Day 4:
Create a label for each tub of books. Words should be large and easy for students to read. Pictures are also helpful for quick recognition. Determine how students will know what books to put into each tub. You may put a colored dot label that corresponds to a label on the tub. You may also use a number for each tub. For example, all books in the fairytale tub are marked with a 14. If you use picture symbols on your tub labels, you can also print a smaller version of the picture and use that as the book label. Place a tub and the appropriate labels onto each student’s desk so that they can be involved in the labeling process and so that they can fully understand how the books are organized.
Day 5:
If students have become accustomed to choosing their books based on a certain level, you will need to teach several lessons to guide your students to choose appropriate books.
Conclusion
Since reorganizing, my students have their personal book boxes filled to the brim and are reading wider varieties of books. Beginning the first day, they were thrilled to uncover books that they did not know we had. The process of assigning categories meant they had to open and look through books sparking their interest and turning my reluctant readers into book hoarders. My students no longer have to ask for help in selecting books because they know exactly where to find the books That interest them. My students are now excited to read, talk about, and share their books.
We celebrated the opening of our new library by introducing a home check out system so that students have more time to explore our books and to share them with their families. To sustain interest in our books, students now have tubs of books on each of their tables throughout the day. My students are now reading, talking about books, and interacting with their books at all times during the day. More than a reorganization, this experience has been a transformation from my library to our library.
References
Jones, J. (2006). Student-involved classroom libraries. The Reading Teacher, 59(6),
Krashen, S. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials: The specifics you need to teach reading well.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Brandi Farris is a first grade teacher at Strafford Elementary. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in literacy from Missouri State University.
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"Listening to these students’ responses to multicultural literature, we learned that small group literature discussions can be places for critical literacy."
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