to level her books, which I plan on using myself once I get more books of my own. Scholastic also has a great leveling chart that provides the matching reading levels, DRA level, and Lexile levels.
I am highly encouraged to level the books in my classroom library to track my students' reading. It will let me know if they are reading a book that is too easy, too hard, or just right for them.
K.D., I know what you mean about trying to get books for your classroom. I was lucky enough to stay in first grade this year, so I have a lot of the same texts from last year. I do, however, always have some baskets that change. My science, social studies, and season baskets change when the topics (or season) change. They need to match what the students are learning in the classroom, and plus they get bored with the same old books. The general books I have are also categorized by non-fiction, fiction, fairy/folktale, animals, etc. Some of these stay the same because there are many different leveled books in each. In the beginning of the year, certain students may not be able to read the books they want, but as they become stronger readers they will be.
ReplyDeleteSomething I have been doing to get more books seems simple enough . . . I get a lot from the school library. I also reach out to teachers in my school, and others I know that teach in other places. I also take advantage when teachers are putting "freebies" out. Last year, when our media specialist left, she had boxes of books she was getting rid of. Some were texts for the students, but others were for ME. There were books on writing strategies, worksheets in different subjects, etc. Just this week, our reading specialist opened her door for "old" books that were in a closet somewhere. I took advantage and grabbed about 12 books. I wanted others to have the opportunity to also look through her books, but I may go back! Another strategy is looking online. I have found cheap books in bundles. I know that means you have to pay for them, but I found books one time that were about 50 cents each.
I hope this helps you a bit. Good luck on your search for a bigger AND better classroom library (we could all use it)!