Our Classroom Library
Our Classroom Library
Take
a Virtual Tour of
our Library!
Click on pictures for a larger view
|
Fiction Picture Books |
Chapter Book Series |
||||
|
Nonfiction Books |
 Favorite Author Baskets
|
Chapter Books by Genre |
|||
 Magazine Collection |
Books are organized by topic, genre, series, author, theme, etc.
|
All books are color-coded with a level sticker and a label that indicates the basket in which they belong. |
|||
|
Basket labels also indicate the levels of the books that can be found in the basket. In Chapter Book Series baskets, the labels list all series that are in the basket.
|
|||||
In my
nine years of
teaching, I have tried very hard to collect and purchase a wide selection of books for students to read in my classroom. Now that I have developed a very secure sense of each child's ability as a reader, I am working hard to match students with appropriate books for
independent reading. It is much different than matching students with clothing because we often buy jackets and sweaters to last a child for more than one season. However, with books that are being read on their own, it is important to find a
match that fits "just right" right now. After administering the
Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessments and meeting with students during
individual reading conferences and guided reading groups, I have learn what type of reading material best suits each child in my classroom.
I have devoted much
time to leveling every book in my classroom library and organizing it by genre,
topic, author, etc. so that I can direct students to appropriate reading material.
Experts have discovered that even very young students can read for
extended periods of time when they are matched with books that they can read with 95% or higher word accuracy rate, and they are more successful when reading books that interest them. My leveled library serves both of these purposes because, although I direct students to certain color coded
books, they are still choosing the books within those levels that they want to read. I
confer with students during Independent Reading time. I use these conferences to talk with students about the books that they are selecting for their in-class book
boxes, help them practice essential reading skills, and
listen to and discuss specific stories that the students are reading.
