Oh dear - not the neatest or most organised of class libraries, is it? It looks better now - but only because I've started to pack books away to move them to my new classroom next week.
Classroom libraries are huge in the States - but not so prominent here in the UK, I've found. But what an incredible resource for kids in our class - a classroom library full of books, at their reading and interest levels, which they can choose for themselves.
I'm slowly learning the importance of being selective in class libraries - too many books (see above picture) can be overwhelming. And it can be hard for kids to pick books at the appropriate level for them. So - one of my summer goals is to choose a range of books appropriate for my incoming P3s in August, and have them organised and displayed clearly so that children can easily see what's there and choose what they want to read.
Here's the AR bookfinder website that levels books by LEXILE and ATOS book levels. I know many in Scotland use coloured bookbands, so if you click here, you will be able to download a document that matches lexile levels with our book bands (my husband really didn't 'get' why I was so excited when I found this!).
My library related tasks for this summer:
1) Buy matching book baskets/boxes
2) Choose books suitable for all levels of readers in my class
3) Use the bookfinder website & book band converter to book band the books in my class library (might see if I can bribe a couple of children to help with this one!).
3) Organise the chosen books, so that some are grouped by author (Magic Treehouse books, Junie B. Jones, Horrid Henry, etc) while others are grouped by book band level.
4) (If there is time when all of that is done - ha!) label books grouped by author according to their bookband level as well - just to make choices a bit easier for kids.
I'll let you know how I get on!
Do you have a classroom library? Is it filled with school books, or with your own books? How do you organise them? And most importantly - how and when are kids able to choose their own books from the class library?
Classroom libraries are huge in the States - but not so prominent here in the UK, I've found. But what an incredible resource for kids in our class - a classroom library full of books, at their reading and interest levels, which they can choose for themselves.
I'm slowly learning the importance of being selective in class libraries - too many books (see above picture) can be overwhelming. And it can be hard for kids to pick books at the appropriate level for them. So - one of my summer goals is to choose a range of books appropriate for my incoming P3s in August, and have them organised and displayed clearly so that children can easily see what's there and choose what they want to read.
Here's the AR bookfinder website that levels books by LEXILE and ATOS book levels. I know many in Scotland use coloured bookbands, so if you click here, you will be able to download a document that matches lexile levels with our book bands (my husband really didn't 'get' why I was so excited when I found this!).
My library related tasks for this summer:
1) Buy matching book baskets/boxes
2) Choose books suitable for all levels of readers in my class
3) Use the bookfinder website & book band converter to book band the books in my class library (might see if I can bribe a couple of children to help with this one!).
3) Organise the chosen books, so that some are grouped by author (Magic Treehouse books, Junie B. Jones, Horrid Henry, etc) while others are grouped by book band level.
4) (If there is time when all of that is done - ha!) label books grouped by author according to their bookband level as well - just to make choices a bit easier for kids.
I'll let you know how I get on!
Do you have a classroom library? Is it filled with school books, or with your own books? How do you organise them? And most importantly - how and when are kids able to choose their own books from the class library?
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