Classroom Libraries and Book Ownership

7/11/2019

Chapters 3 & 4
Here are a few prompts to consider for these chapters. Please add any additional comments, connections, or reactions you have about this week's content.

Chapter 3: Miller and Sharp stress the importance of a vibrant classroom library. Share ways in which you might revamp your library to motivate students to increase their volume and variety of reading.

Chapter 4: Book ownership has been linked to higher literacy achievement. How might we get more books in the homes of our students?

Happy reading and posting!

4 Comments

Janice Ewing

7/12/2019 03:19:44 pm

Hi,

I agree with Miller and Sharp about the value of classroom libraries and the many factors that go into making them effective. Among the teachers I work with, I've seen an enormous range in the quantity and quality of collections.
-Some have funding; others are scrounging.
-Some have access to sources to make relevant and diverse choices; others are given a pre-selected collection that supports the ELA program, but might not meet the needs of the students.
-Some classroom libraries are organized completely by reading level, restricting students from learning how to select books based on their interests.
I think that creating and organizing a classroom library should be a part of all teachers' professional learning. That in itself would not address the financial aspect,but it would raise awareness that a classroom library is not a frill, but an essential part of the students' growth in literacy and self-identification as readers.

Meg Norris

7/17/2019 10:50:51 am

I believe that classroom libraries are a vital component to a classroom. When students walk in and see a vibrant classroom library, they become more excited to read! To help keep my classroom library interesting, in which I organized it by genre, topics, and interests, filled with a variety of books, I would visit yard sales, used book stores, used Scholastic points, and tried to take advantage of the deals at bookstores for teachers. This helped me to keep my library current, and the students more motivated to read independently.

I also believe that book ownership is so important. Richard Allington has been studying summer reading, and he along with his colleagues found that when we send books home with students over the summer they are less likely to have a significant amount of "summer slide." To help promote reading at home, I have always appreciated when schools had book swaps. This allowed students to swap out books that they no longer read to get more interesting books. I think it helps to continue to promote reading at home.

Carol Shiffrin

7/22/2019 04:14:15 pm

I agree with Janice and Meg about the importance and value of classroom libraries. Meg also mentioned the benefits of book ownership. I think that when students are involved in some way in planning, organizing, and maintaining the classroom library, they feel a sense of ownership.

Regie Routman, in Reading Essentials, and Mandy Gregory in Reading Rockets included great ideas for including students in classroom library development.
For example, older students could determine categories for nonfiction books. Younger students could create labels for book bins.

When visiting or working in classrooms, students often led me to the classroom library (and frequently to large pillows) where they plopped down and discussed, with great pride, their role in creating or maintaining THEIR library. I congratulated the teachers on the wisdom of their decision, to involve students in the process. It could be time-consuming and messy, but definitely worth it!

Rita Sorrentino

8/1/2019 03:00:25 pm

Yes, I agree. Children need classroom libraries to have access to a range of topics and genres in order to learn about themselves and the diverse world in which they live. When I taught third grade I observed how children had different preferences for independent reading. There were certain students who would select books, find a quiet space to read their books independently but enjoyed sitting next to each other. Often they would whisper a comment or a read a sentence from their texts. Perhaps this was their unique way of sharing their love of reading with one another. Their occasional interruption was an excitement and a development of relationships through literacy learning.

Summer BOOK CLUB

Classroom Libraries and Book Ownership

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories