Take a quick look at your classroom library. Could it use a quick makeover? (i.e. Do you need to go through the books and sort them? Could you use more baskets to expand the levels? Do books need a sticker with the Fontes and Pinnell letter level? Do you just need more titles in your classroom library?)
Let us know your feedback on the above. We are planning some whole-school classroom library makeover days in the Spring and we need your feedback...
Sounds good. Thanks, count me in.
ReplyDeletei love the idea of helpers to "clean" up my leveled library. i have hundreds of books, and i need to use them better-if they were presented to the students in a more user-friendly manner the kids could read more books
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for new ideas on how to improve our classroom library. For our classroom, we could use a large set of shelves. I love the idea of having a school-wide day to focus on improving our classroom libraries : )
ReplyDeleteI have students help me organize our library from time to time but I could really use some time to sift through things and make a few changes. And, yes, we would love some new titles. We would especially love more leveled sets! A new labeling system would be helpful as well.
ReplyDeleteHi All!!
ReplyDeleteI have my students help me organize my library as well. I would LOVE to have more leveled book sets to utilize with small groups during Universal Access Time. Sets ranging from below grade level to above grade level. FUN NEW titles would be great too!!! :)
Hi bloggers. Thanks for the comments. Yes Amy, I agree; new titles would be great. Meanwhile, in regard to organization, I have one of my weekly "monitors" take over as classroom librarian. It helps a little and also gives the students a sense of ownership and responsibility.
ReplyDeleteHi Fellow Calabasas Bloggers.
ReplyDeleteCount me in as well. I can use all the help I can get, especially with first graders. Thanks!
The little baskets of "leveled" books all need to be given the colored stickers that align with the accelarated reader program as well as the specific AR level to make it more user friendly. JKL, MNOP etc. designations no longer are enough to help students read in their range. If there is a master list of titles and the corresponding ar level then the task of re-marking the books could begin. It seems like a very time consuming task however that I cannot fathom tackling until after CSTs at the earliest. Also, I really need sets of 5 or 6 books across the levels for meaningful guided reading opportunities as well as pair/share partner reads. I'm all for more books in the classroom. I'd actually like less little buckets of books though and more book sets.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get more leveled books in my classroom for independent reading. Also, I would love to see this school get a book room where teachers could check out guided reading sets of books. By doing this you are able to use more titles with your students and just put the books back when you are done. My school in Seattle did this and it was amazing how our book room grew when we combined resources and raised money to get new books. We had multiple sets of books for every level. Also during staff development we wrote lessons that went along with the book sets and put the lesson in the bag.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Charmayne. I would love to see organized sets of leveled books! This would be a great way to use resources efficiently as everyone could benefit and use the books! It would also be great to have some book shelf/displays for the classroom so students could see the books that they are reading (maybe displayed depending on themes) as well as some baskets of leveled books for independent reading!
ReplyDeleteMy classroom library is organized into a fiction section and nonfiction section. It works well for my students and helps with writing and projects! All books are leveled, too!
ReplyDeleteMy first graders do a great job keeping the books organized. We have found some books that are not labeled and it would be great to get them updated. Also, it would be nice to get some higher leveled books.
ReplyDeleteSpace is a real problem in rm 24. I would love a
ReplyDeletelibrary space that was easy to access. Leveled K readers would be great! All short a books, and short e books, etc., books that used the sight words our students are supposed to know. And beautiful picture books!
I need stickers with the Fontes and Pinnell letter level and dividers for various genres and levels of books. I have books organized under fiction and non-fiction. Under non-fiction it is organized by genre.
ReplyDeleteMy students in the past have taken on the duty of librarian. They check books back in and put them back in the proper place. This is not always foolproof and I do need to go back and do some organizing. I would appreciate time with the students to go through this process so they can learn how my library is set up and take on more ownership.